(1) YouTube is adding sports content that it will be streaming for South African users, similar to Showmax's recent announcement in mid-June of adding sports content from SuperSport as a live streaming option.
YouTube in South Africa on Tuesday announced that people will now be able to watch basketball, rugby, cricket and football events on YouTube as part of video-on-demand (VOD) viewing, as well as highlights packages including the recent NBA Finals, UEFA Champions League, ABSA Premiership, Serie A, La Liga, Women’s World Cup, UFC and AFCON.
YouTube will also make live sporting events available in future for South African viewers.
YouTube said that sports consumption on YouTube in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region is growing fast and that in 2018 YouTube saw a 70% increase in views of sports and fitness related content, totalling more than 61 billion views.
" In Africa, sports content on YouTube is both broad and deep with YouTube delivering evergreen sporting highlights alongside new and emerging sports experiences like home fitness, and 79% of viewers saying that YouTube has sport and fitness content they can’t find anywhere else," the company said in a press release.
"It's an amazing summer of sport around the world and in Africa," says Dayo Olopade, the YouTube content partnerships lead.
"We know audiences are excited about sports content on YouTube and we are pleased to be able to bring fans more of the sports they love, in collaboration with our global and local partners."
MultiChoice's Connected Video division that runs its subscription VOD service, Showmax, started testing both pre-recorded and live sport content on its streaming service.
