Could SABC eKhaya Be The Next Channel By The Public Broadcaster To Launch On Openview?

During the year, SABC announced the rollout of a second news channel on their DTT platform, SABC eKhaya. Formerly known as SABC Parliament, the news channel would serve as a spinoff to the current SABC News channel on DStv offering content in local languages.

Similar to SABC Education and SABC Sport, the channel would feature a lot of archived material and telecast content already seen on SABC 1-3. Overtime, the public broadcaster would work on ways to limit the rebroadcasts as the channel garner traction.

Unlike MultiChoice's DStv and SABC's DTT, eMedia Investments doesn't offer a local news channel on the free-to-view Openview platform. The last iteration News And Sport was shut down due to financial constraints and poor feedback from consumers.

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Most other local news stations like the already mentioned SABC News alongside Newzroom Afrika and eNCA are funded by MultiChoice's DStv.

From the looks of things, SABC eKhaya appears to be the only option for eMedia Investments and works under their platform's current budget. As mentioned, there's not much live content on the channel it basically serves as a catch-up service to SABC 1-3.

Similar to SABC Sport, it has longevity and could help fill that void left by News And Sport. The only issue would be funding as consumers would expect a brand like SABC eKhaya to function like SABC News but that is only possible if the SABC were to receive funding.

In other developments, SABC is said to have finalized details for the next TV channel which might be unveiled in the next financial period with rumours suggesting it to be a general entertainment brand similar to the defunct SABC Encore.

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