JOHANNESBURG: A session this afternoon at DISCOP Johannesburg shed light on the various models that the national public broadcaster, SABC, is using to commission and acquire content, as well as what types of programming are currently in demand for the channels.<\/p>\n
SABC\u2019s bouquet includes 19 radio stations and five networks, which are the free-to-air channels SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 and the digital nets SABC News and SABC Encore. Blessed Katiyo, the head of commissioning at SABC, explained that the commissioning office is the entry point for all forms of content for SABC, which uses several methods to select programming it airs. One of which is 100 percent commissioning, via the RFP (request for proposal) or the Unsolicited process. \u201cWe had a brief book that we put out on the market in November 2014,\u201d Katiyo said. \u201cWe had a huge response\u2014we received close to 1,500 individual submissions\u2026. We are done with the evaluations and the pitching sessions and are in the process of communicating now with the producers.\u201d He said that going forward, the plans are to put the briefs on the commissioning website, rather than in a large brief book that takes a long time to compile and complete.<\/p>\n
Along with commissioning, SABC is also open to co-productions and joint ventures. \u201cIf you have R$5 million and you want another R$5 million, we are open to engaging with each other to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The third method is presales, for projects that are in development. For finished productions, SABC does license content. \u201cWe can also acquire content through advertiser-funded programs,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Katiyo outlined the submission requirements as well. For commissioning, interested parties are required to submit five printed copies of their proposal, including story synopsis, treatment and character bible (where applicable). \u201cFor commissions, we also must get a budget from you, to say how much it will cost the SABC to produce it. We have a budget template available on our website.\u201d Submissions must also include a brief about the company profile and the biographies of key creatives attached to the project. \u201cWe only deal with formally registered entities; we don\u2019t deal with individuals, for governance purposes,\u201d he shared. \u201cSo your company must be formally registered and have the requisite documents.\u201d For those who want to license their content, SABC requires five DVD copies for the submission. For those looking to submit ad-funded productions, there must be a letter of interest from potential sponsors. For presales or co-productions, SABC needs the synoposis of the story as well as the funding model being proposed. If there are external funders, they require proof that discussions are in the works with corporations that would provide financing.<\/p>\n
Danie Swart, the head of SABC Education, has been leading the local content acquisitions special projects. \u201cIn May, SABC undertook a decision to improve and increase our local content, and I was brought in to assist the commissioning office to help South Africans design their proposals and get them into the right format to be able to register them with SABC.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is also responsible for any type of educational content on the SABC platforms, including the radio stations and TV channels. \u201cWhat\u2019s nice about us is that we do have 360-degree projects. We love it when people approach SABC and say, \u2018I\u2019ve got this brilliant idea and part of it is a television concept but we also would like to support our program with talk shows on radio and we want to target youth through social-media platforms.\u2019 And that\u2019s what\u2019s so nice about SABC Education: we have a digital section, a marketing section and an outreach [initiative].\u201d<\/p>\n
Swart added that the educutation arm does produce across all formats: it can be a drama, game show, documentary, magazine show, talk show. The same is true for all of SABC\u2019s other genre departments, which are drama, religion, factual, entertainment and children’s.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people ask, \u2018How do we pitch an idea to the SABC?\u2019 One thing to note is that it\u2019s about more than just sitting at home and having an idea in your head and thinking that will be enough to come to the SABC and say, \u2018This is my idea.\u2019 You need more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nokuthula Msimang, the head of SABC Children, spoke about her remit to target kids 2 to 16, with the primary blocks being early childhood development, the under-9s, tweens 9 to 12 and teens. The secondary audience is caregivers.<\/p>\n
Children\u2019s programming airs across SABC1, 2, 3 and Encore, and there is a YouTube channel, which is primarily home to the early-childhood-development content. The programming anchor is \u201ciconic shows,\u201d according to Msimang, including Takalani Sesame<\/em>, the local version of Sesame Street<\/em>. \u201cWe have a dual strategy,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe have a lot of content that is in the local languages, but we ensure that there is an English version as well so that all children can access the content.\u201d<\/p>\n She said that there is currently a need for more children\u2019s content for the platforms. \u201cWhen you are submitting content for SABC Children, really what you want to do is stand out from the clutter. There are a lot of children\u2019s channels that have predominantly international content. Our USP as SABC Children is that we put South African children at the center of our content. Children can see themselves and their voices are reflected in the way that they want to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n SABC Children does have strategic partnerships, where it then can localize existing content and dub it into local languages. \u201cYoung producers, come to the SABC! I know sometimes it feels a bit like you\u2019re playing dice; it is quite hard with all of the paperwork, certificates and clearances. Have all of your logistics in place. It\u2019s great to have a wonderful idea, but be able to back it up with proper logistics\u2026. We look at, Will this person who has this wonderful pitch be able to deliver? Have a strategy! We\u2019re going to be putting a lot of money into your show, and obviously we don\u2019t want to put up money and have nothing come of it. Please do come forward and take a chance, push and try to get your content in.