SS offers wall-to-wall Afcon coverage
SuperSport will provide extensive coverage of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, including a 24-hour channel, starting on January 19.
All 32 matches will be broadcast live and in HD, with both SS4 and SSHD2 being 24-hour Afcon channels. Programming will include buildups, live matches, match wraps, highlights, repeats and magazine programming.
Ruud Gullit, two-time World Footballer of the Year, will be among the analysts – he joins SuperSport for the knockout stages – plus Sunday Oliseh, Sammy Kuffour and Benni McCarthy.
In addition, there will be two magazine programmes: Master Plan and Hello Africa.
Master Plan, to be broadcast on Sunday afternoons, will be hosted by Robert Marawa and will rely on experts like Gavin Hunt, Oliseh, Neil Tovey and former Nigerian coach Augustine Eguovoen.
Hello Africa, which will focus on the colour around the event, will be broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays at 9pm.
In addition, SuperSport will have six separate crews following the teams, with SuperSport Blitz presenting rolling coverage and breaking news from around South Africa.
In the few instances where live matches happen simultaneously, SuperSport Blitz and SSHD1 will accommodate the second match, ensuring a non-stop live offering.
Also, all matches will be streamed live and on mobile and will also be available on the Walka via the Blitz and SS4 channels. The Maximo channel will broadcast 28 matches with the remaining four accommodated on the “overflow” channels (Blitz and SSHD1).
All matches will include four language options: English, isiZulu, Sotho and Portuguese. Among the English commentators on the world feed is SuperSport’s esteemed Mark Gleeson.
All 32 matches will enjoy one-hour buildups and hour-long post-match wraps.
Commenting on the Afcon coverage, SuperSport CEO Happy Ntshingila said the plans were unprecedented.
“We are pulling out all stops to reflect the tournament in all its glory. Being in South Africa helps us immensely and we intend to bring the vibrancy of the event into people’s living rooms with an unrivalled television package.”
