Wednesday, July 29, 2020

SABC focusing on local South African boxing, tennis and athletics to provide content for SABC Sport as public broadcaster now tries to create its own sporting space without competing against SuperSport.


by Thinus Ferreira

The South African public broadcaster and its new SABC Sport boss Gary Rathbone is focusing on local South African boxing, tennis and athletics as the main sporting codes it wants to revive to provide content for its 24-hour SABC Sport channel as SABC Sport carves out its own sporting space where it doesn't compete with SuperSport.

The Sunday Times reports that Gary Rathbone in an interview with the newspaper said that the SABC is looking to carve out its own sports content space where it doesn't compete with the pay-TV operator MultiChoice and SuperSport.

"I'm targeting boxing, it's a key part of my strategy. I would say it's right at the top of my in-tray of to-do things. We will start building a formidable boxing strategy for the broadcaster that can really make us the home of boxing," Gary Rathbone said in the interview.

"I think the other two sports we have an opportunity for are athletics and tennis."

According to Gary Rathbone the ongoing evolution in technology has made it possible to lower production costs as far as sports content is concerned.