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Analogue switch off in September

Analogue television will be switch off in South Africa on the 30th September 2022. Indigent households would need to apply for a free government-subsidized set-top boxe before the 30th as no applications will be considered after this date. Other options for receiving television would be to purchase an OpenView free to view satellite decoder, purchase a DSTV satellite decoder or DSTV streaming only subscription, or subscribe to any of the available OTT services like netflix, showmax or disney +. Other OTT offers include VIU or OpenView’s evod service. The one advantage of television migrating to a digital platform is that you have more choices available as a consumer. Digital terrestrial television is limited by the choice of decoders available in retail. Right now you are able to purchase an integrated television set which has the decoder built-in to the TV or you can buy a decoder online via take-a-lot or any of the other online shopping platform. It would have been ideal to have more DTT decoder options available in retail but sadly, this is not the case. Once analogue TV has been switched off it will create a demand for DTT decoders as consumer demand increases for the traditional SABC and eTV programming. Even with all this choice available to the market, the majority of viewers still prefer to watch their favourite soapies or current affairs shows on the terrestrial TV platforms. As a consumer you need to educate yourself about what choices are available to you, and then make an informed decision as to how you will consume television. Happy viewing.