SABC: The cost of having Oprah on air

SABC has recently admitted to agreeing to buy lots of low quality TV shows as part of package deals ensure that the quality shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show could air. Now with Oprah's show over, they have a whole lota trashy TV shows they don't ever want to show.

Dr Ben Ngubane, SABC chairperson, told parliament's portfolio committee on communications that deals like this are described in the industry as "buying a dog with its fleas". "You can only get Oprah if you buy it with other shows that go with it from the studio. And more often than not the other lesser things are really of no value. Because you are after Oprah – because Oprah drives audiences, and it drives your revenues, you end up buying Oprah," said Ngubane. "You will not get the dog unless you also take it with its fleas. It's a package.".

"We are addressing that situation. That is why content enterprises at the SABC has been collapsed into the television division so that TV show buying is driven by the schedule.

"Acquisition of content is driven by need, so that TV channels must first say, 'We want A,B,C,D' and then you buy what you need. We are dealing with this situation to make sure that programming impairment is addressed," Ngubane said.