Outside broadcasts will give SABC the edge

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Over the last decade and a half or so, the television industry has moved quickly from analogue to standard definition to high definition, and is now transitioning from baseband to transmitting over Internet Protocol (IP). Major broadcasters around the world have or are in the process of transitioning to IP, and big events such as the FIFA Soccer World Cup are now broadcast over IP.

In order to remain relevant, SABC also needs to keep up with these technological changes. As a business unit tasked with broadcasting outside broadcast events on behalf of SABC, SABC Outside Broadcasts (OB) is also transitioning its business to IP. Broadcasting over IP has the potential to radically change the way SABC does outside broadcasts. It brings with it many advantages such as operational efficiency, improved competitive advantage, reduction in production costs, increase in revenue, accessing new clients, reduced operational risk, staff retention, introduction of new innovations into SABC and alignment to the organisation’s strategic objectives.

Traditionally, in order to do outside broadcasts, the entire technical, operational and production team was sent to a venue.  All the equipment was transported in trucks and all the personnel had to be transported to the venue, accommodated in hotels, cars hired for their daily transport, catering arranged, and security and ablution facilities put in place. This ended up being an astronomical cost to the business, as a single broadcast consumed a large amount of time and resources.

Outside broadcasts over IP will eliminate the need to send a large amount of personnel and equipment to a venue. Most will remain at Auckland Park and remotely connect to the personnel and equipment at the venue. As a result, few operators and technical personnel will be required on site, which is where  the advantage is derived.

Operational efficiency:

Turn-around time between productions will be shorter as the staff can perform more tasks over the same time period.

Competitive advantage:

The competitive advantage is maintained, as the SABC will keep up with the latest technology, ensuring the corporation maintains its status as one of the best broadcasters in Africa. This will provide the platform for modern content to be produced, allowing the SABC to meet its mandate.

Reduced production costs:

Traditional costs associated with an outside broadcast such as flights, car hire, accommodation, travel allowances and catering will be greatly reduced.

Increase in revenue and new clients:

OB supports SABC’s drive to generate external revenue. OB will continue to attract external clients who will use the facilities that will bring in much-needed revenue to the corporation, thus improving the rate of return on our technical investments. Since the inception of the Technology Sales and Marketing department we have seen an increase in enquiries for our OB facilities by external parties. We recently broadcast the Dundee July for an external client. This has resulted in an interest for a long-term contract with the SABC. Other new potential clients have shown interest in utilising our OB facilities. International clients continue to request quotes, which we anticipate will result in increased revenue for the SABC.

Reduced operational risks:

The operational risk is reduced as the average age of equipment is also reduced, meaning the SABC always has good operational equipment.  This reduces the risk of equipment failure, repair costs, reputational damage and risk of litigation against the SABC due to on-air faults.

Staff retention:

OB has had difficulty retaining staff in the past. As part of the objective to retain staff an informal investigation was done to determine the high technical and operational staff turnover. One of the reasons highlighted was old equipment that was difficult to work with. Acquisition of new and modern technical facilities plays a role in the retention of staff.

Strategic alignment:

“The streaming platform will consolidate all SABC television and radio content for IP transmission over mobile and web. The potential for this platform is huge and remains one of the missing pieces of the SABC’s distribution strategy.”

This quote was extracted from the foreword of the SABC’s Corporate Plan for FY 2022/23 to FY 2024/25. An IP enabled OB unit will allow for seamless streaming of content from source onto IP platforms. This aligns with the SABC’s corporate plan, which requires our technical infrastructure to be compatible.

Innovation:

SABC will be able to move to the “next level” in Outside Broadcasting: 

Cameras will be controlled remotely.Footage can be played back from a remote location.By introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI) we will be able to automate some of the menial and repetitive operational tasks such as camera operation and vision control.

We have started the journey to introduce 3D printing into the business by acquiring 3D polymer printers and a 3D scanner. We envisage increasing our fleet of 3D scanners to include metal 3D printers in the near future. This has the potential to speed up sourcing of spare parts for our equipment.