Gary Al-Smith to host TV3 Fan Zone

TV3 is proud to announce the start of a new fan-based football show called Fan Zone to be hosted by Gary Al-Smith.

The program is scheduled to kick off on Sunday, October 26 at 4pm. Fan Zone will complement the station’s coverage of the Barclays Premier League, of which they have the rights for the season.

“We are very excited about Fan Zone especially as fans of the EPL in Ghana want to have a bigger say about their clubs’ performances,” said Nana Aba Anamoah, Deputy Managing Editor, Sports and Special Reports at TV3.

The host

In Gary Al-Smith, the station has captured one of Ghana’s foremost journalists in the local and international news media, with his recent coverage of the World Cup for CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera particularly standing out.

He is also sports editor for Citi FM in Accra, but it is his reputation for interactive storytelling that makes him such a great fit for Fan Zone.

Nana Aba Anamoah describes the 26-year old as “Ghana’s best sports journalist”, going on to say that “Gary fortunately knows his EPL too and understands social media very well. Teeming fans of the EPL are in safe hands.”

Gary is also sports editor at Citi 97.3 FM in Accra.

A social show

Fan Zone will involve social media networks such as Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook and Skype video calls as well as traditional SMS messaging to drive and analyse storylines in the ongoing Barclays Premier League.

On his part, Al-Smith expressed his delight at the partnership.

“Sports journalism shouldn't be drab. It must be social and entertaining. And I don't see a better team to make this concept thrive than TV3’s excellent sports team, whom I’ve been very familiar with for many years.

“Fan Zone will just be an extension of my cordial working experience with the station.”

The show will run until May 2015.