TV with Thinus broke the news about the channel's name HERE yesterday.
That was after I reported on Thursday HERE that TopTV said in a one-liner in another statement that a new action sports channel is coming to the struggling South African pay-TV operator.
Neither I nor several other national TV critics in South Africa or publications received any advance warning, invite to a hastily arrange launch event, or any information or press information about the coming launch of Setanta Action.
After requesting information this morning, TopTV responded with a press statement, saying "TopTV has announced the addition of action sports channel Setanta Action". According to TopTV, the channel from the Setanta Sports stable, "will start broadcasting from Friday 2 November on channel 202.
In the press release TopTV sent after request, it describes Setanta Action as "a new 24/7 sports action channel with a particular focus on combat sports. Programming will also include wrestling, action series, action magazine format shows that feature fitness and exercise, judo, taekwondo, karate and other extreme sports".
I can't give you a high res channel logo nor a schedule of what shows or specific programming is on Setanta Action; none was issued or received by me by whoever was supposed to do this.
"The increasingly popular mixed martial arts (MMA) sporting code is considered to be one of the world's fastest growing sports, with new organisations springing up around the world, including here in South Africa," says Kelly Butler, the CEO of Setanta Africa who is quoted in the press statement.
"The decision to launch a channel dedicated to action sports has resulted from the enthusiastic response to the MMA and kickboxing content that has been screened on the Setanta Africa channel, which is also available on the TopTV platform.
Setanta Action will try and target a predominantly young male audience, aged 18 – 34.
In the press release Ian Woodrow, the vice president of channels at TopTV also weighs in. "While our sports offering is limited in terms of mainstream sports, we have targeted various niche channels with a specific audience in mind, and these are performing very well for TopTV."
"As such, we are delighted to welcome the Setanta Action channel to our sports mix that includes Setanta Africa, Fuel TV (an extreme sports channel), Eurosport News and MUTV (the 24-hour football channel of Manchester United). We are confident that its focus on mixed martial arts, kickboxing and boxing will attract a new audience of viewers to TopTV."
