It should be clear by now that the MultiChoice/ DStv monopoly will not be broken except with some form of government intervention. I’d like to suggest that we do something similar to that done by Ofcom in the UK. Certain sports events are "protected" national assets and have to be broadcast by the BBC. They may not be restricted to pay-per-view or cable/satellite channels. Among these are home international rugby games, international football games featuring any of the home nations, World Cup rugby, World Cup cricket, Test cricket involving the England team, and so on. If such games were treated similarly in SA, we might see the following results quite quickly. First, DStv premium subscribers would abandon DStv and revert to watching SABC more or less for free. Second, the number of poor children with exposure to cricket and rugby would be boosted. Maybe they’ll start playing these games if they see how much fun they can be. We’re not going to get a demographically representative Sp...
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