SABC says it needs more time to help some SA households migrate to digital TV

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has on Sunday announced it needed more time to help some South Africans migrate from analogue to digital TV, with a large portion of the population still not ready to make the switch.

South Africa’s long-delayed move to a digital signal is scheduled to be implemented on Thursday, but numerous broadcasters want an extension.

Households with older analogue televisions will need decoders to view digital free-to-air content and so far, only 165,000 set-top boxes of the required 2.9 million have been installed in the Free State, the Northern Cape, North West, and Mpumalanga.

Despite assurances from the Communications and Digital Technologies Department that South Africa is ready for digital migration, several organizations have called for the minister to delay the switch over.

The country had set itself a deadline to completely move from analogue to digital TV transmission by 31 March 2022.

However, even the SABC has admitted there’s been slow progress in registering and installing set-top boxes.
This raises questions about whether the deadline is realistic.

The public broadcaster said premature plans to switch off all analogue tv transmitters by Thursday are unsustainable and will deprive millions of people from important public television services, including free to air channels.

The department said at least 11.5 million households who watch TV via satellite will not be affected by the analogue switch off.

-EWN

In other news – Actress Buhle Samuels gets married; traditional wedding photos go viral

Mzansi television personality and actress Buhle Samuels sent social media into a frenzy following reports that she may have got married over the weekend.

On Saturday night, social media went into overdrive after several posts went viral on social media claiming that the actress was married in an elaborate traditional ceremony. Learn More