SABC's decision on satellite is perplexing

Resources should be focussed on its SABC Plus streaming platform

I strive to maintain fairness when commenting on the SABC, its competitors, suppliers, and the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (as shareholder and policy maker). Given my previous board role at the SABC, I often extend the benefit of the doubt to my former colleagues, as I am no longer privy to the strategic discussions influencing key decisions.

While my critiques are sometimes sharp, they focus strictly on policy, never on individuals. In this context, the SABC's recently reported decision to explore an additional (or alternative?) satellite provider is perplexing. Here are some questions and points for consideration:

• Why is SABC considering its own satellite service now, when its channels are already available in all MultiChoice and OpenView homes, and the satellite distribution market is highly competitive? This move seems like a classic case of entering a 'red ocean' (a saturated, competitive market) rather than a 'blue ocean' (a market with more opportunities). I might have supported this initiative a decade ago, but at that time, both Sentech and the government were strongly opposed to anything that could potentially rival their DTT platform.

• The reported requirements of the tender document seem to be advantageous for a single supplier, namely SENTECH Soc Ltd. Given that the SABC is currently embroiled in a tariff dispute with Sentech and already owes the state-owned signal distributor over a billion rand, wouldn't entering into another contract with the same company exacerbate the existing problem?

• How long will it take for the SABC (and its prospective partner) to roll out set-top boxes in households, considering that it took OpenView many years to reach over 3 million homes? Given this lengthy process, how can this initiative be a viable response to the imminent switch-off of the analogue transmitter network?

This image was created with the assistance of DALL·E 2

• Why is SABC looking for a revenue share with the successful tenderer when it currently retains all the advertising revenue under its agreement with OpenView?

• What does this decision imply about the failed rollout of the DTT platform? Has the government and Sentech now conceded that DTT is a failure? Furthermore, will they disclose how much taxpayer money has been spent on this unsuccessful endeavour?

• Will former Ministers of Communication, excluding Mondli Gungubele who was consistently fair, now acknowledge that the previous board's concerns about DTT were valid? Furthermore, will they admit that their harsh public criticism of the previous board was unjustified and unwarranted?

• Lastly, if the SABC aims to "control its own destiny," shouldn't it focus all available resources on creating compelling content, making its unique archival content accessible, and transforming SABC Plus into the most successful free streaming platform on the African continent? SABC Plus is the SABC's own platform and does not rely on Sentech for distribution.

Hopefully these questions will be answered before the SABC embarks on this potentially costly initiative.¹

1. The first version of this piece was published on Linkedin on 8 August 2024