SABC board debacle continues

NEWSWATCH: The nomination process for the new SABC board continued to raise headlines over the weekend as the Sunday Times reported that ANC headquarters (Luthuli House) had forced the party's MPs to accept a list of new board appointees – without discussion and despite objections.

By Simone Puterman

17 Sep 2007

According to The Times, the SABC is also trying to muscle in on pay TV revenue, having requested in May 2007 that ICASA “urgently implement both “must-carry” and “must-pay” provisions”: successful pay TV applicants should not only be forced to carry SABC channels; they must pay for it, too.

Meanwhile, Business Report writes that the reason Sentech withdrew from the pay TV licence race at the last minute last week is because “it did not have a clear strategy on how it would source the funds needed to run the service”.

Web first

Last week Friday, 14 September 2007, the Mail & Guardian Online went web first with a dramatic secret videotape revealing a consultation between Saleem Ebrahim, the lawyer of the three main detractors of suspended Ekurhuleni metro police boss Robert McBride, and an unknown client at Ebrahim's office in Fordsburg, Johannesburg. The video content, hosted through the third-party services of local video and photo sharing site Zoopy.com, was announced on Friday by posts on the blogs of Vincent Maher, strategist at the Mail & Guardian Online, and Zoopy.

For more:

Sunday Times

ANC'S bullies ram through SABC Board

The Times: SABC wants in on pay-TV earnings
Business Report: Sentech pulled out of pay TV race to save face
Mail & Guardian Online: Revealed: Secret McBride tapes
Blog: Vincent Maher's Media in Transition: McBride secret tapes made for the web
Blog: Zoopy.com: Explosive McBride video revealed by M&G Online and McBride video racks up record views : 7,700 and counting

Simone Puterman

About Simone Puterman

Simone Puterman (@SimoneAtLarge) is currently editor-at-large at Marklives.com and deputy chair of the Sanef online editors subcommittee. After majoring in psychology and linguistics at Rhodes University, and then completing her honours in psychology, she has been in the world of B2B publishing since 1997, with 7.5 year stints at both WriteStuff Publishing and Bizcommunity.com (March 2006-August 2013). Email her at moc.sevilkram@enomis.