Indeed, Openview launched subscription TV packages<\/a> on its platform in March 2023 under the Ultraview brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the SABC, it wants to launch a satellite platform because it fears South Africa’s migration to digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting will be a failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The SABC wants to mitigate the devastating effect on our audiences of the analogue switch-off on 31 December 2024,” it stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, the SABC said it wants to enhance the broadcasting landscape and deliver on its digital transformational journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The establishment of an integrated free-to-air Direct to Home (DTH) platform will enable the SABC to be in control of its destiny,” the public broadcaster continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DTH is broadcasting industry terminology for satellite TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The SABC said a DTH platform would also position it as a content aggregator, add additional TV channels to its bouquet, consolidate audiences through a single platform, and deliver on its objective of providing varied programming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Successful bidders must supply 100,000 decoders for the first phase of the project and ensure they are stocked on shop shelves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To test market uptake, half of the decoders should be basic “zapper” set-top boxes, while the other 50,000 must be high-end hybrid decoders with online functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “In total, one million STBs will be manufactured and distributed by this project,” the SABC stated. “Uptake will determine the future split between basic and hybrid boxes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The SABC’s minimum specifications for the tender also include a 36MHz Ku-band transponder on Intelsat’s IS-20 satellite. This will enable the SABC to introduce additional TV services, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a questions-and-answers document<\/a>\u00a0published alongside the tender, the SABC responded to prospective bidders’ concerns about<\/span> this requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Specifying IS-20 as the preferred satellite to host the DTH platform will potentially prejudice most bidders as this is a very scarce commodity, which is currently only accessed by Sentech and MultiChoice,” bidders said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Is the SABC expecting potential bidders to partner with Sentech and MultiChoice?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the SABC did not name Sentech and DStv owner MultiChoice in its answer, it said that successful bidders may partner with third parties to access the satellite space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The SABC seeks residency for its DTH Platform on the IS-20 satellite with a proven market penetration in South Africa of over 11.5 million households,” the public broadcaster stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DStv and Openview both operate through IS-20, as does Sentech’s Freevision service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It is a readily configurable option when it comes to current client installations which aligns to standardisation and cost management initiatives,” the SABC said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sunday newspaper Rapport first reported<\/a> about the tender and contacted the SABC for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The public broadcaster reportedly confirmed that it was developing a satellite TV service as an additional platform strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SABC currently broadcasts over a terrestrial network operated by state-owned signal distributor Sentech and has its own streaming service, SABC+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also supplies channels to DStv, StarSat, and Openview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The SABC’s statement regarding the analogue TV signal switch-off scheduled for 31 December has potentially far-reaching ramifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Switching off South Africa’s old analogue television transmitters is the last step of an over twenty-year plan<\/a> to migrate to newer, digital terrestrial TV technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The switch-off will free up valuable radio frequency spectrum that mobile operators could use for 4G, 5G, and next-generation cellular network deployments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Openview and E-tv owner eMedia has previously hauled the Minister of Communications to court over an earlier switch-off date, arguing that many indigent households will be left without access to TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n eMedia, the SABC, and several free-to-air community broadcasters have also warned that this would slash their audience figures<\/a> and hurt their advertising revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following eMedia’s legal challenge, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies renewed its drive to distribute DTT set-top boxes (STBs) to needy households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Digital-TV-1-.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSouth Africa’s DTT failure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n