{"id":660985,"date":"2026-08-05T18:30:58","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T16:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=660985"},"modified":"2026-08-05T20:34:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T18:34:46","slug":"sabc-goes-from-hero-to-zero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadcasting\/660985-sabc-goes-from-hero-to-zero.html","title":{"rendered":"SABC goes from hero to zero"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The South African government founded the South African Broadcasting Corporation in August 1936, and after reaching peak profitability in the 2000’s, has seen its finances decline to a very poor state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broadcaster was founded by an Act of Parliament when the SABC took over the African Broadcasting Company’s assets and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The African Broadcasting Company was formed roughly 9 years earlier through the merger of three South African radio services, which were owned by IW Schlesinger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SABC maintained a state-regulated monopoly on radio services in the country until December 1979, when Capital Radio 604 launched, followed by Radio 702’s launch in 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the launch of television in South Africa, the SABC managed three primary radio stations: the English Service, the Afrikaans Service, and a commercial station, Springbok Radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The English Service later became known as Radio South Africa, while the Afrikaans Service became known as Radio Suid-Afrika and Afrikaans Stereo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Television launched in South Africa in 1976 after years of political resistance. The National Party feared TV would undermine the apartheid regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling party feared that English media would erode Afrikaner culture, promote racial integration, and corrupt public morals through foreign consumerism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SABC didn’t participate in subscription-funded broadcasting with M-Net, which launched in 1986. However, it maintained a monopoly over free-to-air TV until eMedia’s E-tv launched in 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 1976 to 1982, the SABC operated a single bilingual television channel called SABC Television, which later became TV2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It expanded its channel offering in 1982 to include TV2 and TV3 as a shared service aimed primarily at black South African audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SABC then separated TV2 and TV3 into separate full-time channels in 1983, before launching TV4 in 1986. TV4 focused largely on sport and entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After apartheid ended in 1994, the SABC restructured its channels in 1996 to the SABC1, SABC2, and SABC3 brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From healthy profits to substantial losses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Following the restructuring, the public broadcaster reached peak financial performance in the mid-2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, TV advertising was still dominated by free-to-air broadcasters, and DStv hadn’t established dominance in middle-income households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the 2000\/01 to the 2004\/05 financial years, the SABC’s annual reported revenue grew from around R2 billion to R3.5 billion, and it reported profits in each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The revenue figure grew to around R4 billion in 2005\/06, when the public broadcaster reported an after-tax profit of R383 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SABC hit peak financial performance in the 2006\/07 financial year, reporting revenue of around R4.4 billion and an after-tax profit of R183 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revenue grew to around R4.7 billion in 2007\/08, and the SABC reported a net profit decline of R321 million in the following year, marking its last profitable year until 2011\/12<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2008\/09, it reported a net loss of R910 million, followed by a net loss of R486 million in 2009\/10 and R129 million in 2010\/11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SABC returned to profitability in 2011\/12, reporting a net profit of R343 million, followed by R330 million in 2012\/13 and R652 million in 2013\/14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, these were the last years in which the public broadcaster reported a net profit. The 2014\/15 financial year saw a net loss of R395 million, which grew to R411 million the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its net loss surged to R977 million in 2016\/17, then improved to R622 million in 2017\/18 and R482 million in 2018\/19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highest net loss the SABC recorded was in the 2022\/23 financial year, when it reported a net loss of R1.13 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chart below tracks the SABC’s reported annual net profits and losses from the 2004\/05 financial year to 2024\/25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SABC turns 90<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The SABC turned 90 on 1 August 2026, with the public broadcaster celebrating the milestone in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The SABC has grown alongside the nation, evolving from traditional radio broadcasting into a dynamic multimedia organisation,” the public broadcaster said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that it currently serves audiences through its 6 TV channels, 19 radio stations, and various digital platforms, including its free-to-use SABC Plus streaming platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As the country’s only public broadcaster, the SABC champions local content, nurtures home-grown talent, and celebrates the country’s rich cultural heritage,” the SABC said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that it has played a vital role in promoting the country’s 12 official languages, music, traditions, and stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the broadcaster’s 90th anniversary, CEO Nomsa Chabeli took the opportunity to reflect on the SABC’s evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The SABC had documented the nation’s defining moments, recording periods of hardship and hope, decision and reconciliation, and preserving an audiovisual record of our country’s history,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SABC said it was looking forward with confidence and that its ambition is to build a world-class public service media organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The SABC’s 90th anniversary is a reminder of how South Africa has evolved, the enduring power of broadcasting to unite people and foster understanding and strengthen democracy,” the SABC said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Corporation remains committed to serving all South Africans and shaping the conversations that matter for generations to come.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The SABC was founded in August 1936 and it has gone from a once profitable broadcaster to reporting annual net losses each year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341076,"featured_media":661009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2085041146955210976","_sma_facebook_post_id":"120850204637381_1464874488997863","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18110816362814418","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[106820,91103,19949],"class_list":["post-660985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","tag-african-broadcasting-company","tag-nomsa-chabeli","tag-south-african-broadcasting-corporation-sabc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660985"}],"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\/341076"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660985"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":661175,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660985\/revisions\/661175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}