World Cup Final Coverage Review

On Sunday, 13 July 2014, the final of the FIFA World Cup took place. In South Africa, the event was broadcast live on SABC1 and also on Supersport, who beamed the event to the whole Sub-Saharan Africa. Here is a review of the coverage on both channels, as well as on the news c hannels that provided considerable coverage of the event.

Supersport

Though the broadcaster had build up throughout their World Cup Live slot from 1pm-4pm, their "offical" buildup started at 18:30 CAT with Robert Marawa, Neil Andrews and Bonang Matheba (who had changed to a glitzy dress from her more informal wear on World Cup Live) welcoming viewers from the garden studio, referred to as the "Grand Stand" throughout their coverage.
They preview what to expect in tonight's coverage, also stating that they will be previewing SuperSports' other sports that they will be broadcasting in the year to come, including the PSL, rugby and cricket.  

Supersport's 2014 World Cup final panel. From Left to Right: Sean bartlett, Ernst Middendorp, John Dykes, Sammy Kuffour, Robert Marawa, Gaizka Mendietta and John Barnes

Following a short video package, Marawa is in Studio 6 with what he describes as a "massive panel." He then says they are going to break tradition and do predictions first as he introduces the panel. Sammy Kuffour is the first panelist introduced and states he is breaking tradition and will be supporting Argentina tonight because he just loves Messi. John Barnes is introduced next and he says the tournament has been better than expected. Ernst Middendorp and Gaizka Mendieta are introduced next, followed by Shaun Bartlett and John Dykes, who says they are going to "make things serious",  are at the touchscreen. Throughout their introduction, and intermittently throughout the broadcast, they would cut to live visuals from the various fanparks.

They then throw back to Neil, who is sitting on the little stage in the "grandstand", and is extra perky tonight working his audience, is joined by Bradley Carnell as they also do a short preview. Bradley I felt deserved to be a part of the main panel as he has been Supersports' main Bundeliga analyst (the domestic league of Germany, one of the finalists) and really provides esxceptional insight. As one would thus expect, their discussion has a German focus

Bonang is standing by with illusionist Ilan Smith, who is going to predict the outcome of tonight's match, puts it in an envelop, which is subsequently attached to a shoe which is in turn padlocked into a glass box and delivered to the main studio where it will sit alongside Marawa for the greater part of tonight's coverage.I felt this segment could have been produced more excitingly and not as draging as it did. As someone that initially did not find this exciting (though I eventually did), I felt as if what was the point in the whole thing?

(18:53-First Ad break, which is quite late considering how often they take breaks during coverage)

This was where things  went for a down turn. While SABC1 was in the middle of what I thought was exceptional buildup to the Closing Ceremony, Supersport decided that the pay channel needed to start a whole long informercial on what felt like all of their upcoming sporting events, nearly blocking out the worldcup completely for what seemed like just way too long.

The first of these promotional clips was for their coverage of the various European football leagues. It started with a video package , followed by start dates then a discussion between Neil Andrews, who now has John Dykes Bradley Carnell and John Barnes with him to discuss these leagues. John Dykes then  highlighted his stay in SA, followed by preview discussion of English Premier League. He also discussed the production side of things, mentioning they will have a brand new studio (the previous one was used for one season), though he later stated it wont be as big as the Supersport one, and thatthey plan on having more current Premier League coaches on their panel this season, last season they had four. Bradley Carnell then talks about Bundesliga, followed by Neil Andrews who says Supersport plans on covering "all" Afcon Qualifiers live, which doesn't seem very realistic.

Following this, the studio panel reminded viewers that this is actually a World Cup Final Build Up and not a way for Supersport to advertise themselves in the hopes of retaining viewers who got DStv just for the world cup by now discussing standout players in the World Cup.

This didn't last too long as Marawa then plugged a video hyping the channels' Rugby plans, followed
A video promoting Supersports' rugby coverage, followed by Marawa highlighting upcoming fixtures then Neil talking to Owen Nkumane, a Supersport rugby personality, while Bradley Carnell sat uninterested behind him.

