Share

It might be 2017 but the SABC is using tapes like it’s 1980

Cape Town –  Mathatha Tsedu, SABC interim board deputy chairperson revealed to parliament that although the media and broadcasting world of 2017 is a fully digital environment, the SABC is operating in an analogue bubble as if it’s still the 1980s.  

“The majority of the SABC’s outside broadcasting (OB) trucks that do the outside broadcasts are analogue,” Tsedu told parliament’s portfolio committee on communications.

“So we need to replace them. It’s just that simple.”

“The SABC buys content outside in digital form. But when we store it, because we don’t have digital storage, we store it in tapes. So we buy it as 2017 content, and we store it as 1980 format.”

Tsedu explained to parliament how the SABC will have perform a Back to the Future like miracle maneuver to catch up with digital broadcasting at some point in the future.

“When the SABC eventually gets money to get a digital library we’re going to have to take our 2017 content – that we took back to 1980 – back to whatever the year will be when we do that,” said Mathatha Tsedu.

“Even in the news broadcasts, the final output of news still goes, some of it, in tape – in 2017! There’s need for a huge budget that should help us to cross over.”

Current affairs ‘still working on tapes’

An SABC current affairs producer in mid-April during a “rediffusion” staff session with the new SABC interim board, told the board that she was shocked to find upon her return to the public broadcaster that the SABC still works with tapes.

She stood up and said “I returned to the SABC 20 months ago. It was like moving back in time."

"The technology or the lack of technology in this place is shocking. In TV current affairs we're still working on tapes."

"In current affairs there are 7 or 8 cameramen available to all the current affairs programmes. We've been told we can only have one cameraman, per programme, per week. How are we supposed to shoot our inserts?"

Dumile Mateza, TV news presenter said the SABC News (DStv 404) channel the SABC supplies to MultiChoice’s DStv satellite pay-TV platform “is under threat."

"The channel started in 2013. We had a channel head. Today SABC News doesn't have a channel head. It means the channel has been driven by freelancers, all the time. All the staff you see on that channel has been driven by freelancers."

"When the SABC got the chance to set up this channel on DStv, they got the opportunity to start something that they could take forward once digital TV migration comes in. SABC News has been neglected."

"We have been rudderless on the SABC News channel since Themba Mthembu retired three years ago and we have been left to our own devices."

Poobie Pillay, an SABC advertising executive said "Landmark was implemented last year April. Landmark is an ad booking system that was meant to book client adverts and run across all 18 SABC radio stations. Landmark wasn't tested before implementation, there was no research done as to why we should use this software system for radio."

"The SABC has lost million by using and implementing the Landmark system. My colleagues and I've got clients on a daily basis ... we've got, Afrikaans ads are on Ukhozi FM; it's just a mess. We can't execute competitions and we are losing millions of rand."

"It's a year later and we're passing credits of over R100 million to clients."

No money for digital TV switch

Last week Ayanda Dlodlo, the new minister of communications, told parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) that the SABC doesn’t have any money for the broadcaster’s long-delayed switch from analogue to digital TV (DTT), a process known as digital migration.

In September 2011 SABC executives and the board promised parliament that the SABC’s DTT offering will entail 18 TV channels – 17 TV channels and one interactive video service channel.

In May 2015 the SABC’s former chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng said the SABC will launch its DTT offering with only 5 channels.

In April 2016 Motsoeneng said the SABC will launch 4 so-called “language-based” TV channels: one Sesotho, Setswana and Sepedi language TV channel; one Nguni focused channel for Zulu, Xhosa, Siswati and Ndebele; a third channel for Tsonga and Venda language speakers; and a fourth SABC TV channel for Afrikaans viewers.

Motsoeneng said he secured R1bn for the SABC for the production of new local TV content for these "language-based" channels. Over a year later, again nothing materialised.

Dlodlo told SCOPA that the SABC’s latest bailout request to treasury – similar to the one it got in 2009 in the form of a R1.47 billion government guaranteed loan from Nedbank – was completely inadequate, since the SABC, beyond staying afloat, must also switch to digital broadcasting.

“What was presented to me, does not take account of that fact that we are moving from analogue to digital. Therefore the funding request does not cover all of those things that are related to the migration from analogue to digital.”

“So to me, it was a funding request that was inadequate. It was almost like putting Elastoplast on a wound, instead of treating the wound,” said Ayanda Dlodlo.

While other South Africa broadcasters like M-Net and available streaming services in Africa like Naspers’ ShowMax and Netflix work in a fully digital environment with digital playout and literally beam episodes and seasons of shows in by satellite to vast digital libraries, the SABC struggles on with tapes.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE