According to the as yet unreleased IBA report, the SABC will be divested of one of its channels, to be sold to private interests, reports Justin Pearce
The South African Broadcasting Corporation will lose one of its three television channels at the end of 1997, to make room for South Africa’s first privately owned, free commercial television broadcaster.
The SABC will, however, retain its present three channels until then.
Independent business concerns will have the opportunity to put in proposals for broadcasting rights on the third channel, leading to the establishment of South Africa’s first terrestial commercial TV channel in
These guidelines form part of the Independent Broadcasting Authority’s report on the future of the SABC in the context of a restructured broadcasting industry in South Africa, handed to Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Dr Pallo Jordan last week. It has not yet been tabled in Parliament, though details of the report were leaked to the Mail & Guardian.
The report is the conclusion of the IBA’s Triple Enquiry into the functions of the SABC and regulations for cross-ownership and local content.
During the hearings which informed the writing of the IBA report, the SABC argued that it would have to retain three TV channels if it were to fulfil its responsibilities as a public service broadcaster catering for 11 language communities, and still include enough entertainment material to make the service partly self-financing.
In the final set of hearings, however, the SABC conceded that it might be able to relinquish one of its channels after a consolidation period. It appears that the IBA — which in terms of the Broadcasting Act has a responsibility to preserve the viability of the national PSB (public service broadcasting) service — has taken its lead from this eleventh-hour concession by the SABC.
The SABC will retain a monopoly on free terrestrial television and its advertising revenue for the next two-and-a-half years, before the handover of the third waveband to a private company. After 1998, according to the document in the hands of the M&G, the SABC will also have, “in all probability”, a licence for one satellite service.
The television services of the former homelands will be merged into these SABC services.
There is likely to be some debate over the time scale, with impatient aspirant broadcasters wanting to enter the market sooner, but others arguing that 28 months is a reasonable minimum period of time for the SABC to consolidate its finances, for business interests to prepare their proposals for the new channel, for the IBA to consider these proposals, and for the chosen broadcaster to set up the new station.
This time scale gives satellite broadcasters almost two-and-a-half years in which to establish their audience with only the SABC and M-Net as competition. Some commentators believe this will allow satellite television to gain dominance in the market.
In 1998, the IBA will also consider “the financial viability of introducing a second private channel, either nationally or regionally”, but argues that there are limited resources in the country and “there will, of necessity, for the foreseeable future, be a limited number of television stations licensed”.
The IBA argues that by ensuring these stations are “high quality and distinctly South African”, they will be better placed to compete against foreign satellites and to encourage foreign investment.
It will now be up to Jordan to prepare legislation to go before Parliament, which will enable the transfer of the licence to broadcast on the third channel, as well as a certain quantity of SABC assets, into private
When the IBA eventually considers business proposals for the commercial station, it is likely that the submissions will have to meet a strict set of criteria as conditions for the granting of a licence. According to the document, the public service responsibilities of the SABC will be shared with other TV channels, including commercial terrestrial, satellite and community TV stations. All television licensees will have to “make some appropriate contribution to addressing the needs of the South African public”.
The ownership of the company chosen as the broadcaster for the third channel will, in all probability, be required to include a substantial number of “historically disadvantaged” South Africans, in order to prevent established foreign and South African business dominating what is likely to be an extremely lucrative business.
The model outlined in the document given to the M&G has been described as one which “regulates for quality rather than for money”. The guidelines are likely to come in for criticism from those who favour the proliferation of purely commercial broadcasting in South Africa — which some believe is the best way to encourage foreign investment in the local broadcasting industry.
However, the overall proposals will find favour with those who support the existence of a strong, though pruned-down and independent, public service