Television in South Africa was introduced in 1976. The country is notable for the late introduction of widespread television broadcasting.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (AM/FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state-owned enterprises.
Sundance TV is an American pay television channel owned by AMC Networks that launched on February 1, 1996. The channel is named after Robert Redford's character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and, while it is an extension of Redford's non-profit Sundance Institute, the channel operates independently of both the Institute and the Sundance Film Festival.
Digital Satellite Television, abbreviated DStv, is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice and based and with headquarters in Randburg, South Africa. DStv provides audio, radio and television channels and services to subscribers across 50 countries, mostly in South Africa, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
SuperSport is a South African-based group of television channels carried on the DStv & Canal+ satellite platforms alongside the GOtv terrestrial platform and Showmax Pro for live sports programming. It provides sports content in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and many other African countries.
Multichoice is a South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa, and GOtv, a minor service operating in over nine countries of this area and Showmax service. MultiChoice was formed out of the subscriber-management branch of the M-Net terrestrial pay television company, and broadcasts the full range of M-Net channels on the DStv service. MultiChoice is owned by the media conglomerate of the same name. One of the subsidiaries of MultiChoice is DStv Now, renamed as DStv App, a service that delivers television transmission to mobile devices such as laptops, smart phones and notebooks.
SABC NEWS is both a South African 24-hour news channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation as well as the name of the news division of the broadcaster.
Crime & Investigation is a pan-European television channel based in the United Kingdom, owned by A&E Networks UK. The channel primarily broadcasts true crime programming, and is a European version of the U.S. network of the same name.
SABC Africa was the international television service of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which ceased to broadcast on 1 August 2008 after poor performance on the DStv satellite television platform.
Channel O is a South Africa–based music channel that started transmission in 1997. Its main concept is African music in Africa and the diaspora.
M-Net Movies is a group of South Africa-based film-only television channels launched as Movie Magic in 1995 and broadcast across Sub-Saharan Africa on pay TV satellite services DStv and GOtv. The channels broadcast films/movies based on genre as well as clips featuring behind-the-scenes looks at previous, current and future breakout box office hit films.
Africa Magic is a collection of Pay TV entertainment channels that focus on African programming, most popularly Nigerian series and movies. Africa Magic, which started off as single channel of the same name, is a brand owned by M-Net and now comprises seven channels.
DreamWorks Channel, commonly known as DreamWorks, is a pay television network owned and operated by the NBCUniversal International Networks division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. First launched in Southeast Asia on 1 August 2015, it expanded to the rest of Asia as well as Europe, Africa and Oceania. Its programming is mainly sourced from DreamWorks Animation.
eExtra is a South African digital satellite television channel owned by eMedia Holdings, offering a variety of lifestyle, dramas, telenovelas, court shows, sitcoms and movies.
eToonz is a South African digital satellite television free-to-air children's channel created and owned by eMedia Investments's e.tv. The channel broadcasts for a duration of 16 hours from Sunday to Friday, 17 hours on Saturday and 18 hours with movies during the school holidays.
Newsroom Afrika is a South African 24-hour digital satellite television news channel broadcast across Africa on DStv. It is one of two channels on the platform that is 100% black-owned, and 50% female-owned. The channel comes after MultiChoice ended their contract with the now defunct and controversial Afro Worldview. The channel has a number of top journalists who have long been in the industry, the likes of Cathy Mohlahlana, Stephen Grootes, and Sbu Ngalwa.
SABC Education is a South African educational television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
SABC SPORT is a South African free-to-air sports television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
AstraSat was the South African Broadcasting Corporation's satellite television service that existed between 1996 and 1998. AstraSat carried SABC's three terrestrial television networks and two additional free-to-air channels that were aimed at becoming subscription channels. Numerous factors including the reliance on analogue instead of digital led to its closure in February 1998.
