A battle of broadcasters has erupted following the media launch of etv sister company Platco Digital's free-to-view satellite television offering, with SABC saying the company is publicising mistruths.
The state-owned broadcaster said in an acerbic statement yesterday that it "categorically refutes" Platco MD Maxwell Nonge's statement that OpenView HD would carry SABC's three national channels.
"The SABC acknowledges the growing digital television broadcasting environment in the country; however, the OpenView HD pronouncement that SABC television channels will form part of their bouquet is not true, as the public service broadcaster does not have any agreement with the newly-launched satellite television service. The public service broadcaster views this matter in a serious light, as the said satellite provider is misleading the public."
The broadcaster says it has an agreement with signal distributor Sentech to have SABC1, 2 and 3 on a free-to-air basis on the Sentech Universal Access Direct To Home satellite platform by the end of this month. "The corporation, therefore, appeals to OpenView HD not to confuse the public with false advertising of their services."
Hlaudi Motsoeneng, SABC acting chief operations officer, says the broadcaster "will not allow anyone to use its name falsely" to advance its own business interest and has called on Platco to withdraw its statements immediately.
But instead, Platco responded defiantly, saying it is "surprised" by the SABC's statement and that it "will be carrying" SABC1, 2 and 3 from the date of launch, on 15 October.
"The SABC as the public broadcaster has various obligations and any attempts by the SABC to prevent Platco from carrying the SABC channels would be unlawful."
However, spokesperson for the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) Paseka Maleka says must-carry regulations do not apply in the case of free-to-air broadcasters. "Must-carry regulations only apply to subscription services, so there is no obligation for SABC to be carried on OpenView HD."
Maleka says ICASA is not involved in the dispute. "This is purely between [Platco Digital and SABC]. The authority doesn't have to know about the commercial agreement they have in place."
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