Finally, there was a short buildup to the closing closing ceremony, which paled in comparison to the exceptional Closing Ceremony Build Up that was provided on SABC1, one of the few times the free-to-air broadcaster provided a better quality broadcast than the paytv broadcaster

The actual closing ceremony aired next. The sound of the closing ceremony was terrible as Supersport did not seem to have access to the actual audio feed of the music, only the stadium sounds, meaning viewers were unable to hear the singers actually singing onstage, yet again providing a subpar broadcast compared to the public broadcaster.[Side note: Supersport had a mess up with the closing ceremony in 2010 as well when they did not have Nelson Mandela's appearance live, showing it a few minutes after it had already aired on SABC 1, while the studio presenter acted as if the visuals seen was live]

As if the closing ceremony was a chore for the channel, they put minimal effort into analysing it, instead now doing a promotional set for the South African football tournaments. Neil discussed this with Bloem Celtic coach Ernst Middendorp, followed by what is now the formulaic promotional setup for cricket now again (Neil Andrews then discusses with paul Adams), all wasting away minutes that should have been used to buildup to a World Cup match.

At 20:00 CAT, Neil Andrews and Bonang Matheba sign off from the "grandstand", with Bonang stating that the "official buildup starts now", an hour before the match is to start, shorter than the 90 minutes every other match got afforded. The starting lineups are analysed at the touch screen followe by a very average in studio buildup. They did not have one live crossover to Brazil, because their person on the ground that they usually had doing live links, Carol Tshabalala, was attending the match as a fan.

Following the match, their analysis was purely exceptional. It was really a feel good end of the world cup in studio once all was said and done. Throughout their wrap up, theycontinued having live visuals from Brazil as well. As a soccer fan watching the world cup mainly on SUpersport you have a sort of attachment to the people that you saw more than the soccer players themselves and the ending really provided that "end of the series" feel that one wants. They also did what seems to now be a tradition of doing crossovers to viewing parties in Ghana and Nigeria as well.

This glass box contains the shoe to which illusionist Ilan Smith's World Cup Final prediction was attached

Before they signed off, it was time for the moment of truth:opening the box with the prediction in. They brought the illusionist back in, something he said he would not do had he not gotten the answer correct. Eventually, the envelop was opened and not only did it contain the correct score, but the correct goal scorer and time of goal as well. John Dykes stated that he had seen Dynamo perform a similar trick, to which the illusionist said he is honored to have been compared to Dynamo.

At the end of the broadcast at just before1am, everyone in studio got the opportunity to say goodbye individually and reflect upon the experience. Everyone said they had enjoyed the experience as being a part of a world class broadcast team.

John Barnes stated he will continue being a part of Supersport for the next few years, saying that since he debuted during the 2010 World Cup that he had become part of the furniture there.

John Dykes had an amazing experience in South Africa and is looking forward to covering the English Premier League from their brand new studio in England.

Shaun Bartlett stated that this was his last broadcast as part of the Supersport team as he will be going into coaching fulltime in the upcoming season. He was previously a part of the coverage of all Supersport's local and international football presentations and also a regular on Monday Night Football with Neil Andrews.

Sammy Kuffour said it is back to Ghana for him as well, though he will continue being a part of the UEFA Champions League coverage.

Gaizka Mendieta and Ernst Medendorp, both new to Supersport stated they enjoyed the experience, though neither stated whether they will continue being a part of the broadcaster in the future.

At the end of the broadcaster Marawa signed off with his traditional sign off, Qim Shelele, though everyone joined in for the Shelele for the final time. This was followed by a fading of the lights and the in studio camera stayed on longer than usual, showing the silhouettes of everyone shaking hands at the end of the broadcast.
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CNNI

Throughout the World Cup, CNN has been providing near rolling coverage of the event as the channel continue what now seems like an extremely aggressive expansion of its World Sport programming. They capped off this coverage by airing a one hour live special at 8pm CAT, titled World Sport Live, anchored from Brazil by Alex thomas and Amanda Davies, both of whom have been part of the channel's extensive coverage.The special highlighted the fans and the experience itself more than the game, though there was a bit of buildup and analysis and also recapping previous games. They encouraged social media interaction as well throughout the program. Throughout the rest of the night, the channel provided extensive coverage in the first half hours of all their news programming with a mix of WOrld Cup and other news in the second.
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 Local News Channels

