DSTV cuts SABC Africa
The SABC has lost yet another revenue stream after the public broadcaster’s contract with MultiChoice to broadcast its Africa news channel on the DStv bouquet was terminated yesterday. The SABC Africa channel will be discontinued from August 1.
This is a blow for the public broadcaster, which is looking for new revenue streams to compensate for a decline in earnings. The SABC’s profit fell by R200 million to R182.7 million in the year to March last year.
Last year it lost the lucrative local Premier Soccer League rights estimated to be worth R1 billion. In May the regulator rejected the SABC’s plea to force pay-television operators to pay for carrying its free-to-air channels on their platforms. It has argued that its SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 channels boosted the uptake of subscription services.
The SABC did not provide reasons for the termination, saying its talks with MultiChoice to continue the Africa service did not yield results.
It is understood that MultiChoice was not happy with the channel’s performance. MultiChoice, which has 2 million subscribers, reviews the performance of its channels frequently and those that do not grow their audiences are discontinued.
"SABC Africa did not meet the service level agreement," said a source familiar with the matter.
The SABC plans to merge its African news service with its newly launched SABC International news channel to appeal to a wider audience. The public broadcaster could negotiate a new contract with MultiChoice to carry the struggling SABC International on DStv.
SABC International is accessible on the unpopular Vivid platform, which is owned by state-owned signal distributor Sentech.
The SABC has arrangements with other broadcasters in Africa to carry SABC International, but it is not clear whether those broadcasters are paying for the content. If they were not, it would be unlikely that MultiChoice would have agreed to pay for the content, said a source.
SABC Africa staff members would remain with the channel and they would play an instrumental role in the new digital channels planned by the broadcaster, the SABC said.
The SABC spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago, was not available for comment on the termination of the SABC Africa contract.
Business Report
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