\u201d<\/p>\n Jacqui Hlongwane, the head of programming at SABC2, has been working closely with Swart on the local content initiatives. The aim for the national broadcaster is to have 80 to 90 percent local content, as per a new set of quotas. \u201cIt\u2019s great news for the local industry, especially our young producers. It means that your chance is even bigger to get your content out there. We are looking for new content, new ideas and young producers.\u201d<\/p>\n She provided an outline of the different positionings for each channel to help producers hone their pitches. SABC1 is the largest terrestiral channel in South Africa and is primarily youth-driven. \u201cUp until now, which is something that we are trying to change, it\u2019s been speaking mostly to black youth in Nguni in terms of languages. The strategy going forward is to try to broaden that, so that SABC1 speaks to all youth in all languages.\u201d<\/p>\n SABC2 is a family channel. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to concretize that positioning better,\u201d she said. \u201cUp until now, yes we\u2019ve been a family channel but we\u2019ve over-emphasized the \u2018channel of the nation\u2019 bit. We are trying to really entrench the family positioning.\u201d<\/p>\n SABC3 is the channel that is going through \u201cthe most radical change,\u201d Hlongwane said. Whereas SABC1 and 2 have had a good amount of local content on air already, SABC3 has been airing a lot of foreign programming. \u201cWe are turning that around, positioning it to be 80 percent local content.\u201d She admitted that the channel has struggled a bit to find its niche, but now has a clear vision. \u201cWe are talking to the viewers who are benefiting from the new South Africa. They are young entrepreneurs who have ideas, who are doing deals, have businesses going, are traveling, are into fashion and are bold. We call it the \u2018progressive aspirant.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Even with the increased focus on local content, SABC3 will still continue to license programming from international partners. \u201cWe\u2019re not insular; we live in a global space and we can\u2019t be all closed up,\u201d Hlongwane said. \u201cAs South Africans, we have a lot of work to do. As a public broadcaster, we have to provide content that has value. We have a lot of challenges, but what better way to address those challenges than by providing work, firstly, to our industry, but more importantly by creating content that really speaks to South Africans, inspires them, encourages them and informs them in an entertaining way.\u201d<\/p>\n Hlongwane noted that prime time is dominated by dramas, entertainment formats and reality shows. She said that even though a show might be a drama, it\u2019s important that it also has some value in it. \u201cIt\u2019s not just entertainment for entertainment\u2019s sake. We have that responsibility. So when we\u2019re in a pitching session, of course we\u2019re looking for entertaining shows, but we have to have more than that. What will be the take-away for the viewer? It\u2019s important for you to spend time and look at the challenges that people are facing and look for stories that will resonate with everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n As for entertainment, SABC is looking for more local formats. \u201cIt\u2019s great to take an international format, like The X Factor<\/em>, but it\u2019s not ours,\u201d Hlongwane said. \u201cWe\u2019re borrowing it from somewhere, so it will never feel like it\u2019s ours. We need to spend the time and resources that are required to find our own local formats that will entertain people and hopefully one day we can sell to Europe. I think the world is ready for African content and formats.\u201d<\/p>\n She said that reality programming is resonating quite well with audiences and all of the SABC channels are interested in more of it. Telenovelas, for SABC2 in particular, are becoming more interesting. \u201cIt allows us to refresh our schedules. The long-soap format has its space, but I think that the telenovela has a great advantage in that you can really focus your content on an issue. And then change that issue after a year or two with another telenovela, so there are great opportunities there.\u201d<\/p>\n As for children\u2019s content, the SABC is on the lookout for more animation. Hlongwane revealed that through a partnership with Disney, Doc McStuffins<\/em> and The Lion Guard <\/em>will be localized into local languages. \u201cWe owe it to our kids to give them the best content. We know that animation is really expensive, so it\u2019s great to dub [existing] animated content into Zulu or any other language so that kids can still consume and be exposed to great content. We\u2019re looking to do more. Obviously we have to develop our animation industry further in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n Overall, she said, while SABC is looking for new ideas, the broadcaster cannot compromise on quality. \u201cYes, it\u2019s about growing [the South African] industry, but you have to do your homework! You\u2019ve got to do the research; you\u2019ve got to speak to people in the industry that have done this before. You can\u2019t just bring us your one-pager and expect the broadcaster to take it. Audiences are merciless! If you put on boring content, they move on to the next thing. We ask you to take time and work on your proposals before you submit them to the SABC, because if they\u2019re not at the standard that is required, they will be thrown out. Let\u2019s make sure that we can put on content that we\u2019re proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JOHANNESBURG: A session this afternoon at DISCOP Johannesburg shed light on the various models that the national public broadcaster, SABC, is using to commission and acquire content, as well as what types of programming are currently in demand for the channels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":1642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[236,246],"class_list":["post-1641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-discop-johannesburg-2016","tag-sabc"],"yoast_head":"\n