The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has recently reported more favourable business performance projections, considering the financial implications from the decline in advertising that the organisation experienced due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
To recall, BMA had recently reported that the SABC’s Chief Financial Officer projections reflected that the SABC would receive a record profit of approximately R150 million (US$10.6 million) in 2023 and an approximation of R350 million (US$24.7 million) by 2024, driven by increasing advertisement income, ensuring the SABC would profit during the same period.
The public broadcaster has managed to be on track with their ‘road to profitability’ plans in the month of April 2021, reporting a profit of R43 million. This sum a part of advertising revenue for the month being R15.5 million above budget and sponsorship revenue R25.9 million above budget.
The public broadcaster’s management says that this is an indication that the turnaround strategy is paying off, as this is the first time in five years that the SABC has performed this way. However, with over 600 people losing their jobs due to the years of financial woes that have hit the corporation, salary increases for staff members will remain on hold for the next three years.
According to SABC Chief Executive Officer, Madoda Mxakwe “All SABC TV stations have performed extremely well. Same with the radio stations. 17 of the 18 radio stations have been able to reach their advertising targets. We had to tweak our sales models to ensure that they are more agile and they talk directly to the needs of our clients.”
