One of the unspoken benefits of using online video streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Video or Showmax is that you don’t have to deal with the garbage of applying and owning a damn TV license. The SABC has required TV licenses if you both own a television and want to access any kind of programming. If you’re one of the smart ones that has long ditched conventional programming and adopted Netflix, then you’re probably going to be painfully annoyed to find out that the SABC is proposing that everyone who wants to watch Netflix pay for a TV license. It’s not the first time the SABC has tried something like this and still, I’m sure you’re aware, complete garbage.
Deputy Communications Minister Pinky Kekana presented the case to parliament that the standard definition of a TV license needed to be updated to better fit an environment where more and more people were migrating online for the media consumption. The proposal would essentially expand the current TV license system to require that video-on-demand services adopt the same policy that service providers like Multichoice have been using for years.
“How do we, through Icasa ,make sure that they too are able to assist us to collect TV licences but we are not only limiting it to TV? We also have other platforms where people consume content and in all of those areas that is where we should look at how we are able to get SABC licence fees from those gadgets,” said Pinky Kekana.
Of course, while you can want people to register for a TV license that does mean you can make them pay. Despite everyone using their TVs maybe more frequently than ever, “compliance levels have not improved and are expected to steadily decline for the remainder of 2020.” So sure, requiring people to own a license for Netflix will surely pay off.
This suggestion is being made to better supplement funding for the SABC which, as we all know at this point, is in some dire need of extra cash.
One of the better suggestions to come out the proposal was improved accessibility when it comes to sports broadcasting. The SABC insists that national sports must be made available to as wide an audience as possible with “a very affordable price”.
(Source: Business Tech)
