Potential Candidate: With News And Sports Out Of The Way, Could Any Of These 3 Channels Fill Up Its Socks On The Openview Platform?

News And Sport went off air by the end of March on the Openview platform with further content heading to eReality and SABC Sport being the only dedicated sports channel as further new channels were added to bolster the general entertainment.

Although, eMedia Investments is in no rush for find another sports channel. The likelihood of them potentially sourcing another sports brand doesn't seem far fetched.

 

eMedia Investments doesn't have a positive history in this section as all seemed to die out within 3 years and if SABC Sport remains onboard it would be the longest running sports channel on the Openview platform.

Onto alternative channels, seeing as this is a free-to-air platform there's very little alternatives of course the channels in question do incorporate a lot of variety in the mix and they go as follows:

 

1. SABC Sport 2

Following the success of SABC Sport, the public broadcaster expressed interest in launching a second sports channel which will likely adapt to the format of ESPN 1 (soccer) & 2 (basketball, baseball etc.) on DStv and StarSat.

The issue with this matter is funding, at the moment the only channels coming are ones which are funded by other outlets like StarSat and DStv on top of Openview.

2. Ignition

Following the launch of The Home Channel(+), it lead some viewers to speculate the potential addition of Ignition or at a catch-up version of the channel. Ignition is a lifestyle channel that caters to automotive vehicles.

In 2014, eMedia Investments once operated Bi-Cars TV on the Openview platform and at the time, there wasn't a lot of consumers using Openview meaning eMedia couldn't properly determine the outcome of content with viewers so it suffered the chop.

 

3. FreeSports

FreeSports is a British free-to-air sports channel operated and owned by Premier Media S.à r.l. aims to be majority live, with over 1000 events a year, for an average of 10 hours per day. Numerous sports broadcast, include football, combat sports, ice hockey, tennis, rugby league, rugby union, basketball, cricket, and snooker.

The channel holds a partnership with rights holders IMG, MP & Silva, Lagardère Group, Pitch International and Infront Sports & Media.

UPDATED (19/09/2021): IMPACT WRESTLING CANCELLED AFTER A YEAR??? As eMedia Investments Adds Singing Competition Britain's Got Talent In Its Timeslot On e.tv [RUMOR]

Earlier this month, eMedia Investments shocked viewers with the news they no longer have rights to La Liga after announcing last year they acquired 4 year rights to the match.

Now it looks like that might not be the only thing cancelled on eMedia's portfolio apparently through an updated schedule the twelfth season of Britain's Got Talent replaces Impact Wrestling after a year on on e.tv from September 26th.

Maybe Impact Wrestling will become an Openview exclusive through their News and Sport channel seeing as they still mention it unlike DBE TV but I have my doubts on that as mentioned they no longer have rights to La Liga even after signing a 4 year agreement and also they haven't been promoting it for a while now.

Perhaps, they're putting more focus on eVOD as mentioned a month ago. They'd be investing R100 million on fresh content for that service and those millions had to come from somewhere.

Cancellation of La Liga was probably in that R100 million perhaps even all the sports e.tv acquired for their channel alongside News and Sport. So where does that leave News and Sport?

Since the introduction of SABC Sport onto the Openview platform, eMedia Investments has been very distant with their News and Sport channel through promotion on Openview as they divert attention to a rival's sports channel and it's offering.

It wouldn't be surprising if SABC Sport picked up rights to some of these matches seeing as the channel is pretty much the glue in the relationship.

Britain's Got Talent season 12 airs Sundays at 16:40 on e.tv apparently from 26 September. Chances are this is nothing but it seems very likely to occur.

SCHEDULE UPDATE: Impact Wrestling is saved as e.tv now moves it to Saturdays at 16:20.

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eNCA's News Segments Has Been Added To News And Sports On OpenView?

As always eMedia Investments the company that runs OpenView with its set of e.tv channels has a history of not informing the media on upcoming developments another unexpected arrival has made its way to OpenView.

News and Sports once known as OpenNews and e.tv News has added eNCA segments to the channel without any notice as eNCA 24/7 channel is available exclusively through the platform.

During the pandemic, News and Sports has run into some troubling times in both sections most of the time the channel airs Sports other than News then there came a time when they replayed old news and some foreign news segments on the channel faded away.

With sports put on hold the only active event is mainly wrestling with e.tv supplying Impact Wrestling and Xplosion alongside selected programs across their channels and SuperSport being WWE on DStv.

Recently both StarSat and OpenView acquired old Bundesliga matches which were once available on SuperSport in selected markets.

Openview To Broadcast The English Premiere League In South Africa On Its Newly Established "News And Sports" Channel

Openview has expanded its content offering to include sports with the introduction of live English Premier League matches.

The free satellite service provider will broadcast the Premier League on its newly established NewsandSports channel.
The first live match will be broadcast on Saturday 10 August and coverage will run until the end of the football season.

Openview will broadcast one live match every week, which will include one of the top six Premier League clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, or Tottenham Hotspur
Together with the live matches, eMedia Investments – the owner of e.tv, eNCA and Openview – has acquired the rights to schedule other football-related magazine programmes that are produced by the Premier League.

“This is a momentous addition for us, and for the free-to-air television-watching public,” said COO of eMedia Investments, Antonio Lee.

“A leading brand of sport continues in the free-to-air domain and we, at OpenView, are excited to host it.”

Lee added that “eMedia will add its very own touch to this broadcast, and hopefully in time, will be able to add more sports offerings on to our bouquet.”

eMedia News Channels Undergo Exciting Brand Refresh

South African media group eMedia Investments is relaunching its free-to-air news offerings. From Monday 5 August 2019, eNews 8PM and the satellite tv platform's OpenNews, will be repositioning and merging under the banner called e.tv News.

Openview viewers can watch e.tv News from 4:00PM-7:30PM Monday to Friday on Channel 120, while our e.tv viewers can catchup on their latest news at 1:00PM and 8.00PM Weekdays.

Speaking ahead of the channel's brand refresh, OpenNews Managing Director Nisa Allie said, "2019 marks the 21st anniversary of e.tv being South Africa's independent, commercial, free-to-air tv station and we are delighted about OpenNews becoming e.tv news. The decision comes from our desire to be more closely aligned to the e.tv brand. We were born of e.tv and its commitment to provide free, reliable, independent news." expressed Nisa

"Good Journalism and the desire to tell South Africa's story is at the heart of e.tv news and we are really excited to bring seasoned journalist, Annika Larsen onboard. She is a trusted value and a familiar face to the e.tv audience." Allie concluded.

The lineup will also bring Naledi Maleo and Kokesto Sachane.

OpenNews was launched on the Openview platform in late 2018.

For additional information on available channels, follow the official e.tv news social media pages:
Twitter: @etvnewsSA
Facebook: etvnewsSA
For more enquiries please contact Lerato Maboi at leratomaleto@etv.co.za