South African Broadcasting Corporation
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The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the state owned broadcaster in South Africa, and was for many years the monopoly, controlled by the white minority National Party government. Most of its senior management were members of the Broederbond, the Afrikaner secret society.
Today it is accused of favouring the ruling African National Congress party in its broadcasts, while privately owned broadcasters such as eTV are reputedly more objective in their news coverage. It is still a dominant player in the country's broadcast media.
It was also known in Afrikaans as Suid-Afrikanse Uitsaaikorporasie (SAUK), although this title is no longer used by the Corporation. Until 1979, the SABC also operated broadcasting services in Namibia, which was then under South African rule, but in that year, these were transferred to the South West African Broadcasting Corporation (SWABC). This, in turn, became the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) after the country's independence in 1990.
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Radio
The SABC began the first radio broadcasts in South Africa in the 1920s, establishing services in what were then the country's official languages, English and Afrikaans, with broadcasts in African languages such as Zulu, Xhosa Sesotho and Tswana, following later. The commercial service was known as Springbok Radio, and was bilingual in English and Afrikaans. Its choice of popular music reflected the National Party government's extreme conservatism, with the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones generally frowned upon, if not banned from the airwaves, in favour of 'middle of the road' music like that of the US group Bread.
The SABC also had an external service, known as Radio South Africa, which broadcast in other African languages, as well as French, Portuguese, and German, now known as Channel Africa.
Stations
- SAfm in English
- 5fm in English
- Radio Metro in English
- RSG in Afrikaans
- Ukhozi FM in Zulu
- Umhlobo Wenene FM in Xhosa
- Thobela FM in Pedi
- Lesedi FM in Sotho
- Motsweding FM in Tswana
- Phalaphala FM in Venda
- Munghana Lonene FM in Tsonga
- Ligwalagwala FM in Swazi
- Ikwekwezi FM in Ndebele
- Lotus FM in English for the South Asian community
Television
In 1971, after years of controversy over the introduction of television, the SABC was finally allowed to introduce a colour TV service, which began experimental broadcasts in the main cities in mid-1975, before the service went nationwide on January 6, 1976. Initially, the TV service was funded entirely through a licence fee, as in the UK, but advertising began in 1978. The SABC is still partly funded by the licence fee (now R225 per annum).
The service only broadcast in English and Afrikaans, with an emphasis on religious programming on Sundays. A local soap opera, The Dingleys was produced, but was panned as amateurish. Owing to South Africa's apartheid policies, the British actors' union Equity started a boycott of programme sales to South Africa, meaning that most acquired programming came from the United States. However, the Thames Television police drama series The Sweeney was briefly shown on SABC TV, dubbed in Afrikaans as Blitspatrolie. Later on, when other programmes were dubbed, the original soundtrack was simulcast on FM radio.
In 1982, a second channel was introduced, broadcasting in African languages. The main channel, now called TV1, was divided evenly between English and Afrikaans, as before. Subtitling on TV in South Africa used to be almost non-existent, although now many non-English language soap operas have started to display English subtitles. The second channel, known either as TV2, TV3 or TV4 depending on the time of day, was later rebranded as CCV (Contemporary Community Values). A third channel was introduced known as TSS, or Topsport Surplus, Topsport being the brand name for the SABC's sport coverage, but this was renamed NNTV (National Network TV).
In 1986, the SABC's monopoly on TV was challenged by the launch of a subscription-based service known as M-Net, backed by a consortium of newspaper publishers. However, it could not broadcast its own news and current affairs programmes, which were still the preserve of the SABC. As the state-controlled broadcaster, the SABC was accused of bias towards the apartheid regime.
SABC television become widely available in neighbouring Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. The SABC also helped to establish a television service in Namibia in 1981 with most programming being videotapes flown in from South Africa.
Political change
Following the easing of media censorship under F.W De Klerk, the SABC's news coverage moved towards being more objective, although many feared that once the African National Congress came to power, the SABC would revert to type, and serve the government of the day. However, the SABC now also carried CNN International's TV news bulletins, thereby giving South African viewers an alternative source of international news.
In 1996, almost two years after the ANC came to power, the SABC reorganised its three TV channels, so as to be more representative of different language groups. These new channels were called SABC 1, SABC 2 and SABC 3. The reorganization resulted in the downgrading of Afrikaans, which now had its airtime reduced, a move that angered many whites. The SABC also later absorbed the Bop TV station, of the former Bophuthatswana homeland.
Similarly, the main English language radio service became SAfm, with many black presenters, to the chagrin of many white listeners accustomed to 'proper' English. The new service, after some initial faltering, soon developed a respctable listenership and was regarded as a flagship for the new democracy. However government interference in the state broadcaster in 2003 saw further changes to SAfm which reversed the growth and put it in rapid decline once more. Today it attracts a minuscule 0.6% of the total population to its broadcasts and has little hope of recovery. The main Afrikaans radio service was renamed Radio Sonder Grense (literally 'Radio without Frontiers') in 1995 and has enjoyed greater success with the transition.
The SABC's competitors, meanwhile, have achieved greater levels of popular appeal as the state broadcaster continues to offer a largely bland diet. Primedia-owned Radio 702, Cape Talk and 94.7 Highveld have grown steadily in audience and revenue through shrewd management since the freeing of the airwaves in South Africa. Other stations such as the black-owned and focused YFM and Kaya FM have also shone, attracting audiences drawn from the "new elite" - the black majority - through sophisticated and entertaining programming.
New Services
The SABC's dominance was further eroded by the launch of the first 'free-to-air' private TV channel, called e.tv. Satellite television also expanded, as M-Net's parent company, Multichoice, launched its digital satellite TV service (DStv).
In response, the SABC began broadcasting two TV channels to the rest of the continent, SABC Africa (a news service) and Africa 2 Africa (entertainment programming from South Africa and other African countries), in 1999. These were carried for free by DStv. In 2003, Africa 2 Africa was merged with SABC Africa. SABC Africa's news bulletins are also carried on the Original Black Entertainment (OBE) satellite television channel in the UK.
In South Africa itself, the SABC has announced the launch of two regional television channels, SABC4 and SABC5, with an emphasis on languages other than English. SABC4 will broadcast in Tswana, Sesotho, Pedi, Tsonga, Venda, and Afrikaans as well as English, to the northern provinces of the country. In the southern provinces, SABC5 will broadcast in Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, and Swazi, as well as Afrikaans and English.
Unlike other SABC TV services, SABC4 and SABC5 will not be available via satellite.
See also
External Links
- South African Broadcasting Corporation (http://www.sabc.co.za)