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For the first time in almost three years - a period during which more than 17 000 people working in South Africa's television production industry lost their jobs - the South African public broadcaster (SABC) appears to be on the verge of releasing the corporation's (what-used-to-be-annual) commissioning book calling for new local TV productions - known in the trade as its RFP book.
The SABC's new acting group CEO, Phil Molefe told South Africa's television production industry today that the broadcaster's new Request for Proposal Book, the SABC's RFP book, will be presented to the SABC's top executives for approval at the next group executive meeting that will be taking place this Thursday, 14 July. This usually 140+ page document details the new local content the SABC is looking for, ranging from education and religious programming to factual, drama, entertainment and children's shows.
The last time the SABC issued an RFP book was in September 2008. With mounting mismanagement and spiraling debt the broadcaster failed to deliver an RFP book in 2009 and promised one in May 2010. That didn't happen either. With mounting pressure building from government and the independent production sector, the broadcaster scrambled to piece together an interim RFP ''book'' - and only for specific genres and which came out in June 2010. This widely trashed ''document'' was only published by the SABC on its website. With the SABC in financial meltdown, TV producers realized that nothing in terms of real new local programming was going to be commissioned by the SABC.
While making the online RFP available in June 2010 the beleaguered broadcaster promised a comprehensive RFP book for November 2010. That didn't happen and a new promise was made to do it in December 2010. Then, deafening silence from the SABC when also that deadline came and went. In the meantime the SABC only did AFP productions - so-called advertiser-funded productions or shows where a headline sponsor is actually carrying the overall production cost.
Meanwhile the SABC furiously started ramping up its repeat schedule by doing rebroadcasts - with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) broadcasting authority blatantly admitting that it's unable to monitor whether the SABC is actually complying and adhering to strict local production quotas for SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3.
ALSO READ: 16 June 2010 - SABC won't be commissioning any new local TV content in 2010 until after November 2010.
