Advanced Television

SABC wants to go ahead on OTT

November 3, 2020

By Chris Forrester

South Africa’s public broadcaster, SABC, is going ahead with plans to stream content to citizens.

On October 30th it issued a partial ‘Request for Information’ (RFI) to some key potential suppliers for the sort of technical support that would be needed ahead of a launch of an OTT service to rival Netflix and Showmax.

SABC stressed that this was not a full RFP but more of a need to fully understand what would be needed for it to create a digital strategy for a SABC-backed streaming platform.

“For a number of years, the SABC has relied on the likes of YouTube, websites and social media platforms to publish its content. Unfortunately, these platforms do not allow the SABC to be competitive enough and monetise content to its fullest marketing value,” the broadcaster said in its invitation document.

The RFI seeks this information from prospective vendors and industry experts, and on two distinct aspects: a SABC ‘iPlayer’ which would handle all content from its video and audio sites, and the back office technology including hardware, software and licences needed to create the platform.

The October 30th document has set November 30th as its closing date.

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