This week, SuperSport and Multichoice Ghana launched the Once in a Lifetime World Cup coverage at Citizen Kofi and unveled their promise to DStv viewers ahead of the Fifa 2010 World Cup running from June 11 to July 11.
The event was attended by SuperSport management - Gary Rathbone, Andre de Villiers, Luyanda , Itumeleng and Thomas Mlambo, all of SuperSport. There were also a few Ghanaian celebrities that graced the occaision – the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Tony Baffoe, CK Akunnor, Odartey Lamptey amongst others. The event was co-hosted by MNet presenter Anita Erskine
The tournament is the pride of the continent and the World of Champions will broadcast football’s greatest event like never before. Not only will SuperSport screen every one of the 64 matches live on DStv, but the action will be supplemented by expert analysis, world class magazine programming and breaking football news.
In addition, there will be a 24-hour World Cup channel – both in Standard Definition and High Definition – making this the biggest and most lavish production in SuperSport’s 23-year history. In-house analysts will include African football giant Kalusha Bwalya, former England international John Barnes and Edgar Davids of Holland and Tottenham Hotspur. Other pundits will feature SuperSport’s regular guests, among them Abedi Pele, Ernst Middendorp, Gary Mabbutt, Gary Bailey and Daniel Amokachi. And, in a coup for SuperSport, its theme piece will be Dr Alban’s “Hello Africa”, the Nigerian’s iconic song.
Plus audiences can watch four unique daily magazine shows on SuperSport – Chase the Makarapa; Woza Lunchtime; Supernova and Harambee.
HARAMBEE
Harambee, which means “Coming Together” in Swahili, will be SuperSport’s flagship show for the World Cup. To be broadcast daily from 7-7.30pm (CAT), Harambee will lead into the main match of the evening. This is the show that will pull together the big issues of the day with football experts and top guests discussing the very latest developments. SuperSport’s leading anchors, among them Robert Marawa, Thomas Mlambo and Nigeria’s Charles Anazodo, will host the not-to-be-missed Harambee.
CHASE THE MAKARAPA
Eight participants have been chosen from around the world: two from South Africa and one each from China, India, Brazil, Poland, Nigeria and Kenya for the ultimate adventure programme. The daily 15-minute show, which relies heavily on new-media elements, will see the participants “Chasing the Makarapa” – in search of tickets for nine matches, including the final. Every step of the way they will chart their progress online by means of blogs, Twitter and mobi sites in their respective territories.
SUPERNOVA
As the name suggests, Supernova charts the birth of a star, in this instance the continent’s youth. Aimed at the 12-20 age-group, the daily show (10-11am) is youth-oriented and will focus on technology, fashion, dance and music – all of it with a World Cup theme. Naturally, the youth themselves will have their say on this funky, fast-paced show.
WOZA LUNCHTIME
To be broadcast daily from 12-1pm, Woza Lunchtime will pull together all the World Cup’s off-field elements in a distinctly African style; from culture and food to lifestyle and entertainment. Hosted by an array of celebrities, the show will primarily reflect the glamour and glitz that surrounds a great event like the World Cup, both in South Africa and the African continent. Roving reporters include popular James Wokabi of Kenya and Moses Praiz of Nigeria.
“Fifa has promised that this will be the most extensive, most technologically advanced broadcast in World Cup history,” said Tex Teixeira, head of channels for SuperSport.
“This is the closest the television viewer will be to the World Cup. Picture clarity, the number of cameras, replays, graphics and super-slomos will be better than ever before.”
As with all World Cup broadcasters, SuperSport will receive the live feed from HBS, Swiss-based host broadcaster of the tournament. Whereas matches in the 2006 World Cup used 26 TV cameras, this will be bumped up to 29 per match, with three more to be used for selected matches. These include, for the first time, an aerial camera and an ultra motion camera that produces between 300 and 1000 frames per second in HD, allowing for the capture of 20-40 times more frames compared to a standard camera, and can provide stunning images of action and emotion.
As exclusive pay TV rights holders for Africa, SuperSport will have full rights to Fifa’s content library, which will offer 100+ hours of daily content. Fifa’s access to all 32 teams means that much behind-the-scenes action, restricted to other media, will be broadcast on SuperSport.
And to complement its coverage, SuperSport will utilise a multi-purpose High Definition studio set; again, the biggest in its history and in keeping with the World Cup’s status.
