Johannesburg – Thursday, 5 October 2023 – The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is pleased to announce that the Corporation will be broadcasting the Cricket World Cup 2023 following further negotiations with the rights holder, Multichoice (SuperSport) for the sub-licensing of the Cricket World Cup 2023 free-to-air broadcasting rights.

Both parties have reached an agreement that enables the SABC to fulfil its public service broadcaster’s mandate of broadcasting sports of national interest as well ensuring that all Cricket fans enjoy the much-anticipated world’s spectacle. The SABC will broadcast all South African games, including the semi-final, final and closing ceremony.

The public can catch the Cricket World Cup 2023 for free on the following SABC platforms; SABC 3 (DSTV 193, DTT and Analogue), sabcsport.com and SABC Plus. Regrettably, MultiChoice has restricted the broadcast of the Cricket World Cup 2023 on the OVHD (eMedia Platform).  The SABC has formally logged a complaint with the Competition Commission regarding this behaviour of Multichoice. To mitigate the block out of the Cricket on OVHD, the SABC has approached eMedia to jointly acquire the Cricket World Cup 2023 rights from MultiChoice to ensure all eMedia OVHD customers are able to view these games.Unfortunately, eMedia has not agreed to this.

Ends

Issued By:                             Group Communications

Media Enquiries:                   Ms. Mmoni Seapolelo (Acting Group Executive: Corporate Affairs and Marketing)

                                         Seapolelomv@sabc.co.za | T. 011 714 3057 | C. 073 688 1590

Johannesburg – Tuesday, 3 October 2023 – Following the extensive negotiations with Multichoice (SuperSport) for the sub-licensing of the Cricket World Cup 2023 free-to-air broadcasting rights, the SABC regrets to announce that the Corporation was not successful in securing these rights for South African audiences.

The SABC has once again been disadvantaged in securing the broadcasting rights of one of the sporting codes classified as sport of national interest by ICASA due to the non-affordable sub-licensing fees and restrictive conditions imposed by Multichoice. This development is regrettable, and the Corporation would like to apologise to all Cricket fans and all South Africans.

The SABC remains committed to broadcasting sports of national interest as mandated, conversely this commitment will not be carried out in a manner that is detrimental to the organisation but provide a positive return on investment.

Ends

Issued By:                               Group Communications

Media Enquiries:                    Ms. Mmoni Seapolelo (Acting Group Executive: Corporate Affairs and Marketing)

                                          Seapolelomv@sabc.co.za | T. 011 714 3057 | C. 073 688 1590

Johannesburg – Friday, 29 September 2023 – The South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) 2022/23 Annual Report was tabled in Parliament today. Throughout the 2022/23 financial year, the SABC continued to deliver on its mandate to educate, inform and entertain, as well as consistently impact and improve the lives of South Africans. Despite the challenges with the funding model and external and internal factors that negatively impacted the financial results, it is encouraging that during this period, SABC video entertainment programmes formed part of the top 20 most watched programmes and SABC radio stations retained dominance with over 26 million listeners weekly according to the Broadcast Research Council (BRC).

In addition, amongst its key highlights the Corporation launched its first streaming App, SABC Plus, which signals a new digital era for the organisation and a key accomplishment in further addressing universal access for South Africans. During the year under review, the SABC also brought back a flagship property, the METRO FM Music Awards after a brief hiatus hosted in partnership with Mpumalanga Province.

After seven (7) years of consistently improving net losses, the year under review unfortunately saw a significant regression. This is as a result of revenue that was 7.9% less than 2021/22 financial year and 27% less than budget. The SABC made a net loss of R1.13b. This translates to a R949m more than the previous financial year. The cash reserves consequently decreased by R709m (60%) as compared to the R300m recorded in the previous year.

The significant under performance of revenue can be attributed to a variety of internal and external factors including but not limited to the growth in audience ratings that did not meet expectations, the impact of analogue switch off and loadshedding, the inability to successfully monetise sport properties and other content and the increasing TV License evasion rate. In parallel the unfunded cost of public service mandate, which was R817m in 2022/23 financial year and Government funding that comprises only approximately 3% of revenue streams also negatively impacted the financial results.

While in its final year of implementation the SABC could report that nearly all the activities committed to in the Turnaround Strategy were implemented, the inability of the activities associated with revenue improvement and legislation to translate into improved financial results was a major setback.

