{"id":603666,"date":"2025-07-23T12:01:56","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T10:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=603666"},"modified":"2025-07-23T12:02:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T10:02:01","slug":"sabc-total-blackout-warning-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadcasting\/603666-sabc-total-blackout-warning-2.html","title":{"rendered":"SABC total blackout warning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli has warned that there is a real possibility of a blackout where Sentech switches off its transmitters due to unpaid debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She shared this information during a joint sitting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies on 16 July 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBecause of the legacy debt from Sentech, we are at a point where they have indicated that they will start switching off transmitters,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When a TV or radio station\u2019s transmitters are switched off, the station\u2019s signal is not broadcast, which results in a loss of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That means people within the transmitter\u2019s range will not be able to receive the station\u2019s programming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, if Sentech were to switch off the SABC\u2019s transmitters, it would cause a total blackout of the state broadcaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is not the first time there has been a warning about a total blackout of the SABC\u2019s television and radio services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year, Media Monitoring Africa\u2019s William Bird said the SABC was at risk of a blackout, with the government actively defunding the public broadcaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bird explained that Sentech\u2019s signal distribution is one of the most significant costs for the SABC, and in the case of state broadcasters, the government should cover these costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt should be something that is covered by the state. However, the SABC is left to carry this enormous bill, and it\u2019s one of the things that makes its model less sustainable,\u201d said Bird.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe scenario is catastrophic. You have the SABC\u2019s finances plummeting. Yet, you have the government and Parliament failing to do their job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added that the government\u2019s failure to provide a bailout or a loan guarantee leaves the SABC in an impossible position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not a stretch that we will be looking at a blackout,\u201d he added. The broadcaster narrowly avoided a blackout in the past year, and this can become a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The SABC in serious financial trouble<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Nomsa-Chiabeli-SABC.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-603478\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Nomsa-Chiabeli-SABC.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Nomsa-Chiabeli-SABC-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Nomsa-Chiabeli-SABC-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Nomsa Chabeli, SABC Group CEO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Chabeli told members of Parliament that there is no funding for the state broadcaster\u2019s public interest mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The business model is no longer fit for purpose. \u201cIt was designed for a world that no longer exists, and the SABC does not have the control to change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She explained that making the SABC financially sustainable requires legislative and regulatory change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is because TV license fee compliance continues declining. The fees people pay have also remained static for years, and have a 40% cost of collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She further highlighted that there have been tectonic shifts in the marketplace and that global tech giants control advertising revenue\u00a0\u2014\u00a0from traditional broadcast to digital media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The situation has left the SABC with no access to capital or an overdraft to invest in what it needs to remain relevant and sustainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This has been exacerbated by the absence of loan guarantees from the National Treasury, despite the SABC\u2019s sound governance and a clean audit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe SABC has no funding available for investment in content. It relies on repeats,\u201d Chabeli told members of Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She explained that this leads to a downward spiral, as content is the prime driver of advertising and sponsorship support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lack of funding further means that the SABC cannot invest in new digital platforms and applications despite the demand and growth in this area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She said the state broadcaster has exhausted its financial resources and that there is now a significant going-concern risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chabeli warned that there will be significant reputational and public interest risk to the government if SABC fails.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli has warned that there is a real possibility of a blackout where Sentech switches off its transmitters due to unpaid debt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":578923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[91103,100690,361],"class_list":["post-603666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","tag-nomsa-chabeli","tag-portfolio-committee-meeting-on-communications-and-digital-technologies","tag-sabc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603666"}],"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\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603666"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":603738,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603666\/revisions\/603738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}