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All SABC TV productions can resume filming as and when they're ready. Some want to film, while others want to wait. Also: ICASA scraps the rules.

TVSA Team
05 May 2020 14:58

This from the SABC:

Johannesburg - Tuesday 05 May 2020 The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is pleased to announce that the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has granted the public broadcaster “full exemption from compliance with the specific license terms and conditions of its sound and television services”.

ICASA has further granted exemption from compliance with the local television content quotas.

This exemption only applies to the SABC’s television services and not the radio or news services.

The approval was based on the SABC’s exemption application to ICASA, in an attempt to mitigate the impact that COVID-19 has and could have on the corporation’s local productions, as all production houses had to shut down when the national lockdown was announced.

It must be emphasised that the relaxation of the regulations by ICASA is to mitigate the risk of non-compliance by the public broadcaster and does not reflect an intent by the Corporation not to execute and deliver on its mandate, as it has consistently done.

The SABC is therefore pleased to have the flexibility to conduct its business accordingly, amid the current pandemic conditions that have significantly transformed business sectors, including broadcasting.

Despite the adverse changes, it is important to note that the public broadcaster needs local productions as part of its business model.

Therefore, the SABC will do everything within the regulations to grow its business while assisting local production houses it works with.

In light of this decision, which only affects our television platforms, production houses will resume productions as and when they are ready, in compliance with the regulations.

In addition, the SABC is in discussions with the various production houses and the industry regarding the requirements to commence production.

Each production will be managed on a case by case basis, noting that some production companies have opted not to restart productions during level 4.

The SABC will keep its audiences abreast of any changes to its television schedule should the need arise.