Of the local news channels, ANN7 had sports presenters stationed around the country doing live inserts throughout the evening. SABC News covered the World Cup as part of their regularly scheduled programming. Their daily sports show, Sports Live, had an in studio panel previewing the match. eNCA, the only local news channel around for the previous world cup, only covered  the final during their regular sports segments. In 2010 they extended their signoff time by half an hour to get reaction to the final, though there was no such coverage this time around.
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 SABC1

Thomas Mlambo presented coverage on South Africa's other official broadcaster of the final, SABC1. 

Unlike Supersport, SABC 1's on air talent were not under to try and get as much world  cup subscribers to continue subscribing after the tournament. As such, they were more relaxed and focussed all their energies on the events and not on promoting other sports.

Their buildup to the closing ceremony was done as well as they would build up to an actual match, highlighting things like how many times Shakira had performed at closing ceremonies and what to expect, in what was a very relaxed conversation. They also stayed nearly completely with live visuals from Brazil, very rarely showing the in studio guys. During the actual closing, the audio quality on the channel was much better than on Supersport.

The opening ceremony was followed by the final epsiode of Kasi to Favelas, hosted byPearl Modiade and Maps Maponyane. They interacted with viewers on Instagram and other social networks intermittently with recap videos.The show was however, cut short to return to the build up


Their post match analysis was decent, but on the short side

SABC Upfronts: Big Changes Happening Across All SABC News programming on SABC1, 2 and 3

The SABC earlier today had its media upfront where they announced major changes coming to their three terrestrial channels, SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 after the World Cup.
Due to this, many of their news programming will be shuffled around to allow for the changes to be made.

• SABC1's Nguni News, which traditionally aired at 7:30pm, will now air half an hour earlier at 7pm. As the most watched news bulletin in the country, this is more than likely to affect viewership at eNews Prime Time, the most watched English bulletin in the country, negatively. (The difference between the two is usally greater than 1 million viewers)
• SABC2's Afrikaans News bulletin, which temporarily shifted to SABC3 for the World Cup, will be staying on that channel after the World Cup. It is unclear whether the SABC's "flagship" English bulletin, which is currently an hour long, will be cut down to half an hour permanently to accommodate the changes or will it get moved to a different time. This is, however, an extremely smart move by the SABC as it allows Isidingo, the channel's struggling soapie to get a lead-in from an Afrikaans bulletin that usually averages about 800 000 viewers more than its previous English bulletin.
• Actuality show 50/50 also moves to SABC3 permanently.

Other interesting information to come to light at the upfronts include:

• The SABC promosing to invest over R1 billion in local content.
• They have finally confirmed that they definitely are launching another channel on DStv later this year, a general entertainment one.
• SABC News, their first channel launched with DStv last year has grown to become the second most watch news channel in the country, behind other local channel eNCA.

Ryan Giggs Has Left Supersport's World Cup Team

 

He came with much fanfare and promotion and now he is gone. Ryan Giggs, the Manchester United legend, who was promoted as Supersport's star acquisition for their World Cup coverage has left South Africa after slightly more than a week.

In all of Supersport's advertising for Giggs, which included countless on air and online promos and commercials, as well as a few press releases did they conveniently fail to state he will just be used for one week. Viewers were under the impression that he would be used for the full duration of the World Cup, whilst Supersport, and all their personalities on Twitter, failed to correct them which is rather unethical as viewers will not be receiving what they were advertised to receive through Supersport's implied marketting.

It must however be said that Giggs was not the best of Supersports panel either, so viewers will miss his star power more than his analysis of the game. Often he had to be helped along by the anchors John Dykes or Neil Andrews, who often had to cut him off as well due to his slow pace of answering a question during what should be a rapidly paced half time analysis due to time constraints. He was also the only panelist to never pull double duty, that is, never cover more than one game at a time, usually being the only analyst to leave whilst everyone else remains. With all this said,, he was expected to improve as time progressed, but that is obviously not going to happen now.

