ESPN embarrassment for Disney Africa and FOX Africa as flipped FOX Sports channels fail to appear as promised ESPN on StarTimes's StarSat and Cell C black in South Africa.

Empty promises are what South African pay-TV subscribers got, and massive embarrassment is what Walt Disney Africa and FOX Networks Group Africa sit with after the FOX Sports channels that flipped to ESPN failed to materialise on either StarTimes' StarSat or Cell C black in South Africa.

Frank Rutten, who was the executive vice president for sports at Fox Networks Group and now oversees the rebranded ESPN for Europe and Africa, in a supplied statement in mid-August said that "Rebranding as ESPN is a natural transition following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company".

"The ESPN brand is synonymous with sports, is one of the most valuable brands in the world and has an established global reach."

Christine Service, senior vice president and country manager at The Walt Disney Company Africa, said that "We are excited to grow our broadcast offering under the new ESPN banner, with our existing programming and intellectual property forming part of the plans for the future. We look forward to developing both channels in the months and years ahead."

As part of the ongoing international restructuring of its combined channel portfolios following The Walt Disney's takeover of 21st Century Fox, Fox Sports (StarSat 244 / Cell C black 401) and Fox Sports 2 (StarSat 245 / Cell C black 402) was supposed to flip to ESPN and ESPN2 from 30 August 2019 as part of Disney's backdoor rebranding and channels consolidation alignment.

A week and a half later there is still no ESPN channels on either China's StarTimes and StarSat, or Cell C black that is starting to implode and lost all of its linear TV channels.

StarSat was asked where the promised ESPN channels are but failed to respond to a media enquiry.

FOX Networks Group Africa (FNG Africa) was asked why the promised ESPN channels are not available as promised on StarSat but failed to respond to a media enquiry.

Walt Disney Africa  was asked by the promised ESPN channels are not available as promised on StarSat. A Disney Africa spokesperson told TVwithThinus that "we are aware of the fact that ESPN and ESPN2 are no longer broadcast on the StarSat platform. We are currently investigating this issue with StarSat".

"In terms of Cell C black, we defer to Cell C for comment."

The struggling Cell C abruptly no longer carries any linear TV channels on its downsized Cell C black which explains why this platform doesn't have the promised ESPN channels after it previously carried the FOX Sports channels.

Premier Soccer League boss Irvin Khoza slams South Africa's broadcaster regulator; warns that Icasa's dumb and destructive sports rights regulations will destroy and dump SA sports back in the 1980's.

South Africa's Premier Soccer League (PSL) and its boss Irvin Khoza on Tuesday slammed South Africa's broadcasting regulator, Icasa, over its foolish, dangerous and destructive draft regulations to reorganise TV sports contents rights in the country, warning that Icasa's damaging regulations plan threatens to derail, destroy and collapse soccer and other sports in South Africa and will dump the country's sports back in the 1980's.

The shocking and daft draft regulations (published here) and proposed by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) will inflict serious harm on sports, sports bodies and sports broadcasting in South Africa in totality.

The uninformed and shocking impact will destroy sports broadcasting in South Africa that will devolve into a downward spiral of mediocrity, and gut different sporting codes heavily dependent on the influx of money and the sponsorships funneled to sport groups because of televised licensing rights.

Sports bodies, like for instance soccer and rugby, managed by groups like the Premier Soccer League and Rugby South Africa, will no longer be able to decide for themselves who to awards TV sports rights to - usually the highest available bidder, for instance SuperSport - with a lot of that money channeled back into paying players, upliftment and development, maintaining championship standards and organising.

While pay-TV sports broadcasters like MultiChoice, SuperSport, FOX Sports and China's StarTimes and StarSat and their pay-TV viewers will directly suffer due to curtailed sports content, free-to-air broadcasters like the SABC and e.tv offered rights won't be necessarily able to afford it or willing to pay for it.

The forcing of free rights given to free-to-air channels will also mean no money for sports bodies, and no incentive for pay-TV broadcasters to show the content viewers can watch anywhere.

Forced to give rights - in some cases for free and rights holders in some cases banned from signing with their own-choice preferred bidder - Icasa's foolhardy plan to force more sports to a free-to-air system, will mean less money for sports bodies.

That in turn will lead to a lowering of standards, sports bodies unable to afford top talent, and an overall steady decline of not just televised sports but the actual quality of matches.

After an initial February deadline, Icasa has now pushed the deadline for public comment on its controversial Draft Sports Broadcasting Services Amendment Regulations from 4 February to mid-March.

On Tuesday after an extraordinary board of governors meeting in Johannesburg by the PSL, PSL chairman Irvin Khoza in a scathing rebuke, slammed Icasa for its alleged failure to consult with the TV industry, sports broadcasters and sports bodies, and warning that Icasa could collapse soccer and sport in South Africa with its regulations.

Irvin Khoza said Icasa's sports rights regulations will cripple the PSL that would lose 80% of its annual revenue and implode the football organisation and its member clubs desperately dependent on the income derived from sports rights deals.

"Icasa wants to do this after the hard work we have put in. Players would not be getting paid as much if it wasn't for our current funding model. The current broadcast deal took work and time," said Irvin Khoza.

"We did not break the law. Everything we did was within the framework. We did the work necessary. The broadcast deal [with SuperSport] has had an enormous impact on the state of South African football. Without it, the PSL dies," Irvin Khoza warned.

