Next Wednesday 21 September [POSTPONED! See the end of this story] an interesting open forum discussion will be held in Johannesburg on South Africa's transition to digital terrestrial television (DTT), a process known as digital migration, that will have a far reaching impact on South Africa's TV industry and viewers.
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''Survival tactics for broadcasting in a digital age'' is the subject of the debate organized by the SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition, the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ) and the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI). The discussion will take place on Wednesday 21 September between 11:00 - 13:00 at the IAJ, 5 Jubilee Rd, Parktown, Johannesburg.
The moderator of the dicussion will be Elston Seppie, executive director of the FXI, and speakers include Richard Waghorn, the chief technology officer of the SABC; Willie Currie, Icasa councillor and Norman Munzhelele, chief director: ICT policy research and development at the department of communications. Marcel Golding, CEO of e.tv and Rehad Desai, exsecutive member of the South African Screen Federation (Sasfed) have also both been invited to speak but have to still confirm their attendance.
People who want to attend can RSVP to Maki at the IAJ at print@iaj.org.za or phone 011 484 1765.
The discussion and debate will try to bring more perspective on the topic of South Africa's digital television broadcasting future as the country moves from analogue tot digital TV. Across the country South Africans will need to purchase new set top boxes (STBs) to receive the signal.
Should South Africa move to create a new set top box industry or should we simply import cheap STBs? Also, how can the industry ensure that everyone who can afford an STB buys one - and those that can't are subsidised? The SABC, e.tv and M-Net will be given a number of new ''digital incentive'' channels.
There are major advantages but also pitfalls. Potentially broadcasters will have the channel space to better fulfil their entertainment and public mandates covering all languages, regional issues, programming for women, the youth, the aged, disabled and rural.
But also there are pitfalls - how will broadcasters be able to afford to fill this channel space? How can the industry ensure that they don't give viewers an endless diet of American sitcoms and repeats? Further, does it make sense to stop new players from entering the market with new TV offerings during the dual illumination period (the period when broadcasters will need to broadcast in both analogue and digital signals)?
This debate has now been postponed as of today, 15 September, and I'm told will be rescheduled. The reason? Parliament has moved some of next week's dates regarding digital television hearings, to Wednesday, which now clashes with the day of the debate.