This delayed the growth phase the Corporation was aspiring to achieve at this time. The utilisation of the bailout funding continued to be rigidly managed within the set allocation criteria for content and capex investments.

Due to the significant revenue gap that resulted in the increased net loss and the delayed financial benefit realisation of the Turnaround Strategy, the Auditor General of South Africa concluded that material uncertainty of the SABC’s ability to maintain its Going Concern status exists and is so pervasive that a Disclaimer Opinion was issued. This is despite a 70% reduction in Audit findings over a 5-year period with significant improvement in financial controls. There are no audit qualifications remaining in 2022/23 financial year related to the preparation of and fair presentation of the financial statements and the internal control environment.

With the onboarding of the new Board, after the Corporation was without a Board for six (6) months, the Board has prioritised the stabilisation of revenue generation and various interventions that have or are being implemented. While these are gaining traction the Corporation continues to manage its available resources conservatively to meet its financial obligations and continues to deliver on its public service mandate.

With the imminent positive developments in the legislative environment, the SABC is confident of turning the corner towards financial sustainability and growth. The SABC is also excited about the opportunities SABC Plus holds, early successes with new content are yielding results and planning for the 2024 National Elections are on track. As such the Corporation is committed to intensifying its efforts in the execution of its mandate.

Ends

Issued By:                             Group Communications

Media Enquiries:                   Ms. Mmoni Seapolelo (Acting Group Executive: Corporate Affairs and Marketing)

Seapolelomv@sabc.co.za | T. 011 714 3057 | C. 073 688 1590

Johannesburg – Friday, 22 September 2023 – The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is thrilled to announce the renewal of its 404 News channel available on DSTV, cementing an exclusive content carriage agreement that promises to keep redefining the broadcasting landscape. 

For our audience without access to pay TV, SABC will offer a multi-lingual 24-hour news channel (SABC Lehae) available on DTT and DTH. The channel’s value proposition will be extended with an addition of the English language to make the product diverse and appealing to reflect South African demographics.

ENDS

Issued By: Group Communications

Media Enquiries: Mmoni Seapolelo (Acting Group Executive: Corporate Affairs & Marketing)

Seapolelomv@sabc.co.za | T. 011 714 3057 | C. 073 688 1590

Johannesburg – Wednesday, 20 September 2023 – South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has made an offer to MultiChoice (DSTV) for the sub-licensing for the Cricket World Cup 2023 and awaits their response. 

This move seeks to enhance access to premier cricket content for the masses and reaffirms the commitment to providing the best in sports entertainment to citizens, regardless of their geographic location or economic status.

ENDS

Issued By: Group Communications

Media Enquiries: Mmoni Seapolelo (Acting Group Executive: Corporate Affairs & Marketing)

Seapolelomv@sabc.co.za | T. 011 714 3057 | C. 073 688 1590

Polokwane – Tuesday 19 September 2023 – The South African Broadcasting Corporation’s Limpopo based radio station Thobela FM, introduced an exciting collaboration with Bomma sneakers to launch limited edition Thobela Bomma sneaker inspired by Thobela FM branding.

The collaboration with Bomma grants an opportunity for Thobela brand to reach target audiences and an opportunity to tap into new markets and strengthen a connection to the local culture and identity.

The collaboration between Thobela FM and Bomma Sneakers will result in mutually beneficial outcomes like brand exposure, target marketing, cross promotion, brand extension cultural connection with listeners at large. The partnership is also part of our strategy of embracing public private partnerships for growth of local business. Through this partnership Thobela FM will be able to produce over 1500 sneakers for this year most of which will sound on the ground at the Thobela FM Gospel festival.

Since the unveil of the sneaker design on Saturday (9 September 2023), the station has sold several sneakers already and has seen over 700K post impressions across its social media platforms and a reach of 564 054 just on the day of the launch, which is a clear indication of the love and appreciation of the brand and partnership.

We are proud as Thobela FM to launch a sneaker that resonates with our listeners. We saw it befitting to adopt the #ThobelaBomma in honour of women for the role they play in our society. We have over the past years seen growth of the youth and female audience and having a product that speaks to the two brands will position the station across the broadcast and lifestyle markets. – says Madikana Matjila (Limpopo Combo Business Manager).

ENDS

Issued By: Group Communications

Media Enquiries: Mmoni Seapolelo (Acting Group Executive: Corporate Affairs & Marketing)

Seapolelomv@sabc.co.za | T. 011 714 3057 | C. 073 688 1590