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The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is conducting a review of the country’s sports broadcasting regulations, specifically the rules on broadcasting sports.
In a presentation to parliament on September 4, ICASA said that the revision of the Regulations for Sports Broadcasting Services is to identify and list national sporting events and regulate the broadcasting of these sports.
He said the objectives of the regulations include regulating the broadcasting of national sporting events in “the public interest” and promoting “a greater audience reach while striking a balance between audience interests and revenue generation.”
ICASA said the following criteria are used to determine national sporting events of public interest:
- Confederation sporting events involving a national team or a national representative
- Semifinal and final of a national knockout competition
- An opening, semi-final and final game of a confederation sporting event
He added that he has proposed an expansion of the current list of sports that fall under these criteria and is in consultation with ministers regarding these changes.
ICASA said it has engaged with SABC, MultiChoice, eTV, SAFA, PSL, Cricket SA, Boxing SA, Athletics South Africa, SARU, Netball and SASCOC on the new proposed list of “public interest” sports.
“Consultations with the minister (s) are ongoing as required in terms of section 4 of the ECA,” he said.
Final regulations are expected to be published during the third quarter of the 2020 financial year.
List of new events
ICASA’s proposed list of events that would fall under the aforementioned criteria has been expanded to include many events that are exclusive to SuperSport and MultiChoice.
Many events streamed on SuperSport, including international cricket and rugby, are exclusive to MultiChoice’s DStv platform, while others, such as major soccer matches, are also available on Showmax Pro, their recently expanded streaming service.
The proposed list of events that ICASA seeks to include under this criterion is the following:
| Proposed list of sports | |
|---|---|
| Summer olympic games | Paralympic Games |
| FIFA World Cup | African Cup of Nations |
| Rugby world cup | ICC Cricket World Cup |
| ICC T20 World Cricket Championship | International boxing federations |
| Netball World Cup | Commonwealth Games |
| IAAF World Championships in Athletics | Super 15 rugby |
| All Africa games | Cosafa Cup |
| CAF Champions League | CAF Confederations Cup |
| MTN 8 | Telkom Knockout |
| Nedbank Cup | Currie Cup |
| TAFISA World Sport for all games | |
It is important to note that the selected matches of many of these events are already available for transmission through free-to-air stations such as SABC.
MultiChoice and other pay TV stations will also not lose the right to broadcast the events listed above if the revised list is approved.
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