Playing fair on the little screen

SOUTH African pay TV giant MultiChoice was under the cosh this week at the Icasa hearings into competition in the subscription TV market.

MultiChoice stands accused of having a monopoly on the local market. Competitors claim its dominance is such that it is impossible to get a foothold. Customers, until very recently, have moaned at what they perceive is monolithic service which they are held ransom to – if they want fare that is more appetising than that dished up by the free-to-air operators, SABC and e.tv.

MultiChoice’s argument this week has been that there is competition – far more than anyone seems to be giving cognisance to simply because it isn’t being delivered on normal TV channels. In a certain way it’s right: studies show that by 2020, half of this country won’t be watching TV on a traditional TV, but getting their content via smartphones, tablets or computers, because of the dominance of the big telecommunications companies providing very similar content to their networks to boost their data business. There are other big players too, like Netflix, streaming in via the internet.

In truth South Africans right now are spoilt for choice and, like the print media companies which have been decimated by the introduction of digital news sites, traditional broadcasters are also battling this disruption where content is consumed for free because of its accessibility.

Piracy is another crisis: South Africa is the worst on the continent and the 20th worst in the world. There are scores of internet sites in this country showcasing pirated soccer games live at the same time as MultiChoice’s SuperSport channel.

There has never been a better time for Icasa to study the sector than right now. There needs to be competition, but there also needs to be regulation. We need to create an environment where the consumer benefits.

Icasa has to wrestle with all these issues.