by Thinus Ferreira
South Africa's Parliament TV channel carried on MultiChoice's DStv went off air on Sunday during the fire that ravaged the National Assembly and other sections at the country's parliament complex in Cape Town.
After Sunday's fire started, Parliament TV, carried on MultiChoice's DStv channel 408, first ceased programming, then added a "programming interrupted" blue screen notification.
Later, the Parliament TV channel feed was shut down by MultiChoice, with the channel now displaying a "channel closed" notification and the electronic programme guide (EPG) content removed.
With South Africa's parliament in recess, Parliament TV was not showing any live content but has been rebroadcasting various sessions and meetings of different portfolio committees from 2021.
On Sunday as fire ravaged parts of parliament's Nasional Assembly and other sections of the building, Parliament TV's broadcast on DStv was cut. It was replaced by a blue screen notification saying "Sorry about the interruption to your viewing. Our teams will get you back to your favourite show as soon as we can. Thanks for understanding."
Later on Sunday MultiChoice cut the channel's feed with Parliament TV that is now "closed" and the EPG simply displaying an "Important Message", saying: "We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Regular programming will resume as soon as possible."
Besides DStv, Parliament TV is also streamed online on YouTube where the channel still streamed the funeral service of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on Saturday. On Sunday Parliament TV uploaded a short message to YouTube of Patricia De Lille, minister of public works, briefing the media on the fire at parliament.
MultiChoice told TVwithThinus on Monday afternoon in response to a media query that "Parliament TV stopped airing on Sunday
at 10:10 and due to the fire at the parliament building, as programming is
delivered from parliament's premises. The channel was placed on ‘Not Running’
status and the electronic programme guide (EPG) updated to reflect technical
issues. Parliament TV has now been restored".
