Free-to-air broadcaster etv is gearing up to switch over to digital television, which it hopes will become a reality in the first half of next year.
However, before the broadcaster can light up digital signal, there are several issues that need to be tackled by government first. Last year, pay-TV broadcaster MNet and etv successfully trialled digital television using the European DVB-T2 standard.
SA decided in January to migrate to digital using the DVB-T2 standard, after initially deciding to go with its forerunner, DVB-T, in 2006. Migration stalled about a year ago, when former communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda elected to investigate the Brazilian ISDB-T standard, which outraged the industry.
Nyanda's successor, Roy Padayachie, has set an ambitious target to turn off analogue broadcasting by the end of 2013, a year-and-a-half before the global deadline.
Vasili Vass, etv's GM of group communications, says the broadcaster is gearing up to launch digital television in the first six months of next year. However, this is only possible if the framework allowing broadcast is first put in place, he adds.
Much to be done
Among issues that must still be sorted out are set-top box (STB) standards, which need to be finalised before manufacturers can make decoders. The standards should be wrapped up towards the end of the year.
For SA to migrate successfully, about 10 million households would need to either buy STBs to convert the new signal for viewing on old TV sets, or new televisions with built-in digital tuners.
In addition, the boxes will need to be tested, and broadcasters will need to be allocated channels, says Vass.
Vass says etv is building studios and looking at digital content, although he cannot indicate what new programmes South African viewers can expect. He says the station is working with all stakeholders to make digital TV a reality.
However, because of the issues that still need to be wrapped up, Vass cannot provide an exact go-live date.
The station, SA's first free-to-air commercial broadcast offering, was launched in 1998. Initially it was only on air for six hours a day, but then expanded to 24-hour broadcasting. Etv launched a 24-hour eNews Channel in June 2008, through sister company eSat.
Share