The SABC's CEO Lulama Mokhobo told parliament that the public broadcaster wants pay TV operators in the country to help with the collection of SABC licence fees from pay TV subscribers who are not paying their annual SABC licence.
In 2007 the SABC had a similar plan and wanted South Africa's TV regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) to force pay TV operators to check whether subscribers have a valid SABC licence.
With competition getting tougher as new pay TV players enter the South African television market, Lulama Mokhobo,who who presented the SABC's new Corporate Plan for 2012 - 2015, told parliament it will have "a serious and negative" impact on the SABC's income in years to come since pay TV operators are stealing away viewers in the target demographics catered to by the SABC.
With cheaper satellite TV bouquets becoming available in South Africa, more people are getting access to and opt to become pay TV subscribers. Due to the bigger choice of channels, they watch less SABC content. Icasa meanwhile is planning to licence more pay TV operators within South Africa. Both e.tv and M-Net are set to expand with many more TV channels as they start their own multi-channel bouquets as South Africa moves to digital terrestrial television (DTT). The explosion in the profusion of available TV channel choices will lead to further audience fragmentation.
Lulama Mokhobo said a growing number of South African TV households view a satellite dish as a prestige status symbol which means better television. She said owners of houses in squatter camps or rural areas with a satellite dish mounted outside the house are very respected in their communities. She said the SABC will have to devise a marketing campaign to fight this perception and that the SABC does have good TV content. The SABC plans to launch six of its planned new bouquet of TV channels for digital terrestrial television (DTT) within a year.
Lulama Mokhobo said "legislative protection" is needed against TV owners who are not paying their annual SABC TV licence. The SABC feels that pay TV operators such as MultiChoice, TopTV and M-Net should be obliged to help in the collection of SABC licence fees.
The SABC said its especially high-income earners who pay for subscription television in South Africa who refuse to pay their SABC TV licence. According to the broadcaster the collection of fees remains a huge challenge with the income from licence fees remaining mostly stagnant although the number of TV households in South Africa and pay TV households keeps growing.
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