The cash-strapped SABC has now further downsized its lofty and over-promised TV channels offering for South Africa's long-stalled switch to digital television, with the South African public broadcaster that is toning down its envisioned TV channels collection from 18 to just a possible 9.
In September 2011 SABC executives and the SABC board told parliament that the SABC's offering for digital terrestrial television (DTT) will consist of 18 TV channels: 17 TV channels (including SABC1, SABC2, SABC3) and one interactive video service channel, as well as 18 SABC radio stations plus Channel Africa.
For DTT the SABC also promised parliament multiple times in the past that new services like closed captioning (on-screen subtitles) in multiple languages that can be accessed by the set top box's remote control, multiple language soundtracks with up to 4 different audio tracks per programme for certain shows, audio description to provide contextual information in programmes, as well as some interactive applications.
After a decade of working towards DTT, out of the SABC's envisioned DTT plans, only SABC News (DStv 404) and SABC Encore (DStv 156) have so far materialised, both carried on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform as part of an exclusive channels carriage contract with Naspers' pay-TV arm.
On Tuesday the SABC told parliament that the broadcaster that is hovering on the brink of financial collapse, has now downscaled its proposed DTT channels offering to just 9 TV channels.
These envisioned additional new channels don't have any funding yet and won't materialise without cash that will have to come from somewhere and that the SABC hasn't currently budgeted for.
The SABC now wants its DTT channels offering to be SABC1, SABC2, SABC3, SABC News, a SABC Parliamentary channel, SABC Education, SABC Health, SABC Sport and SABC History.
"For the SABC Parliamentary channel our intention isn't to have it as just a feed but we are going to make sure that it has presenters and it is interactive and actually deals with the issues of the day. So the only cost that we anticipate seeing there might be on-air talent," said Nomsa Philiso, the group executive for SABC television.
"For the SABC Education channel we're looking for partnerships and in this instance the conversations have already started with a funder, however we still need to start a conversation with the department of education."
"Similarly, with the SABC Health channel we want to be able to partner with corporate and we are in the process of trying to find out how that can be done," said Nomsa Philiso.
"From a SABC Sport channel point of view this can only be done in the form of a partnership as well."
"Depending on which DTT channel launches first in terms of how we're going to phase this - because if we have SABC Sport as a high definition (HD) channel we may not be able to have the 9th channel but if we have it as a standard definition (SD) channel we may then be able to do another channel - so we are anticipating that we will have a 9th channel which is going to be the SABC History channel."
"SABC History is a channel that will give us the opportunity to really contribute in terms of what are South Africans, who are we and what is our history."
SABC's DTT dream has no funds
Nomsa Philiso said "this dream here is currently unfunded but we do believe that corporate South Africa will rise up and really partner with us in terms of the channels that we would like to see on the digital platform".
A single linear TV channel requires 8 760 hours of content per year.
The SABC's reworked DTT offering plan has now dumped plans for the envisioned regionalised channels SABC4 catering to the north of the country and SABC5 that would have catered for audiences in the south.
The SABC has also quietly shelved its plan announced in April 2016 for 3 language based DTT TV channels - a channel for Afrikaans viewers, a Sotho channel catering for Sesotho, Setswana and Sepedi languages; and a Nguni focused channel catering to Zulu, Xhosa, Siswati and Ndebele viewers.
SABC 'revitalizing' sliding SABC2, SABC3 as e.tv readies OpenNews
The SABC that is under pressure to maintain its TV audience share, told parliament that the existing SABC2 and SABC3 channels have seen their audiences and share continue to slide the past year but that SABC2 - that has gone through 6 big schedule changes since 2014 - is looking at revitalizing some prime time shows that is showing audience erosion to lure viewers back.
The SABC is also yet again repositioning SABC3 this year, this time in the "premium space" and will focus on reality, drama, emotainment magazine shows and talk shows for the "mobile audience" that is perceived to be DStv viewers but who would watch SABC3.
Meanwhile the SABC's free-to-air rival e.tv is forging ahead with its DTT plans, with eMedia Investments' rebranded direct-to-home (DTH) and free-to-air satellite TV service Openview launching its new 2-hour block of Afrikaans content on its eExtra channel on 1 October.
This will include the new daily half hour Afrikaans TV news bulletin Nuusdag that will also launch on 1 October and that will be available to DStv and StarSat subscribers since the eExtra channel is carried on both of these platforms.
Meanwhile OpenNews as a new DTT free-to-air TV news channel and e.tv's own in-house rival to eNCA (DStv 403) supplied to MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform is set to launch on 1 November on the Openview platform.