Their coverage was what I really looked forward to. This is because, theirs was that of the state itself, was to be simulcast on four channels (SABC 1, SABC 2, SABC 3, SABC News) and, according to leaked reports of what they planned ahead of time, to be live for at least 48 hours straight without a break. High expectations indeed.
Their coverage started at the press conference at which President Zuma announced the sad news of the death of Nelson Mandela. They were the only 'official' broadcaster of the event, and as such, everyone else had to pick up their feed with their graphics and proud mic stand, which I felt was done in bad taste as a way for them to get free exposure on competing platforms.
Nonetheless, they went through then night, with two professionally conducted yet emotional anchors, Natasha Thorpe struggling more. They went through the night and did the rest of their coverage from the Morning Live set, which is strange as they opted to not even touch the main, newer set used for their flagship nightly broadcast. Within a few hours the broadcast was losing steam and they decided to add an SMS strap for viewers, which can or cannot work depending on the context of the event.
In the morning Ayanda Allie-Paine, the Morning Live News Anchor, picked things up with LeAnne Mannas on location. They continued with their pair-set up, with both anchors dressed in black always.
It was really nice to see how they allowed almost all of their anchors air time and really mixed things up. Throughout the day I was curious to see whether Mahindra (who had been banished to late nights on SABC News) would feature, which he eventually did. Their coverage also consisted of many live crossings, which were nice as apposed to in studio analysis done by the competition (Analogy: They were discussing a soccer game while it was still being played).
I truly admire the way they generally made use of anchors much younger and fresher than those seen on the competition as well.
By Saturday, the channels were split again: documentaries on SABC 1, the main news coverage on SABC 2 and SABC News and a more lifestylish approach on SABC 3. Slowly standard programming has returned, the first being a National First Division match on SABC1 and later standard programming from 6pm on SABC 3.
However, their coverage isn't without its areas that could have been improved upon.
I do feel that they should not have simulcasted their coverage and should instead have opted for coverage in different languages on different channels.
Also, on Friday night, they just started repeating the full days coverage that started at 6 am even with the mornings time onscreen on all channels, which is rather silly.
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