Bop TV

South African television station (1994–2003) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 (which included townships near Johannesburg and Pretoria),[1] 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.

CountryBophuthatswana (until 1994)
South Africa (1994–2003)
Broadcast areaBophuthatswana (until 1994)
South Africa (1994–2003)
LanguagesTswana (Use in some programs), English
OwnerBophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation (until 1998)
SABC (1998–2003)
Quick facts Country, Broadcast area ...
Bop TV
CountryBophuthatswana (until 1994)
South Africa (1994–2003)
Broadcast areaBophuthatswana (until 1994)
South Africa (1994–2003)
Programming
LanguagesTswana (Use in some programs), English
Ownership
OwnerBophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation (until 1998)
SABC (1998–2003)
Sister channelsMmabatho Television (until 1998)
History
Launched31 December 1983; 42 years ago (1983-12-31)
Closed31 July 2003; 22 years ago (2003-07-31)
Close

History

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] The station was founded by an American, who worked with a British deputy, Robin Welch, from Bristol.[4]

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.[5] 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).[6] 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.[7][8] 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.[9] Beginning in 1985, it started carrying the Edutel pilot project, which became a full service in 1986; in 1991, Edutel moved to Mmabatho Television, while its airtime on Bop TV was replaced by its Music TV service.[10]

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[11] Bop TV started satellite broadcasts in 1988,[12] using a satellite from the Intelsat IV fleet for that purpose.[13] The channel was even carried in the early years of cable television in Israel[14] and was the primary way Israel saw CNN International during the Gulf War,[15] being removed over concerns due to its American imports, program contracts and the refusal of the Israeli cable companies to pay for its reception.[16]

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[17]) 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.[11]

A post-apartheid reshuffling of the SABC in 1996 resulted in the former bantustan broadcasters being integrated into it.[18][19] This infuriated the bosses of Bop Broadcasting.[20][19] During the late 90s, it was used to provide training for prospective Botswana Television staff.[10]

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.[21] The channel started airing the Setswana SABC news bulletin at 9pm on 4 January 2000, coinciding with changes to SABC2's primetime schedule.[22] In 2003, the SABC announced that they would shut the channel down on 31 July.[23] After its closure, the SABC planned to use its infrastructure for a regional broadcasting base.[19]

List of programmes

Domestic

Music

  • South Africa Music TV[10]
  • South Africa On the Beat

Lifestyle

  • South Africa Panorama

Children's

  • South Africa Adventures at the Waterhole
  • South Africa Teeny Bop

Sports

  • South Africa Bop Sports

Horse racing

  • South Africa See How They Run

News & current affairs

  • Bop TV News (until 2000)
  • South Africa SABC Dikgang (from 2000)

Talk shows

  • South Africa Rhema Church Hour

Drama

  • South Africa Stolen Lives

Game show

  • South Africa Moving Up Quiz

Education

  • South Africa Edutel[10]

Foreign

Comedy

Anthology

Western

News

Drama

Sports

  • United States Everyday Workout
  • United States Gillette World Sport Special
  • United Kingdom Trans World Sport
  • United States WCW Pro

Music

Lifestyle

Soap opera

Variety

Documentary

Food

News

  • United States Front Runners

Education

Travel

Animation

  • United Kingdom, Wales Operavox: The Animated Operas
  • United States The Simpsons

Children's

Video games

Talk shows

Sci-fi

TV specials

Reality

Game shows

Telefilms

TV movies

References

External links

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI