Industry News

Community Radio broadcasters round table organised by Sentech

On Tuesday, 16th August 2022 I attended a radio community broadcasters round table arranged by Sentech. The purpose of the session was to brainstorm ideas on how community broadcasters can overcome some of the financial challenges they are facing in the industry.  As the DRM South Africa group we used the opportunity to highlight the benefits of digital radio. We demonstrated the crystal clear sound you can receive from DRM MW broadcasts. The demo was done by industry veteran, Mark Williams. He played back live recordings from a MW trial we did in South Africa in 2014-2015 on a DRM receiver he purchased in 2006 in Germany.

Aldred Dreyer and Mark Williams attending Sentech's Community Broadcasters round table in Gauteng.
Milisa Kentane, Sentech's Head of Corporate Communications, arranged this successful event.
Mark showcasing the digital radio receiver (DAB and DRM) he bought many years ago in Germany.
We played back recordings from the SA DRM MW trial in 2014/15 and an extract from a BBC World Service program.

Analogue television 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.

FIAT/IFTA Conference in October 2022

FIAT/IFTA Conference 2022 in Cape Town
Early Bird registration period extended until 31 August. So make sure you take advantage of the reduced rates before the deadline and join us from 4 to 6 October for the FIAT/IFTA World Conference virtually or in Cape Town!
If you are interested in sponsoring the event then contact me at info@aldreddreyer.co.za.
Register now for the FIAT/IFTA World Conference: 

DRM South Africa presenting at Radio TechCon

In November 2021 I had the privilege to present on the DRM activities in South Africa at the Radio TechCon conference in the UK.

Radio TechCon is a radio and audio industry’s technical and engineering conference which takes place annually in November. Radio TechCon is aimed at broadcast engineers, technologists and anyone with an interest in radio, audio, technology and engineering – including programme-makers and managers. It takes a deep dive into the technical challenges and opportunities facing the radio and audio industry, as well as celebrating technical achievements and remaining as accessible as possible to all.

Take a few minutes to watch the session which I have posted here. Happy watching.

Aldred Dreyer, 15 August 2022