SuperSport Schools Celebrates Successful Partnership With Mzwandile Mali-Tournament

SuperSport Schools celebrates a successful partnership with the Mzwandile Mali Schools Rugby Tournament run by the Lincoln Mall Leadership Foundation.

We are delighted to announce the successful streaming of the Mzwandile Mali Schools Rugby Tournament in the Eastern Cape over the past few weeks, the tournament has garnered incredible support from the community showcasing the passion and enthusiasm for rugby in the region.

We are proud to have covered the thrilling matches leading up to the finals on the 15th of March at Isaac Wolfson Stadium Live on DStv Channel 216 and the SuperSport Schools App.

The tournament was named after Mzwandile Mali, father of Lincoln Mali has not only provided a platform for young talents to showcase their skills but has also fostered a sense of community and sportsmanship among participants.

In addition to the upcoming finals, SuperSport Schools is excited to announce the coverage of the touring teams’ matches set to take place in Kent, United Kingdom on 6-12 October 2024, this presents a unique opportunity for the chosen 22 players to gain international exposure and experience, further enhancing their rugby journey with the support of the Lincoln Mali Leadership Foundation.

What To Expect On DStv's Newest Addition, SuperSport Schools?

Immediate focus for both streaming and broadcast will be on The KES Water Polo Festival, the Graeme College 150th festival, Spar hockey from KZN, the St Mary’s hockey festival, the St Andrew’s netball festival, Premier Interschools netball and rugby, the Border Rugby Day, KZN schools football and the Gauteng Development League (GDL).

The GDL is especially appealing and will include age group football matches across 34 weekends from March to November. Comprising 18 clubs and schools, including teams like Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United, plus schools like Rosina Sedibane from Centurion, they will compete in nine head-to-head fixtures across a number of age groups per week.

In addition to the legacy content to be found on the linear channel, the all-new SuperSport Schools vodcast (a podcast that contains video content) will be broadcast. It touches on a variety of school sport subjects and leans towards being entertaining and informative.

Given the wealth of extraordinary achievements that occur on a weekly basis, often in remote areas and small-town schools, the new channel will also seek to highlight these for viewers who may otherwise have missed them.

The channel went live at 8am and is available to subscribers from Premium to Access.

MultiChoice To Add SuperSport Schools As Second Youth Oriented Channel In 2023 To DStv Customers

During the month, it was reported SuperSport was looking to bolster the amount of linear channels currently residing on the DStv platform with the launch of South Africa's and possibly the world's first ever youth oriented sports channel, SuperSport Schools.

SuperSport Schools came out of an online brand known as School Sports Live and after SuperSport acquired majority stake expanded the presence of the brand with the launch of a dedicated app on top of hosting several content across its stations.

As spotted by several consumers yesterday, MultiChoice is gearing up to rollout a dedicated channel for the highly anticipated SuperSport Schools (also known as SuperSport Variety SS Schools/SS Schools) from March 1st at 8AM.

As mentioned, SuperSport on top of stacking up original programming has licenced several shows for the upcoming channel including 50+ Years Of Sports, Spirit Of Yachting, The Outdoor Sports Show, The Greatest Of All Time and Arena Sports.

Just like SuperSport Action, they sort of treat it as an overflow channel with La Liga my guess has to do with the fact that there's not much original content hence the licensing and also the fact that SuperSport Schools is also looking to source content people would watch.

As for other details, MultiChoice is expected to share all that in the coming week my guess is that it will be available to all DStv customers not sure if that includes Easyview and unlike WWE will be grouped with the other SuperSport brands on channel 216.

SuperSport Schools is set to be the second or third new channel to rollout on the DStv platform following Qwest TV which launched in January and Cartoonito which will rollout later in the month in place of Boomerang. It is also set to be the first additional channel.

Update: Turns out, SuperSport Schools will be available on Access going up on channel 216. Press release may be attached soon.

Could The Rumoured SuperSport Schools Channel Perhaps Be Added As A Replacement To Another DStv Channel?

During the week, MultiChoice had begun tests on a possible channel for SuperSport Schools making it South Africa's probably the world's first ever sports channel for the youth promoting a variety of sports from soccer, netball, swimming and probably basketball.

Not much details have been shared on a release date or a possible channel number or package but my hunch is that MultiChoice will probably unveil it in the coming weeks or later in March where schools out and it's addition alongside Cartoonito would prove favourable.

