Telkom and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) have announced a partnership to launch a new streaming channel, TelkomONE.
The mobile operator channel will house the public broadcaster’s free-to-air radio and TV channels.
The five-year partnership will showcase South Africa’s most-watched TV programmes and most listened to radio platforms, on one online platform. TelkomONE will stream live SABC’s television channels 1, 2, Sport and Education as well as all 19 SABC radio stations.
Sipho Maseko, Telkom’s group CEO, comments: “We are excited about the opportunity to provide South Africans with free access to watch their favourite SABC content, online, when and wherever they want.
“TelkomONE will make it possible for subscribers to pause, go back into the programme guide (time-shift) and instantly watch a scheduled TV show they may have missed. Telkom is making digital TV functionality available to all.”
He adds that the mobile-friendly TelkomONE will include a plethora of other content over and above the SABC channels, such as comedy, lifestyle content and music for youth and others on-the-go.
Madoda Mxakwe, the SABC group CEO, says: “Telkom was a natural partner with whom to build a new platform for developing and disseminating South African content. The partnership is significant in ensuring that our content, in all its formats, reaches consumers everywhere at anytime.
“The SABC has a wealth of content – both acquired and produced by local talent – that we broadcast on our free-to-air channels. Through the new streaming channel, we will further promote universal access to popular SABC content for audiences and customers, in an affordable manner and with ease of access on mobile.
“We will also create added opportunities for our talented local producers to showcase more of their work on a platform on which content can live longer than on traditional media platforms.
“The TelkomOne partnership is part of the SABC’s overall strategy of becoming a competitive multichannel and multiplatform public content provider.”
The SABC will provide its content to Telkom on a non-exclusive basis. In exchange, the SABC will receive a carriage licence fee as well as share in the advertising revenue generated on the TelkomONE platform.