{"id":544487,"date":"2024-07-14T09:05:28","date_gmt":"2024-07-14T07:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=544487"},"modified":"2024-07-14T09:05:28","modified_gmt":"2024-07-14T07:05:28","slug":"big-fight-between-dstv-and-openview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadcasting\/544487-big-fight-between-dstv-and-openview.html","title":{"rendered":"Big fight between DStv and Openview"},"content":{"rendered":"

DStv operator MultiChoice says it rejected eMedia\u2019s offer for the rights to broadcast the Springbok rugby test matches against Ireland on Openview because it was too low, Rapport reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This comes after eMedia released a statement on Friday declaring the contrary.<\/p>\n

\u201ceMedia made a significant financial offer to MultiChoice to broadcast the Irish rugby Pretoria and Durban test matches, which MultiChoice inexplicably rejected,\u201d the broadcaster said.<\/p>\n

eMedia issued the statement in response to the South African Rugby Union (Saru) casting it as the villain in the story after the SABC announced it would no longer show the matches<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the heart of the matter is a six-month Competition Tribunal interdict that blocks MultiChoice from including restrictions specific to Openview and eMedia in sub-licensing agreements with the SABC.<\/p>\n

The issue traces back to a dispute over Rugby and Cricket World Cup sub-licensing deals between MultiChoice and the SABC that prevented the public broadcaster from showing the matches on Openview.<\/p>\n

Openview is eMedia\u2019s free-to-view satellite TV platform.<\/p>\n

Last year, MultiChoice and the SABC concluded last-minute deals to show key matches from the Rugby and Cricket World Cup tournaments on the public broadcaster\u2019s free-to-air channels.<\/p>\n

However, the deals explicitly prohibited the SABC from broadcasting the matches on any of its channels on Openview.<\/p>\n

eMedia hauled MultiChoice to court and eventually the Competition Tribunal, arguing that these stipulations were anti-competitive.<\/p>\n

The Competition Tribunal issued an interdict blocking MultiChoice from including such restrictions for the next six months while it considers the merits of eMedia\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

Saru characterised this as eMedia seeking to freeload without compensating the SABC after it paid SuperSport for the broadcasting rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be clear, this is not a conflict between SuperSport and the SABC \u2014 they had a contract in place to broadcast the matches based on appropriate commercial terms,\u201d said Saru president Mark Alexander.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the intervention of eMedia and its demand that Openview be permitted to broadcast the rugby without any financial contribution by eMedia that put an end to this agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander said eMedia\u2019s attempts to put an end to exclusivity in sports broadcasting rights would slash the fees they get from selling those rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sport itself would suffer the most, severely impacting our programme delivery from the grassroots level to the back-to-back Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201ceMedia is a well-funded private company that pays to create television content and purchases content from filmmakers and other broadcasters,\u201d Alexander continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is absurd that they should be allowed to broadcast sport without contributing to its support and development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander said Saru was not invited to participate in the proceedings that led to the Competition Tribunal order despite its significant impact on Saru\u2019s sustainability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis may appear to be a minor and obscure issue to the general public, but it is critically important to the Springboks and the future of rugby in South Africa, affecting not just the broadcasters but the sport itself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this six-month order is extended, it would severely undermine the financial model that has enabled us to produce consecutive Rugby World Cup-winning Springbok teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander said Saru was seeking legal advice regarding the Tribunal\u2019s order.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Mark Alexander, Saru president<\/p><\/div>\n

eMedia hit back at Alexander, saying he failed to mention<\/a> that the SABC agreed with their argument that the restrictions were anti-competitive and filed affidavits in support of their case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SABC itself has filed a complaint with the Competition Commission in relation to MultiChoice and SuperSport\u2019s conduct in sub-licensing the free-to-air rights relating to sporting events,\u201d eMedia stated.<\/p>\n

It also said the SABC derives all of the advertising revenue from its channels that are broadcast on Openview.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be clear, eMedia and Openview derive no advertising revenue from the SABC channels being distributed on the Openview platform,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing the institution of further urgent proceedings by eMedia, MultiChoice\/SuperSport gave an undertaking late last week that it would permit the SABC to broadcast the rugby on Openview, at no additional cost to the SABC,\u201d said eMedia.<\/p>\n

The broadcaster said this meant the SABC would reach its entire audience and not miss out on the 25% of viewers accessing its channels through Openview.<\/p>\n

\u201cInexplicably, the SABC used the fact of that undertaking to cancel its agreement with MultiChoice\/SuperSport in its entirety,\u201d eMedia said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the SABC\u2019s decision which resulted in the rugby not being aired by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SABC has disputed this version of events, saying that legal action in the Competition Appeal Court necessitated that it not proceed with the sub-licensing deal it had concluded with MultiChoice.<\/p>\n

It said all the Springbok rugby matches during the current test series will still be broadcast on ten SABC radio stations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MultiChoice says that eMedia low-balled it on an offer to sub-licence the rights to broadcast the Springbok rugby tests against Ireland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":508936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[80317,3222,5960,51025,1435,35,475,50823,19949,2938,3516],"class_list":["post-544487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","tag-competition-appeal-court","tag-competition-commission","tag-competition-tribunal","tag-emedia","tag-etv","tag-headline","tag-multichoice","tag-openview","tag-south-african-broadcasting-corporation-sabc","tag-springboks","tag-supersport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}