By Umamah Bakharia

eMedia, the parent company for e.tv and Openview, is facing off with Communications Minister Khumbudzo Ntshveni over the migration to digital broadcast.

The free-to-air broadcaster says the end of this month deadline is not feasible and experts agree.

Speaking to Radio Islam, Media Monitoring Africa programme manager Azola Dayile says that the transition would mean no longer requiring antennas for TV but boxes similar to DSTV decoders.

“We would move from analogue television to digital television where we won’t be having interruptions, [there will be] better quality and there would be more channels for people to view – that will be the difference,” says Dayile.

Currently, this migration will only include television and not radio platforms.

The Department of Digital Technology says that households who earn less than R3 500 are eligible to receive a TV box.

“[There will be many homes] that will be left without any sort of television service if the process goes ahead on 31 March,” says Dayile. He adds that there were no efforts done by the government to inform the public about digital migration.

“All of a sudden the process is being suddenly rushed without considering the [stakeholders],” says Dayile.

The case is, however, still ongoing to determine the future of the public broadcaster.