As seen with Cartoonito, it is set to replace Boomerang when the channel goes dark by the end of the month incorporating the best of Boomerang but that left me thinking about the position of SuperSport Schools on the DStv platform.

Last year, MultiChoice in legal battle with eMedia Investments had mentioned they were faced with transponder constraints and that they wouldn't be able to add a lot of channels in the coming future unless they remove some which led to the untimely demise of eMedia's 4 channels.

DStv:
- SuperSport might be rolling out a new channel
- Boomerang is the first channel to exit the DStv platform in 2023
- MultiChoice to hike DStv fees from April 2023
- CBS Reality is the only brand to retain its identity in the UK from Paramount and AMC International

Analysing some of the new channels in question notice how they only add a new channel to replace one from the same section on DStv. Take for instance, MTV Hits with Qwest TV both of which were music channels same goes for ITV Networks and Hilaal TV.

Taking that to account, is it SuperSport Schools will replace one of the sports channels and here are some of my picks:
- Ginx eSports TV: A gaming channel featuring news, highlights and other game themed content. It's not a bad channel for promoting what it loves but it's better off as a digital channel I mean only a selected view gaming through cable much less DStv.
- WWE Channel: SuperSport didn't credit it as much when renewing through partnership with WWE only referenced Raw, SmackDown, NXT and PPVs as those are the only things consumers watch on the channel.

Another logical theory is that another channel perhaps TNT, Discovery Family, eMedia's 4 channels or even one of the current SuperSport channels would be abandoning ship but there's always chances this may as well serve as another addition to consumers.

New Channel Alert (Rumour): SuperSport Schools To Get A Dedicated Channel On The DStv Platform

In 2021, SuperSport acquired a majority stake in School Sports Live, a YouTube channel that livestreams and provides highlights and profiles of school sports across South Africa which lead to the introduction of SuperSport Schools.

Since it's acquisition, SuperSport Schools has become a multimedia platform for the SuperSport brand broadcasting live on YouTube or the app of the same name. SuperSport has even used supplied most of their content to the ever growing Variety 4 channel.

In an interview on whether or not SuperSport had planned to give the brand a linear channel as seen with WWE Channel. The folks behind SuperSport Schools felt that most audiences would prefer viewing the content from where it currently resides.

Of course that doesn't mean MultiChoice won't think otherwise as seen these past years several channels such as WildEarth, Moonbug Kids and Curiosity are all based on online brands with SuperSport Schools looking to join the trio of channels.

As seen this past week, MultiChoice has been conducting tests on the possible channel for the brand featuring shows like 50+ Years Of Sports, Spirit Of Yachting, The Outdoor Sports Show, The Greatest Of All Time, Arena Sports and several others.

Taking to account this is a sports channel branded for children is it possible that maybe it will be allocated on channel 300. I mean the last channel KTV died decades ago and MultiChoice hasn't been doing much on that area but it's possible they'll put on channel 216.

DStv:
- CBS Reality is the only brand to retain its identity in the UK from Paramount and AMC International
- Warner Bros. Discovery hinting at a possible rebrand to Boomerang as more preschool content fills the lineup
- MultiChoice shares crytpic message about eMedia's 4 channels
- BBC to close linear channels and move to an internet only digital future

As for packages, SuperSport Schools operated several pop-up channels through the DStv app each of them were tailor made for Easyview. As of right now, not sure if that's the case for the this version as MultiChoice has a history of doing otherwise.

All in all, Easyview doesn't have a sports channel perhaps as a news channel SuperSport Blitz but other than that you have SABC. Making all the more sense to include another sports channel even if it doesn't happen to be SuperSport Schools.

MultiChoice has made a lot of improvements with Easyview last year following the rollout of Magic Showcase, CineMagic and BBC UKTV on the already existing Real Time, TNT and PBS Kids putting them in a somewhat better position with rivals Openview.

As the channel number is concerned, the pop-up channel occupied channels 247/8 but seeing as those were OTT numbers. My guess it will probably occupy channel 216 or seeing this is a youth channel sit alongside Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel.

But honestly I think it would make sense having it closer to SuperSport as not a lot of adults even browse those sections as seen with Mzansi Magic or Africa Magic for starters and 216/7 seems ideal as 218 and 219 are technically used for ESPN.

