Free-to-air satellite channels will bring choice to television viewers
by Thabiso Mochiko
Business Day [South Africa]
07 October 2013, 10:19
http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/technology/2013/10/07/free-to-air-satellite-channels-will-bring-choice-to-television-viewers
THE launch of two new free-to-air satellite stations in South Africa in
the next few weeks signals a new era for the local broadcasting market,
with the biggest beneficiaries expected to be content providers and
customers, says satellite provider SES.
While the new platforms are still owned by existing players, they
provide choice for consumers who are unable to afford pay-TV services or
who cannot receive broadcast signals through the traditional terrestrial
technology.
Broadcaster e.tv’s sister company, Platco, will launch free-to-air
satellite service OpenView HD, while signal distributor Sentech will
launch a similar service called Freevision.
The channels on those platforms will be competing for a slice of the
advertising pie. A recent report on the outlook for entertainment and
media in South Africa by PwC shows that television advertising revenues
could reach R15.1bn in 2017 from R11.4bn last year. Most of it will come
from organic growth, fuelled by growing audiences, and greater
competition among broadcasters and advertisers for their attention.
Relatively favourable macroeconomic conditions could also boost the
revenues, the report states.
The senior vice-president: commercial in Africa, for SES, Ibrahima
Guimba-Saidou, says the company believes "we are on the brink of a
tipping point in the broadcast industry, which signals the beginning of
a new era on the continent. And, in my opinion, broadcast will
eventually generate more revenue than cellphones." SES is the satellite
provider for OpenView and pay-TV company TopTV.
Mukoma Attorneys’ broadcasting lawyer Avhasei Mukoma says more
broadcasting players in the market will allow the local production
sector to grow, provided such companies source their content locally.
He says the regulator should have opened the market a long time ago so
that it could reduce the barrier to entry for new players. "The playing
field is not level ; the incumbent has an unfair advantage over new
players," Mr Mukoma says.
The free-to-air market has been dominated by the public broadcaster and
e.tv, but the growth of MultiChoice is posing a threat to the
free-to-air industry. According to reports, household access to
free-to-air services has declined as more people subscribe to pay-TV
services.
SA, along with other countries on the continent, is migrating from
analogue broadcasting to digital, which will also result in more
channels on the terrestrial platform. But the launch of free-to-air
satellite services ahead of digital terrestrial TV (DTT) could be seen
as undermining the migration process.
Mr Guimba-Saidou says both platforms — terrestrial and satellite — are
complementary because, in some areas, the terrestrial signal is poor,
and thus using satellite will be ideal.
"Competition is good for consumers, and for content providers. The
industry also needs to have more options that complement each other … to
reach the masses in a more cost-effective way," he says.
Sentech says the broadcasting digital migration policy recognises that
100% digital migration in SA will be achieved through DTT, supported by
other platforms such as satellite.
The National Association of Manufacturers in Electronics Components,
whose members include the Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans
Association, and the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa,
will "flight its content on any platform as long as those platforms
offer easy and affordable access to especially the historically
disadvantaged," says the association’s president, Keith Thabo.
He agrees that the new satellite free-to-air channels will not undermine
or threaten DTT, and the two must run in parallel "unless those owning
the channel have other motives".
"Given (that ) there are areas where the terrestrial broadcast signal
cannot be picked up, satellite becomes an alternative to ensure that our
people in far-flung areas receive a television signal like everybody
else," says Mr Thabo.
SES says satellite technology goes beyond broadcasting signals and is
increasingly used for other services, such as broadband. SES will launch
a satellite next year, focusing on Africa.
"I foresee that the roll-out of satellite technology will be similar to
what happened when the internet first came on stream," says Mr
Guimba-Saidou. "At first, it was only used for browsing websites, and
has now grown to permeate all aspects of human activity."
SES is eyeing new markets in Africa and plans to open an office in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia.
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