The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is conducting a review of the country’s sports broadcasting regulations – specifically, the rules around the broadcasting of sports.
In a presentation to parliament on 4 September, ICASA said the review of the Sports Broadcasting Services Regulations is to identify and list national sporting events and regulate the broadcasting of these sports.
It said the objectives of the regulations include regulating the broadcasting of national sporting events in “the public interest” and promoting “wider audience reach whilst striking a balance between audience interests and revenue generation”.
ICASA said the following criteria is used to determine national sporting events of public interest:
- Confederation sporting events involving a national team or a national representative
- Semi-final and final of a national knockout competition
- An opening game, semi-final, and final of a confederation sporting event
It added that it has proposed an expansion to the current list of sports which fall under these criteria and is in consultation with ministers regarding these changes.
ICASA said it has engaged with the SABC, MultiChoice, eTV, SAFA, PSL, Cricket SA, Boxing SA, Athletics South Africa, SARU, Netball, and SASCOC over the proposed new list of “public interest” sports.
“Consultations with the Minister(s) are ongoing as required in terms of section 4 of the ECA,” it said.
The final regulations are expected to be published during Q3 of the 2020 financial year.
List of new events
ICASA’s proposed list of events which would fall under the abovementioned criteria has been expanded and includes many events which are exclusive to SuperSport and MultiChoice.
Many events broadcasted by SuperSport, including international cricket and rugby, are exclusive to MultiChoice’s DStv platform, while others such as major football fixtures are also available on Showmax Pro – its newly-expanded streaming service.
The proposed list of events which ICASA is looking to include under this criteria is as follows:
| Proposed list of sports | |
|---|---|
| Summer Olympic Games | Paralympics |
| FIFA World Cup | African Cup of Nations |
| Rugby World Cup | ICC Cricket World Cup |
| ICC T20 Cricket World Championships | International Boxing Federations |
| Netball World Cup | Commonwealth Games |
| IAAF World Atheltic Championships | Super 15 Rugby |
| All Africa Games | Cosafa Cup |
| CAF Champions League | CAF Confederations Cup |
| MTN 8 | Telkom Knockout |
| Nedbank Cup | Currie Cup |
| TAFISA World Sport for All Games | |
It is important to note that selected fixtures from many of these events are already available for broadcast through free-to-air broadcasters such as the SABC.
MultiChoice and other pay-TV broadcasters will also not lose the right to broadcast events listed above if the reviewed list is approved.