Btv goof led to AFCON blackout?

MQONDISI DUBE
Staff Writer | Thursday January 14, 2010 00:00

 

The state reportedly approved Btv's request for the broadcasting of the AFCON finals, which kicked off in Angola on Sunday.

Btv viewers were left in a lurch after the state broadcaster stopped the live transmission of games on Monday.

Reports emerging from the Mass Media Complex indicate that an agreement was reached to broadcast the games after guarantees were made to pay the rights' holders. But payment was reportedly not made on time, resulting in the blackout on live coverage.

In response to Mmegi Sport questions yesterday, Department of Broadcasting Services head of corporate affairs, Neoyame Shirima did not state the reason why Btv decided to discontinue the live broadcasts.

'Botswana Television decided not to continue with the live broadcasts of AFCON games until negotiations for the acquisition of rights are concluded,' Shirima said.

She said Btv is still in the process of acquiring the broadcast rights and when acquisition is complete, details regarding how much was paid and to who will be announced.

'However, we are bargaining for what we can afford,' Shirima said. She said if the station acquires the rights, some of the games may be recorded and broadcast at a later date.

Shirima did not rule out the possibility of Btv failing to acquire the broadcast rights.
'If Btv does not succeed in acquiring the broadcast rights, viewers will unfortunately not be able to watch the AFCON games on Btv,' Shirima said.

However, if reports that the government had already allocated a budget for the acquisition of the broadcast rights are credible, it is expected that Btv will show some of the matches.

Prohibitive broadcast rights costs are said to have scared off most broadcasters in Africa.

Btv broadcast live the opening match between Angola and Mali on Sunday as well as the second match between Malawi and Algeria on Monday. But subsequent matches were not shown without any official explanation from the public station.

Only viewers who have subscribed to MultiChoice's premium bouquet are able to watch live matches.

Free-to-air South African channel, SABC is showing delayed matches.