The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) recently closed bids for potential service providers to create and manage a TV Licence rewards programme.
The bid document seen by BMA explained that the programme would encourage client loyalty and compliance with TV License legislation. Serving as a way of increasing licence fees to ensure the financial sustainability of the public broadcaster.
In the past, the SABC has struggled to get TV licence holders to pay their fees.
According to the broadcaster’s 2020/2021 financial year, only 17.9 per cent of its budget TV licence revenue was received, the SABC noting that the Covid-19 pandemic made it difficult for people to pay their fees.
However its 2021/2022 financial year, with little to no Covid-19 restrictions, the compliance rate was only 18.3 per cent.
The SABC’s financials showed it had only collected US$47 million in TV licence revenue from an estimated US$257 million that it was owed during that year, contributing to an overall loss of US$15 million in the year.
In its bid document for the rewards programme, the SABC said that TV Licences needed to “reconnect and engage” with consumers in an “innovative and relevant” manner that added value to their TV Licence purchase and SABC experience.
The document explained, “The programme will become an extension of the TV Licenses product offering with a natural fit that also builds a relationship with our core clientele, domestic television license holders and SABC audiences.”
The document further states that the successful bidder will be required to create a custom-designed and custom-developed, fully cloud-hosted system maintained by a dedicated team.
If you recall, in December 2022, the SABC published a bidding document for a rewards programme with similar parameters.
BMA understands that the SABC wanted to launch an “Explorer Supercard” with the Explorer Corporation’s E-Direct loyalty club division in December 1998. However, the initiative suffered a quiet death.
