by Thinus Ferreira
While Samsung has failed to launch its built-in FAST (Free-Ad Supporting Streaming TV) platform, Samsung TV Plus in South Africa, which is a very bad and a massive drawback for its Smart TVs sold locally, rival Hisense has a great existing FAST service that continues to grow and has now added SportsCast Africa as a sports channel.
Samsung Smart TVs in South Africa don't have its Samsung TV Plus FAST service, but Hisense South Africa has VIDAA that continues to expand and has now added SportsCast Africa on channel 5208.
SportsCast Africa is a 24/7 linear sports TV channel for sub-Saharan audiences with continental and global sports news, highlights and live events.
It is distributed free of charge across FAST platforms and combines a fixed daily schedule of recurring sports strips with live event coverage.
SportsCast Africa, operated by Broadsmart, is already available and accessible on the South African public broadcaster's SABC+ platform as its own streaming feed, and is now on Hisense TVs too.
SportsCast Africa's schedule covers African and international football, motorsport, basketball, rugby, tennis and multi-sport action.
It is aggregated within daily shows like Football Daily, Soccer Highlights and SportsWrap for football fans, Pole Position for motorsport, Slam Dunk for basketball and Cross Court for tennis. Some live matches are also shown from time to time.
"Partnering with Hisense, a market leader in the region and a brand that takes a genuinely innovative approach to working with content providers, puts SportsCast Africa where African sports fans already are," says Yokow Quansah, managing director at Broadsmart.
"Our promise is simple: great sport, whenever and wherever you want it, free and with nothing to install. This is a meaningful step in building a genuinely free sports service for African viewers."
Luna Nortje, Hisense SA deputy general manager, says customers who support Hisense "can enjoy the sport they love without paying extra for it".
