The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has proposed that regulation be implemented to expand the definition of a TV licence to include services such as Netflix.
In a presentation to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications presented by Deputy Communications Minister Pinky Kekana, the public broadcaster has argued the expanded definition of a TV licence is outdated and needs to be adjusted to current realities.
The SABC said that regulation is needed which would require pay-TV service providers like MultiChoice (DStv) and video on demand providers like Netflix to collect TV licences on behalf of the SABC.
It added that this would be similar to municipalities collecting traffic fines and motor vehicle licence discs.
Kekana said during the presentation that the government’s proposal to help the SABC improve its financial position would include allowing the public broadcaster to collect licence fees from non-TV users.
“Including engaging with those who have been carrying the SABC programmes on their pay-TV, how do we through ICASA make sure that they too are able to assist us to collect TV licences?” Kekana said.
“But we are not only limiting it to TV. We also have other platforms where people consume content and in all of those areas, that is where we should look at how we are able to get SABC licence fees from those gadgets.”
This means that the SABC wants users who watch content on devices such as laptops and smartphones to also pay licence fees.
Sports rights
The SABC has also called for improved access to national sports rights – specifically, it wants access to these broadcast rights at an improved rate.
The SABC argued that national sports must be made available to it at “a very affordable price”.
Another point in the presentation to Parliament was the proposed removal of the must-carry rule for the SABC, which requires that all subscription broadcasters with more than 30 channels must carry the SABC’s three free-to-air television channels.
However, current regulations state the SABC “must offer its television programmes, at no cost,” to subscription broadcasters instead of allowing commercial negotiations between the parties.
The SABC said that it instead wants to negotiate with pay-TV providers to pay for these channels as it noted that the current regulations meant the deal was “one-sided” in favour of Multichoice.
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Source: mybroadband
