By Entertainment Reporter
The seven year hiatus of American sports channels came to an end this week as MultiChoice and ESPN agreed on a deal.
The deal will see DSTV showing The Walt Disney owned channels during the current Corona Virus pandemic.
ESPN had left Africa, the Middle East and Europe in July 2013 for reasons not known but they had to make a return to African TV on the now defunct Kwese TV.
Two channels from ESPN will show on DSTV.
Teeveetee blog reports that MultiChoice says that “the deal allows the company to provide a larger sports offering than ever before”, although it used to provide ESPN before, before ESPN decided to get out of Africa.
Christine Service, senior vice president and country manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa, in a statement says that “From reliving the greatest moments in sports history to seeing those moments being made, ESPN’s compelling content and unique personality will be a complementary addition to MultiChoice Group’s sports offering”.
“We are thrilled to be bringing the achievements and triumphs of both international and local athletes, our quality storytelling and innovative programming to a whole new audience of sports fans in Africa.”
Below is the schedule for the ESPN channels according to teeveetee.blogspot.com.
ESPN that will broadcast in English will go live on 29 July at 18:00 on DStv channel number 218 (137 Ghana, 337 Uganda, 618 for MultiChoice’s Portuguese markets, GOtv channel 38).
ESPN mostly features European and African-centred sports like soccer, including the Scottish Premier Football League (SPFL), Dutch Eredivisie, Major League Soccer (MLS), the West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup of Nations and some boxing tournaments.
ESPN will be available to DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus, DStv Compact, DStv Family/Familia (Mozambique) and GOtv Max subscribers in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa.
ESPN2 that will broadcast in English will go live on 29 July at 18:00 on DStv channel number 219.
ESPN2 usually carries content like the NBA, NFL (National Football League), NHL (National Hockey League) and MLB (Major League Baseball) although the bulk of it is not taking place or being played in the United States currently because of Covid-19.
ESPN2 will only be available to DStv Premium and DStv Compact subscribers in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa.
Both channels carry studio and documentary programming.
Some ESPN programming like documentaries, films and magazine shows will be made available through MultiChoice’s DStv Catch-Up service. No repeat of any ESPN matches will be carried on MultiChoice’s Catch-Up
