The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) will no longer broadcast the Springboks’ matches against Ireland in South Africa on 6 July and 12 July 2024.<\/p>\n
The broadcaster said the decision followed the recent urgent litigation at the Competition Appeal Court over the broadcast rights to test matches.<\/p>\n
That led the SABC to review continuing with the sub-licencing agreement concluded with MultiChoice’s SuperSport, which it first announced a week ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The SABC will always strive to achieve its sports broadcast mandate without compromising its commercial objectives,” the broadcaster said.<\/p>\n While it did not specifically name the legal matter in question, the SABC was likely referring to eMedia and MultiChoice’s battle<\/a> over the sub-licensing of free-to-air sports broadcasting rights.<\/p>\n Former SABC board member Michael Markovitz recently pointed out<\/a> that the SABC’s sub-licensing agreement could be in violation of the Competition Tribunal’s previous ruling regarding sub-licencing in favour of eMedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n The SABC had again agreed not to broadcast the two matches and the T20 Cricket World Cup final on its free-to-air channels on eMedia’s Openview satellite service.<\/p>\n MultiChoice previously demanded the same condition for key matches from the Rugby World Cup and Cricket World Cup that the SABC had sub-licensed at the last minute.<\/p>\n eMedia slammed the condition and took MultiChoice to the Competition Tribunal.<\/p>\n The Tribunal granted eMedia an interdict that forced MultiChoice to allow the SABC to broadcast live sports sub-licensed from SuperSport on Openview.<\/p>\n MultiChoice has appealed the ruling, and the Competition Appeal Court is set to hear arguments in the matter in August 2024.<\/p>\n eMedia has also challenged MultiChoice’s short sub-licensing bidding periods for important sports events, after it only opened a tender for free-to-air broadcasters to bid for the T20 Cricket World Cup matches five weeks before the tournament started.<\/p>\n The SABC is likely concerned that not broadcasting the matches on its Openview channels would violate the interdict.<\/p>\n Shortly after the SABC’s announcement, MultiChoice released a short statement describing the termination of the sub-licensing agreement as “regrettable”, although it fully “respects and accepts” the decision.<\/p>\n “MultiChoice will continue engaging with the SABC in seeking a working relationship that would benefit both viewers and sports bodies,” the broadcaster said.<\/p>\n The SABC will still offer radio broadcasting and commentary of all six Inbound Tour Springboks matches on the following stations:<\/p>\n The SABC’s latest agreement with MultiChoice also excluded the rights to stream the matches on its SABC+ service.<\/p>\n The only official way to stream the matches in South Africa will be via DStv Stream.<\/p>\nAlternative options on radio and streaming<\/h2>\n
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