The SABC is hoping that it's new digital sports channel, SABC Sport, will minimize the schedule disruption and schedule chaos inflicted on SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 - often at short notice.
The SABC often secures the broadcasting rights for more sport than what it can accomodate and then pre-empts normal programming - often in massive blocks - to give live sports coverage on one or more of the 3 TV channels.
In the SABC's latest financial year report which I worked through, the SABC admits that it's working on a 24 hour digital sports channel that is currently on trial as part of South Africa's switch-over to digital terrestrial television (DTT).
SABC Sport which will be a free channel and available to the SABC's average of 9,9 million daily viewers, will alleviate the burden of having to broadcast sport on SABC1, SABC2 or SABC3.
''SABC Sport will reduce and ultimately eliminate the schedule disruption and rights amortisation for channels like SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3, hich often have to abandon their scheduled programmes in order to broadcast sport - resulting in a loss of advertising and programme sponsorship revenue for the Channels,'' says the SABC in the report.
