2.7: Television

As was the case with radio, several people were simultaneously working to expand the technology that would soon be known as television. The earliest television was mechanical, meaning that it had to be turned or moved rather than relying on electronics. In 1884, Paul Nipkow invented a mechanical television-like device that could project a visual image of the then famous Felix the Cat. It took a while for this crude version of a television to be turned into a more functional electronic version. In 1923, Vladimir Zworykin improved on this technology, followed closely by John Baird and Philo Farnsworth (Poe, 2011). Collectively, these men are responsible for the invention of television, which was the first mass medium capable of instantly and wirelessly transmitting audio and visual signals.

However, television arrived late in South Africa, only in 1976. When most of the rest of the world watched the first moon landing live on TV (in 1969), South Africans listened on the radio. The apartheid government feared the influence of television and as with radio broadcasts, when television finally arrived, it was tightly controlled by the government, with only a few channels available. In 1976, there was one channel, TV1, broadcasting in English and Afrikaans. Later came TV2 (isiZulu and isiXhosa) and TV3 (Sesotho and Setswana). Only in the 1980s did a private channel arrive, M-Net, but it was not allowed to broadcast news; this was still controlled by the government. In 1998, e.tv arrived, and after that, television was finally opened up to many other channels – eventually satellite TV also – with a wide variety of local and international news and entertainment channels.

For the past number of years, satellite TV providers as well as public broadcasters have grown increasingly nervous about a new trend in television-viewing habits, namely streaming services. Many people now prefer to stream programmes they would like to watch through internet connections. This way they can choose what they want to watch, at what time, unlike traditional TV broadcasts when programmes are shown at a specific time. Many streaming services also provide a much wider choice than traditional broadcasters. Netflix and Showmax are some of the most famous examples available in South Africa, but there are many others.

---