Legislation: More time to comment on sports broadcasting regulations

The deadline for comment on draft amendments to the sports broadcasting services regulations has been extended to 15 March. Their overarching objective is to facilitate broader access to national sporting events by ‘striking a balance between audience and revenue’, as Legalbrief Today has already reported, notes Pam Saxby. According to an accompanying explanatory memorandum, this is expected to ‘ensure that sports continue to promote social inclusion, equity and sustainability’ – among other things by giving ‘minority and developmental sports’ more ‘prominence on (the) broadcasting system’. However, in the view of Media Monitoring Africa’s William Bird the proposals are likely to create ‘an unsustainable situation for broadcasters and sporting bodies’ (Rapport). This is noting their negative implications for the income derived from commercial arrangements between sports bodies and subscription broadcasters in particular.

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