Justin Pearce
South Africa enters the satellite TV age tomorrow when African Satellite Entertainment (ASE) starts beaming trial broadcasts into the country. It will go “live” a week later with the country’s first Kuband (small dish) service.
ASE has pre-empted M-Net by three months, and caught the authorities on the wrong foot by beaming its signal from Swaziland — outside the jurisdiction of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA).
ASE managing director Mark Grey says the channel will comprise a mixture of news and entertaiment.
The IBA yesterday responded to the ASE launch with a vaguely-worded statement which neither endorses nor condemns the new development. According to the statement, the IBA “has initiated a process of consultation and interaction with leading players in the satellite industry to establish a framework for a public inquiry into satellite broadcasting”.
The IBA is “excited by the challenges and opportunities of satellite broadcasting”, but is trying to ensure that “satellite broadcasting benefits all South Africans and does not unfairly discriminate against existing and new terrestial broadcasters,” the statement says.
Grey said ASE had no intention of being a pirate broadcaster, and was confident that his company’s plans had the blessing of the IBA. But the fact remains that the IBA is powerless to stop a signal being beamed up from a neighbouring country, as is the case with ASE’s broadcasts from Swaziland.
Cobus Scholtz of Multinet, the company which handles the technical side of M-Net’s broadcasting operations, said he was optimistic that the IBA would approve M-Net’s move to satellite broadcasting in South Africa. Elsewhere in Africa the dearth of broadcasting meant there would be no resistance to new broadcasters entering the market, he
ASE has managed to get a foot in the door by using an exisiting satellite (Intelsat 704) to bounce its signal to South Africa. M-Net will have to wait until August, when the PAS-4 satellite is launched, to start broadcasting its subscriber service which will cover Africa as far north as
For now, ASE will broadcast on a free-to-air analogue system, meaning that viewers will only need to buy a satellite dish and receiver to pick up the channel. There is no need for a decoder, and no subscription fee to receive the channel. Grey said ASE will reassess the situation at the end of the year in the light of new developments in digital broadcasting technology. He said that by 1996 the company aims to operate 16 digital channels — requiring a decoder — and two free-to-air
M-Net will offer a range of services depending on how much the subscriber is prepared to pay. The full range, which requires a decoder, will include 21 channels along the lines of M-Net’s existing formula. M-Net will also broadcast the SABC channels via satellite. Getting the SABC via satellite will not require a decoder.
Grey said the station would “cater for the needs of all South Africans” rather than targetting an elite — a choice which seems ready-made to please the IBA.