The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has reported a net operating loss for the year of R192 million, which is a significant improvement compared to the loss of R826 million in the previous year.
This represents a significantly improved performance for the public broadcaster of R634 million (77%), according to the SABC Annual Report 2023/24.
The SABC recorded total revenue of R5.1 billion, operational expenses of R5.3 billion, tax benefits of R3.2 million.
Total revenue comprises of: commercial revenue (R4.1 billion) which consists of advertising and sponsorship revenue; non-commercial revenue (R1.0 billion) and net interest (R9 million).
The key drivers of operational expenses employee costs (40%); content amortisation (21%); signal distribution and linking costs (12%); and other expenses (27%).
Factors that impacted SABC performance
Advertising revenue outperformed the previous financial year by 6% due to audiences remaining stable throughout the year while sponsorship revenue continued to rise by 15% because of major international sporting events taking place including the Rugby World Cup, Cricket World Cup and the African Cup of Nations.
“The market’s sensitisation about the SABC offering through the client connects and roadshows appear to have borne fruit,” the report said.
The successful implementation of initiatives like revised sales-trading models as well as the renewal of a major contract contributed to improved performance.
Other factors that led to improved performance are the positive impact of new content on S3, digital revenue growing by R13.2 million (66%) after resourcing gaps were addressed, total operating expenses dropped by 4% when compared to the prior year.
There was a 4% year-on-year saving in employee costs as vacancies remained unfilled, excluding the impact of year-end employee-related valuations.
The report showed that loss contributors were mainly the under-performance of News and Sport.
SABC Plus
According to the report, SABC Plus has continued to grow and attract the largest audiences for sporting events like the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
“This is in line with global trends that show how audiences continue to migrate from traditional linear consumption of content to on demand consumption across a variety of screens, anywhere, anytime,” the report said.
Nomsa Chabeli Group Chief Executive Officer, SABC, in the new financial year, the SABC will be focusing heavily on the growth of SABC Plus as their growth platform, while they continue to revitalise linear programming, by strengthening prime time content.
IOL Business