Zim to lose free to air SA tv channels by mid May

“wrongful, negligent and in breach” of its “duty of care” to regional TV channels for failing to encrypt its signal.
Botswana TV channel, eBotwana — a sister organisation to South Africa’s first free-to-air commercial television station e.tv — went to the High Court in Johannesburg last June to challenge Sentech’s apparent reluctance to secure the encryption on its Vivid digital satellite platform.
Sentech, which is State-owned, introduced Vivid decoders for South Africans who could not access its subscription-only terrestrial signal.
But millions of Zimbabweans, Malawians, Namibians, Angolans, Tswanas, Swazis, Sothos and Mozambicans were able to tap into the free channels by buying decoders supplied by two companies — Philibaos and Wiztech.
eBotswana general manager Dave Coles estimated that about 70% of Botswana’s population was watching the pirated SABC channels.
This, he said, was “seriously damaging growth in the local broadcast, production and advertising industries through the loss of potential advertising revenue”.
Zimbabweans had bought the cheap decoders which allowed them access to three SABC channels and to follow popular programmes such as Generations, Muvhango and Zone 14.
Zimbabweans still can access South African TV channels by subscribing to DSTV through MultiChoice, but few can afford the charges which start from US$10 per month rising depending on the number of channels.
Sentech — which now faces a damages claim from eBotswana — must take “all reasonable steps necessary” to ensure that viewers in the region are prevented within three months, from pirate viewing of the SABC channels carried on the Vivid platform, according to the Johannesburg High Court ruling.
Sentech has the right to apply to the court for an extension provided it can show “good cause” why such an extension would be justified. — newzimbabwe.com