The South African Broadcasting Corporation's TV channels still dominate the airwaves in South Africa. In 1996, they were reorganised as:
- SABC1 - public service channel in English and African languages;
- SABC2 - as SABC1, with programmes in Afrikaans; and
- SABC3 - a commercial service, entirely in English
In 1986, a pay-TV service called M-Net was launched, which subsequently became part of the Multichoice bouquet of channels:
- M-Net - mixture of general entertainment, movies
- SuperSport - sports coverage
- KTV - children's programmes
- Series Channel - general entertainment
- Soap Channel - soap operas
- KykNet - programmes in Afrikaans
In 2003, the New South African TV channel (NSAT) announced plans to broadcast on Sky Television in the UK, thereby reaching the large (predominantly white) expatriate community.
The first free-to-air commercial broadcaster was etv, which launched in 1999.