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The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has proposed new rules that would oblige DStv to make certain sports free to serve the public interest.
This is already in place to some extent, and the South African Independent Communications Authority recently began a review of the country’s broadcast regulations that would redefine the criteria for this requirement.
In a whitepaper published last week, the department proposed that existing legislation defining events as “public interest” be amended to include various criteria.
Note that if a sport on DStv is deemed to be in the public interest, the broadcaster should make the sport available through free channels, effectively allowing all South Africans to watch the sport despite not having a subscription. to DStv.
Under the proposal, an event would have to meet all of the following criteria to qualify as public interest:
- The event must involve the South African senior national team (i.e. the highest ranking official South African team) or an individual representing the Republic.
- The event must be in a major sport, taking into consideration the number of South Africans who play and / or watch it on site or on television, or listen to radio coverage.
- The event should be of great importance to South African society, and not just to those who habitually follow the sport.
- The event is appropriate to enumerate, given its structure and duration.
- The event takes place in South Africa. The only events that take place outside of South Africa that should be eligible for inclusion in the list are international confederation sporting events, such as a World Cup or an Olympic event in which neither a South African team nor an individual represents the Republic. .
“It should remain the policy intention to continue to ensure that key national sporting events are broadcast free of charge, while recognizing that certain exclusive sporting events are critical to the viability of the subscription model,” the whitepaper states.
How DStv will be affected
ICASA’s presentation to parliament last month revealed that it was interested in evaluating the broadcasting of national sporting events to promote “greater audience reach while striking a balance between audience interests and revenue generation.”
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.
Given that MultiChoice has exclusive broadcasting rights to most of the popular sports in the country through its SuperSport channel, it is highly likely that these regulations affect your ability to exclusively broadcast certain sports.
The proposed list of events that ICASA previously said it was seeking to include under this criteria is as follows:
| 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 | |
MultiChoice prefers no changes to regulations
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.
It is unclear how this list can be changed as a result of the proposed amendments to the criteria describing “public interest” sports.
Multiple choice you said you would prefer that the regulations remain the same.
In response to questions from MyBroadband, MultiChoice said they are extensively involved in the review process.
He added that current rules, which include those that revolve around making “public interest” events available to platforms such as SABC, are adequate.
“MultiChoice is awaiting ICASA’s decision on the proposed amendments to the Sports Broadcasting Regulations, as are all stakeholders who were extensively involved in this process,” MultiChoice said.
“We continue to believe that the current regulations have a balanced approach and should not be changed.”
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