BREAKING. Happy Ntshingila quits as SuperSport CEO due to ill health; temporarily replaced by Brandon Foot.

Happy Ntshingila has quit as CEO of SuperSport due to ill heath, a year and a half after he was appointed at the beginning of 2012.

The industry has been aware for a while that Happy Ntshingila's been experiencing ill heath, and he has now decided to step down.

Brandon Foot, the head of acquisitions and legal at SuperSport will take over as acting SuperSport CEO for the time being.

"I decided in the interest of my long-term health to not return to my position as CEO of SuperSport," says Happy Ntshingila, currently recuperating.

Happy Ntshingla who joined MultiChoice from Absa, will stay on in "an advisory role" to the MultiChoice group CEO Imtiaz Patel, where he will help with what the pay-TV operator says will be "marketing and other strategic initiatives".

"On behalf of the MultiChoice group, I wish to thank Happy Ntshingila for his contribution as CEO of SuperSport and wish him continued health and success," says Imtiaz Patel.

"An announcement will be made in due course when a replacement is appointed," says Imtiaz Patel.

SuperSport 5 and SuperSport 6 on DStv goes high definition; MultiChoice also adds SuperSport 8 as a new standard definition channel.

MultiChoice is adding high definition (HD) versions of the standard definition channels SuperSport 5 and SuperSport 6 from Tuesday 23 July when the satellite pay-TV operator will also grow the SuperSport channel collection by starting a new SuperSport 8 TV channel in South Africa in standard definition (SD).

SuperSport 5 HD or SS5HD (DStv 215) will focus on motorsports, boxing, swimming and athletics and athletics and act as an overflow channel.

SuperSport 6 HD or SS 6HD (DStv 216) will carry international soccer league such as the German Bundesliga, Spanish La Liga and the Italian Serie A.

SuperSport says the channel will also complement the existing soccer channels SuperSport 3 HD or SS 3HD, and SuperSport 4 HD (SS4HD) which has the Barclays Premier League and PSL.

SuperSport 8 (DStv 208) will carry overflow live events from SuperSport 1 and SuperSport 2 and will broadcast content such as university athletics series and school sports.

"The addition of new HD channels speak to our commitment to provide our viewers with the best available content," says Happy Ntshingila, SuperSport CEO in a statement.

"With an impressive line-up of leagues including the PSL, SuperSport will be showcasing the best international leagues on this growing and highly demanded HD platform," says Happy Ntshingila.

SuperSport sublicence sports rights of ICC cricket Cmapions Trophy 2013, Castle Lager Inbound test series and Rugby Championship to SABC.

SuperSport has sublicenced the TV sports rights of the ICC Cricket Champions Trophy 2013, the Rugby Championship and the Castle Lager Inbound test series to the South African public broadcaster in a limited free-to-air broadcasting rights agreement.

The SABC will show the ICC Champions Trophy from 6 June to 23 June, and the Castle Lager Inbound test series from 8 June until 22 June. The SABC will broadcast all three matches of the Proteas in the group stage live, as well as one semi-final and the final match in the cricket. Other matches in the tournament will be shown in highlight packages.

With the rugby the SABC will show inbound tests only and matches delayed and on the public broadcaster's airwaves which will start after the final whistle.

"We made a decision that we would try our best to get these broadcasting rights, as the nation of South Africa, with its diverse sporting tastes, deserves the right to watch their favourite sporting teams," says Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the SABC's acting chief operating officer (COO). "We believe that the public will also enjoy the high quality programming that has been put together to support the respective tournaments."

"We are pleased to have concluded an arrangement with the SABC regarding this content on commercial terms which are satisfactory to both parties," says Happy Ntshingila, the CEO of SuperSport International.

BREAKING. SuperSport signs exclusive pay-TV deal for 2013 for coverage of South Africa's national soccer team friendly matches.

SuperSport has clinched a new exclusive pay-TV broadcasting deal in South Africa to show all of South Africa's soccer team's, the Bafana Bafana, friendly matches which will be played in 2013 in South Africa as well as abroad.

SuperSport will show the matches on MultiChoice's DStv platform and acquired the exclusive pay-TV broadcasting rights for South Africa as well as sub-Saharan Africa and the adjacent islands.

