The broadcasting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was at the top of the minds of many delegates attending the opening of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA) General Conference on 19 April at the Sandton Hilton in Johannesburg.
As host country of the World Cup in June, South Africa was deemed an appropriate venue in which to hold the CBA conference, hosted by public broadcaster SABC and the Department of Communications (DoC). The number of delegates attending the first day of the conference did not accurately reflect the volume of registrations, as several delegates were unable to fly out from Europe, due to the ash spewing from Iceland’s erupting volcano.
In opening the conference, Minister of Communications, General (Ret.) Siphiwe Nyanda noted that South Africa was very excited to be hosting the World Cup. “You have all come to South Africa at a time when the eyes of the world are turned on our young democracy. In just over two months time we will play host to hundreds of thousands of football fans. This nation has been hard at work for the past couple of years to ensure that this becomes the best World Cup ever.
“As the government of South Africa we see this as testimony of the significance of Africa hosting an event of this magnitude. The SABC is the only official broadcaster of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and this places an enormous responsibility on the institution. Through its three main TV channels and 18 radio stations, the SABC will ensure that every South African broadcast media consumer has access to the football games and other World Cup related events.’
Minister Nyanda noted that the SABC had entered into agreements with a number of countries to provide them with World Cup content. “I was recently in Cuba on government business where I met with several government Ministers and other role players in the telecommunications arena. I was pleased to learn from my counterpart that the government of Cuba has bought the rights to link with the SABC to broadcast all the games. FIFA expects more than three billion households around the world to follow the World Cup on television.’ (For more on the SABC’s broadcast of the World Cup read the May issue of Screen Africa.)
The Minister expressed his satisfaction that climate change and media were among key areas of focus during the CBA conference workshops. “We must ensure that our technology systems do not have a negative effect on the environment. National broadcasters across the globe must contribute to raise public awareness about the use of comprehensible scientific data.
“Broadcasting has a crucial role to play in ensuring that every country meets its developmental objectives. It is important that this gathering engage in intense debates on how broadcasting can contribute to the fight against poverty and many other social ills that continue to ravage society today such as HIV and AIDS.’
He noted that South Africa was involved in creating a sustainable broadcasting environment, what with the DoC’s introduction of the [highly controversial] draft Public Service Broadcasting (PBS) Bill, which he maintained, would usher in a whole new era of broadcasting in South Africa. The country had also commenced with the construction of a digital terrestrial television (DTT) transmission infrastructure through its signal distributor Sentech. “Several operational tests have been conducted by the SABC and I am told that the process has gone smoothly. The rollout of the digital terrestrial infrastructure provides us with an opportunity to meet our digital migration coverage timelines of November 2011.’
The CBA General Conference takes place every two years, the CBA being the oldest and biggest broadcasting organisation in the world. Said outgoing CBA President and Director General of Voice of Nigeria Abubakar Jijiwa: “As CBA members we share a commonwealth and a heritage. This year’s conference theme of “Broadcasting Scores’ was suggested to the CBA by the SABC’s Phil Molefe. I hereby call on all CBA members to support South Africa’s hosting and broadcast of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.’
Jijiwa noted that media freedom is a challenging issue in many CBA member countries, particularly in Africa. “We are impressed by the free speech and investigative journalism in South Africa. Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of the entire commonwealth. The CBA is a forum of experienced professionals from around the world so it’s important that we come together every two years to share our broadcasting experiences.’
The CBA General Conference runs until 21 April.