DStv Flex:
- March on The Home Channel
- The River cancelled after 6 seasons on 1Magic
- Virtual Reality offers a new opportunity for African filmmakers
- Ratings for DStv from December 2022

I'm guessing Access customers are probably relived should this the channel exist as more sports comes to the package joining the already available Racing240 alongside SuperSport brands Blitz and Variety 4 which has been carrying a lot of SuperSport Schools.

As for whether Variety 4 will stop supplying SuperSport Schools that has yet to be seen I can see them keep it as several SuperSport channels still air WWE but considering how much content would be available I'm guessing the hours will be reduced if not scrapped.

SuperSport Variety 4 in other countries have been airing it's fair share of football I think that should be something SuperSport should be looking into as Access fans just like Compact have football fans and it would put them in a competitive position with SABC Sport.

A lot of content is based in South Africa, I'm not sure if SuperSport Schools will be added to other countries considering this is SuperSport. It wouldn't be shocking if they did acquire it for these regions and perhaps try to grow the original offering in those regions.

The channel is anticipated to rollout either in the coming weeks or next month which is also a school holiday.

School Sport Live Rebrands Into SuperSport Schools, Could A Linear Channel Be In The Works In The Near Future

SuperSport has recommitted to its proud history of growing sport across the continent with the launch of SuperSport Schools, a ground-breaking initiative to change the future of South African schools’ sport. As part of the strategy, SuperSport acquired a majority stake in Schools Sport Live, which will see the business rebranded as SuperSport Schools.

Schools sport is the foundation of South Africa’s sporting success and this venture will aim to identify and expose young talent by broadcasting as many schools sporting fixtures as possible. The production plan will embrace new technology by giving schools access to innovative artificial intelligence-based production to deliver a dynamic multi-screen viewing of schools and youth sport.

Outside of the coverage across SuperSport channels, the SuperSport Schools mobile application will provide parents and other interested parties access to view schools sport anytime, anywhere, live and on-demand.

* Check out the SuperSport Schools Website *

SuperSport Chief Executive, Marc Jury, says the success of schools sport is fundamental to producing a winning sporting nation.

“This initiative is a natural extension of our mission to play our part to grow the pipeline for South Africa’s future sporting heroes. Schools Sport is the foundation from which great sporting nations are built. The stronger the foundation, the brighter our future sporting stars can shine,” said Jury.

Proteas netball captain, Bongi Msomi and World-Cup wining Springbok, Lukhanyo Am, will be leading the campaign with the hope of taking SuperSport Schools to every corner of the continent. Both stars were discovered late in their careers and speak directly to the gap the new platform is trying to close. The focus will be on netball, hockey and rugby for initial implementation phase, with cricket and water polo following suit as the programme extends.

This initiative would not be possible without enablement partners, Nashua. Their national footprint of engineers provide a world class service offering to install, maintain and support the project, especially as they have a great understanding of the school’s infrastructure environment. Nashua will play a key part in rolling out the artificial intelligence automated cameras which are designed to produce and distribute live + highlight content via the mobile application and social/digital channels.

Corporate South Africa and businesses will have an opportunity to be involved in the initiative, with specialised commercial sponsorship packages available to enable and fund the installation of the camera equipment across regions and schools.

Further to this, SuperSport has partnered with the MEC of Sports in the Eastern Cape in an effort to showcase more sport in the talent-rich region.

“The Eastern Cape has produced many of South Africa’s finest sporting stars, we hope our contribution will help to start unveiling talent from all corners of the province,” Jury concluded.

Schools Sport is well and truly alive

Read Also:
- More details on SuperSport School formerly School Sport Live
- SuperSport removing the duplicate WWE Channel
- BBC and ITV launching a streaming service in South Africa
- HBO Max to rollout in 60 countries
- SABC Sport alongside their 19 radio stations launch on OpenView, do you think SABC Sport will be added onto DStv?
- Dizi might return to DStv
- WarnerMedia might be reviving Cartoonito in the EMEA region, will it replace Boomerang perhaps?
- Update on the 4 pop-up channels on DStv (updated April 22nd)
- FOX shuts down in other countries, will Africa follow?
- Utsav branding takes affect on Star Life and StarPlus
- Will Paramount+ cancel several linear channels like Comedy Central and MTV?