by Thinus Ferreira
The SuperSport Blitz (DStv 200) channel has turned 15 years old on Friday 1 October, with SuperSport that celebrated this anniversary of the short-form news, highlights and update channel that it says has evolved into a "world-class sports destination that has become must-see TV for sport fans
across Africa".
Blitz, which replaced "SuperSport Update", started in 2006 with a 9-minute bulletin, which then moved to 26 minutes and now extends to 56 minutes over weekends.
SuperSport says that SuperSport Blitz now reaches every DStv and GOtv home across the African continent with a "vibrant mix of breaking news, announcements, score updates, reviews and
previews".
Marc Jury, SuperSport CEO, says that "Anything that is important in the world of sport, you'll find on Blitz".
"It is one of our most important
channels, our shop window to what we pride ourselves on: showing more sport
than any other broadcaster in the world."
Docky Dockrat, SuperSport head of sport programming, was one of SuperSport Blitz's architects 15 years ago and watched the channel grow and evolve from a
nervous idea to a powerhouse of broadcasting.
"One of the challenges was convincing an organisation that had little
understanding of short-format content that this was the way to go. We began
telling that story in short, snappy form before it became a thing," he says.
"It really took off at the 2010 World Cup and has now become a rich part of the
African sports news context – it's everywhere."
SuperSport Blitz is love for 15 to 18 hours daily, says SuperSport, and includes multiple Sky Sports News
bulletins.
Apart from its traditional linear broadcast, Blitz bulletins are
uploaded as podcasts on IONO and, from Friday now also features three
bulletins on MultiChoice's video streaming service Showmax at 07:00, 13:00 and 14:00 on weekdays.
The SuperSport Blitz channel was initially driven as an initiative by Koos Bekker, the founder of M-Net
and current chairman of Naspers, as well as Imtiaz Patel, the former SuperSport boss and MultiChoice Group executive chairman.
"I remember chatting with Koos, who was always a visionary and had an
unbelievable understanding of what viewers want," says Imtiaz Patel of the germination
of an idea that led to the beginning of the Blitz channel.
"It was part of our DNA ... we are always taking risks, we are
innovative, we embrace technology, we try things, we make decisions fast and
are even happy to fail. Blitz is a representation of that; I can't believe it
was 15 years ago."
Veterans at the SuperSport Blitz channel include Leigh-Ann Paulick, Gerald de Kock, Rahelah
Parry and Renelle Naidoo, while early innovator Dockrat and Alvin Naicker,
SuperSport head of content creative, remain instrumental in the growth and
success of Blitz, SuperSport says.
Past presenters and key personnel who still contribute to Blitz include Richard
Maspero, Crystal Arnold, Julia Stuart, Louis Hattingh and Hendrien Grove.
"It's thanks to this great team of people and others that Blitz has long played
an important role in holding and captivating viewers," says Marc Jury. "Channel 200
is ingrained in peoples' minds and that's tribute to the excellence that has
been on show these past 15 years."
SuperSport says that as part of the channel's 15th anniversary, Blitz will be rolling out congratulatory messages
from many prominent individuals from the world of sport, plus sit-downs with
many of those involved at the start and beyond, including Tex Teixeira who
named the channel, Imtiaz Patel, Docky Dockrat and others.
Archival footage will accompany the celebratory pieces, both as a reminder of
the channel's history and its growth into its agenda-setting presence on the
World of Champions.