"Without adequate funding, this industry as we know it will collapse and will be back to what it was back in the 1980's. Clubs will cut support staff to the bone and our grant of R11 million to South African Football Association (Safa) will no longer be available."

"I hope this is an error from Icasa. It is also a form of exclusion. They did not consult or try to understand our industry," said Irvin Khoza.

"We will defend ourselves rigorously. We will exhaust all options available to us. If this is not resolved, we will shut down the PSL."

African boxing matches on FOX Sports Africa to be live streamed globally through Facebook in new FOX Networks Group Africa deal.

African and South African boxing matches broadcast on FOX Sports in Africa will now be live streamed globally through Facebook in a new partnership FOX Networks Group Africa deal with the online social network.

FOX Sports Africa will get to grow its Africa boxing fan base through streaming boxing matches through Facebook Watch, while Facebook gets content.

The FOX Sports Africa boxing stream will be available through FOX Sports Africa's Facebook page.

Upcoming boxing matches that will be live streamed through Facebook Watch include FOX Sports boxing events at the Royal Swazi Spa in eSwatini, and at the Sibaya Casino & Entertainment Kingdom in Durban on 2 and 23 November.

FOX Sports Africa an Facebook already streamed a boxing match from the 9th edition of Africa Boxing that was held on 21 September at the Meropa Casino and Entertainment World in Limpopo, South Africa to almost 200 000 viewers.

FOX Networks Group Africa says "the Africa Boxing series is quickly becoming the leading platform for African boxers to display their talents to a worldwide audience and the live streams will give spectators a front row seat to the action".

"Unlike a traditional television experience, viewers are able leave their comments in real-time, enhancing the total viewing experience. After all events are streamed, the fights will be available on the FOX Sports Africa Facebook page."

Fox Sports Africa partners with Sun International in a 2-year deal to hold and broadcast a series of pan-African boxing events on Fox Sports.

Fox Sports Africa through Fox Sports and Sun International have decided to partner up in a multiyear agreement - the cost of which was not disclosed - for a series of World Boxing Association (WBA) boxing events that will be staged at Sun International venues throughout South Africa and be broadcast on Fox Sports, available on StarSat and Cell C black.

The partnership will mean that pan-African title fights will be broadcast live on FOX Sports over a 2-year period, with boxers who will compete for various WBA pan-African titles.

The partnership between Fox Sports and Sun International will start with an event at Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom on 27 June with Carnival City that will be next on 20 July.

"For those of us who have been long-term believers in the enormous potential of African boxing, this corporate partnership between two dynamic companies heralds great times ahead for the sport on the continent and for its boxers, says boxer Stan Christodoulou who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York in 2004.

Eugene Boniface, the group manager for content at Sun International says "we see this partnership as a great opportunity to promote boxing in the region and to ensure that the sport regains its former status as one of the continents most loved sports, delivering world revered champions".

Kyle De Klerk, business and commercial director at Fox Sports Africa says "through our Africa boxing events, we are positive about unearthing future world champions whilst profiling the boxers and host locations to a global audience".

The new FOX Sports TV channel is going international; how long before it comes to South Africa and maybe TopTV?

The brand-new FOX Sports TV channel which is launching on 18 August in America is quickly also going international just as TV with Thinus predicted back in March, with Fox International Channels (FIC) which just announced that it is planning to expand FOX Sports into a new channel also running in Italy.

FIC announced that the new FOX Sports will soon also be launching in Italy with a portfolio of sports rights and FIC has plans to roll out the new TV channel in other TV markets around the world.

"Our goal is to bring all the passion of FOX Sports to the most passionate fans around the world, and in this ranking Italy comes high up on the list," says Hernan Lopez, the president and CEO of Fox International Channels in a statement.

As ESPN is scaling back its TV channels internationally such as ESPN Classic which will be gone soon from MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in Africa when the channel is discontinued across Africa, Europe and the Middle East, FIC is seeking to fill the gap with aggressive expansion plans to increase its own new sports brand internationally through carriage deals.

FOX Sports in Italy has for instance snapped up sports rights from the ESPN channel version which will soon cease broadcasting there.

Even more intriguing? Sky Sports Italia already exists in Italy as a TV channel, and Sky Sports Italia is 100% owned by 21st Century Fox. Fox is therefore clearly wanting to expand FOX Sports globally and doesn't seem fazed by directly competing with another TV channel which is part of the same global business.

Britain's The Guardian also reported over the weekend that FIC is exploring plans to create its own brand-new soccer league featuring Europe's top soccer clubs with matches shown globally by 21st Century Fox, starting in 2015. Games will be played globally in Europe, Asia and North and South America and shown worldwide.

This intriguing development begs the question of when, or if, FOX Sports would be added to a satellite pay-TV operator in South Africa such as On Digital Media's (ODM) TopTV or even DSTv.

TopTV has struggled to add a real sports channel and where FIC Africa already runs several TV channels, or even MultiChoice's DStv which also has FIC Africa channels on it's channel line-up such as National Geographic Channel and FOX.


ALSO READ: FuelTV on TopTV won't be changing its name to FOX Sports 2 when FuelTV in the United States changes it names in August to FOX Sports 2, says TopTV.