| Country | Bophuthatswana (until 1994) South Africa (1994–2003) |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Bophuthatswana (until 1994) South Africa (1994–2003) |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Tswana (Use in some programs), English |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Bophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation |
| History | |
| Launched | 31 December 1983 |
| Closed | 31 July 2003 |
Bop TV was a television station owned by the Bophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation, which operated from 1983 to 2003. Initially confined to the black homeland of Bophuthatswana, the channel found its foothold by means of signal overspill, becoming an attractive alternative to the existing SABC and later M-Net channels. Following the end of apartheid and the dissolution of Bophuthatswana, it was integrated into the South African Broadcasting Corporation, after which it shut down.
Commencing operations in on 31 December 1983, [1] primarily it transmitted imported programmes in an unedited form, allowing all comical references to race issues to be aired. While initially intended for the Bophuthatswana homeland, it was later relayed from the Johannesburg TV transmitter toward Soweto, on the UHF band [2] The first programme seen was reportedly a Woody Woodpecker cartoon. [3]
In the apartheid era, a small number of white people who were able to receive unintentional overspill watched Bop TV, which offered alternative entertainment and current affairs programming to the state-controlled South African Broadcasting Corporation, even though the signal was transmitted in a tight beam from the main Johannesburg TV transmitter toward Soweto. [4] It was strongly recommended that the signals were to be limited to areas with a high Tswana population. Unlike the three SABC channels available at the time (TV1, TV2, and in the case of eastern South Africa TV3), which broadcast on the VHF band with horizontal polarity in Johannesburg (channels 6, 9, and 13), Bop TV broadcast over the UHF band with vertical polarity in Johannesburg (channel 37). [5] Furthermore, both Bop TV and the SABC had set up an agreement whereby each side would not broadcast opinions contrary to the other. While the SABC had no jurisdiction over the independent homeland of Bophuthathswana, if Bop TV violated those agreements, the SABC would shut off the Johannesburg relay. Within three months of its founding, Bop TV rapidly overtook the SABC channels in terms of ratings. [6] [7] The channel was set up by Tim Ellis, who also assisted in the creation of the SABC's TV4 in 1984 (which went live after the 9pm closing time for both TV2 and TV3) and later M-Net. [8]
The signals were restricted to within Bophuthatswana in 1986 following the rapid success of its broadcasts by means of overspill to parts of South Africa; the restrictions were put to place after the ITU recommended that the station considered as a "foreign broadcaster" in South Africa. There could be no overspill from Bophuthatswana to major cities like Johannesburg, Pretoria, or Soweto, since Bophuthatswana was hundreds of kilometres away. However, from the Johannesburg transmitter beamed toward the intended target of Soweto, there was some overspill into south-western Johannesburg suburbs [9] Bop TV started satellite broadcasts in 1988, [10] using a satellite from the Intelsat IV fleet for that purpose. [11] The channel was even carried in the early years of cable television in Israel [12] and was the primary way Israel saw CNN International during the Gulf War, [13] being removed over concerns due to its American imports, program contracts and the refusal of the Israeli cable companies to pay for its reception. [14]
By 1990, Bop TV was received by some 350,000 television sets in its coverage area, for a daily schedule of nine hours. The channel was already interested in buying new series such as The Simpsons (before it even premiered on M-Net [15] ) and The Arsenio Hall Show , but the prices for such were expensive. Its executives were in screening sessions from numerous production companies, including American juggernauts. [9]
A post-apartheid reshuffling of the SABC in 1996 resulted in the former bantustan broadcasters being integrated into it. [16] [17] This infuriated the bosses of Bop Broadcasting. [18] [17]
In 1997, the State Reorganisation Act led to the creation of subsidies for the former bantustan broadcasters that were now under the SABC's control. The said subsidy ended in November 2001. From then onward, the SABC was now funding Bop Broadcasting in its entirety. [19] The channel started airing the Setswana SABC news bulletin at 9pm on 4 January 2000, coinciding with changes to SABC2's primetime schedule. [20] In 2003, the SABC announced that they would shut the channel down on 31 July. [21]