I now have the times for you: The highly-anticipated interview of Oprah Winfrey with the disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong will be shown on the TLC channel in South Africa on MultiChoice's DStv channel 172 and On Digital Media's TopTV on channel 453 on Friday 18 January at 19:30 (South African time).
South Africans will be able to watch a repeat of this special 90 minute interview which is an episode of Oprah Winfrey's new weekly talk show, Oprah's Next Chapter, on TLC on Saturday 19 January at 12:50, Sunday 20 January at 17:50 and again on Monday 21 January at 11:35.
The interview which is being recorded today at Lance Armstrong's home in Austin, Texas, will also be streamed worldwide at the same time as it is being shown in America, so South African viewers who want to watch it online immediately, will be able to do so immediatel at www.oprah.com on Friday 18 January at 04:00 in the morning (South African time).
Lance Armstrong is widely expected and anticipated to reveal and admit to Oprah Winfrey that he is indeed a drug cheat, after the fallen cyclist had been stripped of numerous racing titles and his career plunged into scandal.
Discovery Networks International (DNI) secured the once-off episode of Oprah's Next Chapter, similar to her interview with popstar Justin Bieber last month which was also shown on TLC. No South African broadcaster has picked up the rights to the highly-rated new weekly talk show and it's not currently being shown on any of the third-party TV channels on DStv or TopTV after it started a year ago with high profile interviews.
"Lance Armstrong's controversial story captured the attention of the world last year and Discovery Networks is providing a platform to air his story for the time time on TLC for our South African viewers," says Lee Hobbs, the channel director for emerging business for Discovery Networks' Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region.
"Oprah's Next Chapter has proved a real hit with South African TLC viewers, and Oprah's most recent interview with multi-platinum superstar Justin Bieber was well-received by ebliebers and non-beliebers alike. Lance Armstrong's interview is sure to spark even more debate, and we look forward to bringing our viewers more of the same quality content in the near future," he says.