The agreement includes the pay-TV broadcasting rights to other soccer matches of South Africa's national soccer team which the South African Football Association (Safa) has jurisdiction over, the national women soccer team's matches, men and women's national age-group teams and other Safa content, including development and grassroots football TV coverage.

SuperSport said it's "pleased to add Safa's content to our wide array of football and other sport".

"We are proud that our subscribers will be able to support our national team through our exclusive live and high-definition broadcasts," says Happy Ntshingila, the CEO of SuperSport.

"The additional exposure that this deal will give to our national teams will assist us commercially going forward," says Pinky Lehoko, Safa's acting CEO in  the same press statement.

SuperSport resells the broadcasting rights to Springbok home tests of the Castle Rugby Championship to the SABC which will show it on SABC2.

SuperSport has resold the broadcasting rights to some of the rugby tests in the Castle Rugby Championship to the SABC with the South African public broadcaster's free-to-air SABC2 channel which will be showing all three rugby test matches played by the Springboks in South Africa on SABC2 at 18:30 on match days.

SuperSport and the SABC came to the agreement with the rugby matches which will be shown starting after the final whistle has been blown on the live broadcasts on SuperSport's TV channels on MultiChoice's DStv pay-TV platform, which keeps the exclusive live rights for itself.

"The public has clearly communicated its interest in these matches to us and I am delighted that we will be in a position to broadcast them live on radio and also on our television platforms," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the SABC's acting chief operations officer (COO) in a statement.

"We're pleased with the coutcome of the protracted discussions between the parties," said Happy Ntshingila, the CEO of SuperSport.

TOLDJA! MultiChoice having 4 HD SuperSport channels, simulcast on 4 SD channels, for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Back in April I exclusively broke the news RIGHT HERE that MultiChoice will have 4 HD channels for the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games in London on DStv, with coverage simulcast on SD channels - SuperSport just announced and confirmed the news which TV with Thinus readers knew since 23 April.

SuperSport is adding SuperSport HD5 as another new HD TV channel to SuperSport HD2, SuperSport HD3 and SuperSport HD4.

Meanwhile SS4, SS5, SS6 and SS7 will be turned into the SuperSport Gold, SuperSport Silver, SuperSport Bronze and SuperSport Spirit channels for the duration of the 2012 London Olympic Games. The channels will run for 24 hours per day. SS3 will retain soccer coverage and add in Olympic Games coverage as well.

SuperSport 1, SuperSport 2 and SuperSport 3 will carry select Olympic events (primarily soccer) and SuperSport 4 will be available live on the Walka and Drifta devices through DVB-H.

"SuperSport will not only have eight dedicated channels, but included will be a new HD channel which is being launched by SuperSport on DStv specifically for the London games," says SuperSport in a just-released statement.

"This means that Olympic programming will feature on 4 HD and 4 SD channels, giving viewers with HD PVR decoders an unsurpassed television experience of London 2012," says SuperSport.

"We aim to be bigger and better than ever," says Happy Ntshingila, SuperSport CEO. "We have channeled considerable resources, time and energy into our Olympic offering for our subscribers."

The countdown to the 2012 London Olympic Games will start on 2 July and the 8 TV channels will start broadcasting the 2012 London Olympic Games from 27 July. The channels will run for 24 hours per day.

The Olympic Countdown studio show will be broadcast from 2 until 26 July with Thomas Mlambo and Leigh Anne Paulick as the presenters.

Both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympic Games as well as daily Olympic updates and the magazine show Mind the Gap will be available on the DStv on Demand service from MultiChoice and for DStv Premium subscribers on their PVR's.

HAPPY NEWS. Happy Ntshingila officially appointed as the new CEO of SuperSport.

Happy Ntshingila is the new CEO of SuperSport and will be reporting directly to MultiChoice South Africa group CEO, Imtiaz Patel.

Happy Ntshingila was Absa's former chief marketing and communication officer but recently resigned, and has taken over the reigns of the multi-national and pan-African sports broadcaster.

''With his extensive business experience and marketing expertise, Happy will be a valuable addition to the SuperSport team,'' says Imtiaz Patel in a press statement released late today. Imtiaz Patel was himself the former CEO of SuperSport.

In the same short statement, Happy Ntshingila is quoted, only saying ''I look forward to the challenges of my new role as CEO of SuperSport.''