Peter F Bretherick
(C.Eng, MIEE)
BBC - SABC - SA Philips - Telemedia
Peter was an engineer whose ambition was to join the team responsible for introducing television to South Africa, unfortunately he joined about a year too early and was not allowed to transition from the radio to television groups. Peter started his own company, Telemedia which has had a significant impact on the development and implementation of broadcasting in Southern Africa.
I first met Peter when he was working for SA Philips and remember the LDK15 color camera which was a major component in their product offerings. The test pattern seen by viewers who waited for months for the introduction of TV1, was generated by a Philips device. Philips plumbicon tubes were used in all makes of television cameras.
Phil Bartel and I travelled with Peter to visit the Philips organization in Eindhoven, Netherlands to be shown the television products they had to offer. I remember seeing a large pile of VCR's which we being scapped, the problem they were facing is the machines were not compatable, a recording on one could not be replaced on another.
I have many memories from overseas trips but the one I remember best was being invited to the home of Anton and Charlotte Philips in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The guests were Douglas Mills and his wife Frances, Phil Bartel, Peter and myself. The experience and meal our hosts provided was truely memorable.
Brian Horn (SABC)
Peter's career in broadcasting began at the BBC, London where he worked from 1963 to 1969. He always had a interest in broadcasting and in the March 1963 edition of "The Radio Constructor" he published a design for a "Sample Echo Chamber".[1]
In 1970 he moved to South Africa and joined the SABC hoping to become part of the televsion pioneer team when it was introduced. The SABC made the announcement in 1971 but Peter was one of the unfortunate SABC technical employees who never got the chance to transition from the Radio division to the newly formed Television division. The SABC technical division would not allow employees working for the radio services to apply for jobs in the television services as they were concerned allowing the migration would impact the radio services.
Peter joined the Philips organization in 1971 where he was marketing manager until 1980 when he became self employed. This first contract was to install TV repeaters for the diamond mines in Bophuthatswana. A number of other contracts followed as helped establish Bophuthatswana Television.
He was successful and started his own company Telemedia in 1981. In 1987 he moved into a new building in Rivonia, with only four employees, handling the microwave links for MNET and SABC. In 1994 business began to pick up. Telecom placed its first order and his employee count rose to 10 and additional satellite uplinks were installed. These uplinks were for Satellite News Gathering and occasional broadcast feeds. Peter spent most Saturdays at the top of the Hillbrow Tower patching signals for outside broadcasts for MNET and horse racing.
The first live transmission out of Africa was the Africa Cup soccer match in Malawi in 1995. The staff grew to more than 30 people of which 20 are engineers with 10 in administration. An addition eight security guards were needed to protect the company 24 hours-a-day.
One of the significant memories that Peter has was his involvement with Nolo Letele in the creation of Lesotho TV. Nolo became a signicant contibutor to broadcasting in Southern Africa his career taking him from being an engineer at Lesotho TV to Executive Chairman of the MultiChoice Group.
An interesting development in Africa turned out to be the religious broadcast channels. Telemedia identified an opportunity in that market. The company made available several different studios to handle audio and video processing and the satellite uplink. There are numerous different religious groups in Africa and each of them wanted their own TV channel. Telemedia offers all these religious communities the necessary infrastructure at affordable prices. The advantage being that the channel provider can focus on the program content and not the infrastructure required to produce it. Since many of these religious groups operate with limited financial resources, Telemedia offers their services at affordable rates.
Telemedia has evolved into a broad-based media broadcast facility providing a sophisticated and versatile product range. Their investment in infrastructure has ensured that they have state-of-the-art equipment in satellite transmission, radio and television signal distribution, microwave and SNG services, and studio production services. Their range of services includes satellite communications, fiber network infrastructure, broadcast technology solutions, streaming platforms, and 24/7 technical support.
Peter retired in 2017 and handed over management of the company to his son Steve. In November 2020 the Bretherick Family Trust sold 75% of the shares in Telemedia to the Rex Trueform Group. The acquisition was completed in March 2022 with Steve Bretherick taking over the role of CTO.
