The Case for the New Entrants

In the context of South African digital migration policy, the government had the best interest of the public by promoting diversity and pluralism of ideas. Doyle (2002:11) defines pluralism as “the presence of a number of different and independent voices and of differing political opinions and representation of culture within the media.” Doyle (2002:11) argues that “the definition of pluralism embraces both diversity of ownership, that is, the existence of a variety of separate and autonomous media suppliers, and diversity of output.” Therefore, pluralism is needed to ultimately sustain democracy and representation within a given society for different political viewpoints and forms of cultural and social expressions (Doyle, 2002:12).

The BDM Policy takes into consideration that the provision of multiple channels which will enhance the diversity of content. However, it appears that digital migration will be unable to dismantle the concentration of media ownership in the broadcasting as ICASA’s plans to introduce new players during dual illumination have been thwarted. In 2012, for instance, ICASA’s draft regulation proposed the idea of introducing new players on multiplex 3 which was met with mixed reactions.

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The incumbent broadcasters with vested financial interest have opposed the move by ICASA to introduce new entrants. The SABC (2012a) argues that the regulator should prevent new players from entering the markets during dual illumination as it will be unsustainable for them to compete with new players while caring the risk of dual illumination. This is despite the fact that the incumbent broadcaster will be placed in a multiplex one and two which are subsidised by government. After all the public consultation process, ICASA then decided to withhold the introduction of Multiplex three citing that they are still seeking for a legal opinion.

The delays in introducing new players will result in the slow take-up of STBs. As such, dual illumination might take longer than anticipated because there is no real incentive for the society to migrate if they still receive the same channels that they have been getting on analogue. As indicated, the delays give the incumbent broadcaster an ample time to consolidate their offerings. Given the never-ending delays, dual-illumination is likely to drag toward 2020.

Consequently, the new players that will be introduced after the dual-illumination will struggle to attract audience, advertisers or to generate content. This is contrary to the principle of BDM policy (Section 6.1.7) which states that “competition should be promoted within the limits of available spectrum in order to ensure a smooth migration to digital broadcasting in the country and to provide a multiplicity of sustainable services to benefit both the public and the broadcasters.” The current delays in introducing new players will lead to the tendency of consolidation. While consolidation is good for the markets and foreign investment, however its occurrence will have a strong impact on diversity and pluralism.

The concentration of media ownership is likely to be fuelled by the growth of digital converged environment. This is because the regulations are favouring the incumbent broadcasters rather than protecting public interest issues such as diversifying information sources for the previously disadvantaged people. In South African television sector, there are only four players which dictate what the South African society should view on television. These four players are SABC, Multichoice, e.tv and TopTV/StarSat. The South African television sector is highly concentrated since

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the four major voices accounts for more than 90% of the existing market share (Angelopulo and Potgieter 2013).

Concentration of media ownership is characterised by mergers and take-overs which makes strong media which will dominate the media industry (Albaran et al. 2003:41). In a digital age, the consolidation of media ownership is driven by the concept of

convergence which refers to coming together of the previously distinct technologies.

Newspapers, radio, television and internet businesses are increasingly coming together due to convergence. For instance, Naspers is one of the biggest converged group which control the traditional and online newspapers (News24), the internet providers (MWeb), the satellite television provider (DSTV), television channels (M-

Net and Supersport), and the social network (Mxit and WeChat).

Within Naspers, the DSTV/MultiChoice group was successful in monopolising the supply chain of television. This is evident through the common ownership along the supply chain of a single product. For instance, DSTV/Multichoice group controls the stage of production (exclusive content deals), transmission networks (Orbicom), re- transmission (DTH), consumer’s decoders (STBs), Encryption and smart cards. This clearly means that the audience who wants to change from DSTV to TopTV/StarSat will need to buy a new dish and decoders from the new player. This type of concentration also makes it difficult for new entrants to enter the industry as

MultiChoice has signed content deals to be exclusive broadcaster of specific

programmes or events.

In whatever form it takes, concentration of media ownership consequently leads to lack of diversity, barriers to new entrants, limitations of minority voices, market driven journalism and also lack of competition. While concentration is good for large media companies, it however limits the consumers through informal system of regulations (Turnstall et al. 1999). Consequently, the powerful media owners in South Africa are now using their commercial influence to control the digital transition. By the time ICASA introduces new players on DTT, the incumbent broadcaster will be enjoying the monopoly of content and audience.