Supersport has announced that it has launched a digital Olympic channel ahead of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The channel will have Olympic content all year round.
The Olympic Channel section will be available on supersport.com/olympics offering fans Olympic-themed programming from across the globe, with an emphasis on their favourite local athletes, teams and sports. The channel will be vail under the “Olympic Channel” brand.
The digital channel will feature Olympic-themed original series and documentaries produced by filmmakers from around the world commissioned by the global Olympic Channel. In addition they will be locally-produced features created by SuperSport and social media content. Fans will also be able to access breaking news stories on the road to Tokyo 2020 and insights into the next summer edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) set to take place in the Senegalese capital of Dakar in 2022.
Original content available includes APART from the award-winning film series Foul Play, which features Odessa Swarts and her son, Wayde van Niekerk. In it, they share their personal journeys in sport against the context of apartheid. There will also be Africa Cycling Revolution, a series uncovering a new generation of cyclists and showing how the sport is attracting new audiences in the region.
The new digital presence follows the 2018 launch of Olympic Channel programming blocks on SuperSport in support of their media rights agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games through 2024. This includes the launch of a 24/7 Olympic channel prior to Tokyo 2020.
Gideon Khobane, Chief Executive of SuperSport, said: “The countdown has begun in earnest for the 2020 Olympic Games and SuperSport is determined to bring the many stories and the vibrant build-up to viewers across the African continent. Doing so via our popular digital platform and the Olympic Channel ensures a wide reach and will complement our linear broadcast offering. Our partnership with the IOC is something we cherish and we look forward to building towards the action in Tokyo, where Africa will be well represented.”
The agreement includes distribution in 45 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa including; Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, St Helena and Ascension, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.