He is off to finish his studies for a UEFA Pro License'(coaching lincense), and then to join Manchester United's pre season preparations.

Giggs is, however, to be replaced by three panelists: Ghanaian Marcel Desailly, Spain's Gaizka Mendieta and Zambian legend Kalusha Bwalya.

World Cup Setting Viewership Highs Around the World

Since the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil started on the 12th of June, broadcasters in various countries have seen viewership for the tournament skyrocket as viewers flock in their droves to watch one of the most followed sporting events in the world.

The opening match between Brazil and Croatia. It is estimated that an estimated 8 out of 10 Brazillian tv viewers tuned in to the match, exculding the tens of thousands that watched at viewing parties, fan parks and other group viewing venues like bars. On Facebook, 16 million Brazilian users were actively posting on the World Cup opener. In the US, the match averaged 9.5 million viewers across ESP and Univision. In the UK 12.6 million viewers tuned in to the match on ITV and Spain averaged 8.4 million viewers. In Germany, the opener was seen by 15.87 million viewers as well.
 
The host nations second match against Mexico was seen by approximately 8 out of 10 Brazillians, according to ratings agency Ibope while broadcaster Globo says that 60% of all connected devices, including TV's, cellphones and computers, were tuned to the match. The match, which aired in European primetime was seen by an average of 8.48 million people in the UK on BBC1, 14.17 million viewers in Germany, 9.4 million in France, 9.6 million in Italy (excludes viewership on the pay tv channel, Sky Italia), 2.06 million in Sweden and 3.5 million in the Netherlands.

12 Million Italians tuned in at midnight to watch their country's team defeat England 2-1 on Sky Italia and free-to-air broadcaster RAI, enough to set an audience share record in that country. Over in England, BBC One averaged 11.5 million viewers. The match also set a viewership record in the USA where 4.62 million viewers helped ESPN to its highest rated first round match not including the US national team.

Germany's 4-0 thrashingof Portugal was seen by a massive 26.36 million Germans (an enormous 81.8% audience share) on public broadcaster ARD. In the UK the match was seen by an impressive 7.2 million viewers as well.

In the United States, where soccer is a less popular yet rapidly growing sport, their national team's victory over African side Ghana became the most watched soccer match in US history (and also the most watched show on all of US tv for Monday). What makes the feat even more extraordinary is that the match took place at 6pm Eastern Time (US time zone), outside primetime. It aired on two channels, ESPN and free to air Spanish channel Univision. The ESPN broadcast, on pay tv, was seen by an average of 11.1 million viewers, while Univision averaged 4.8 million viewers, for a total of 15.9 million people who watched on tv, in addition to1.7 million viewers who streamed the match from Univisions website.

In Spain, an average of 11.2 million people tuned in to watch the country's national soccer team go down 5-1 to the Netherlands whilst 7.5 million viewes tuned in in the Netherlands. The match also averaged 14.6 million viewers in another European country, Germany.

In Chile, the elimination of the defending champions by their national team set new ratings records. The match averaged a 54% share across two networks, Canal 13 (cable) and TVN,enough to break the record held by the 2010 Chilean Mining Disaster. These figures actually exclude the viewership held by a third broadcaster, DirectTV, which, though are expected to lift these figures higher, traditionally has a much smaller share compared to the other broadcasters.

In Japan, public broadcaster NHK scored a 46.6 audience share for the nations opener against the Ivory Coast, a record for a morning kick off in that country. However, television viewership in the country is expected to slowly decrease as more Japanese people choose to attend viewing parties for the matches. So, while ratings may decrease, actual viewership may be on the rise. The Tokyo Dome hosted 35 000 Japanese fans for the match.

In Canada, a country that is not particularly known for its soccer skills, sharing time zones with Brazil mean that matches air during particularly favourable time slots, and the ratings have shown. The opening match between Brazil and Croatian averaged 1.6 million viewers, according to BBM Canada, over 70% higher than the opener in 2010. 2.73 Million viewers tuned in for England's loss to Italy as well.

The World Cup is being seen in all corners of the world, including North Korea, where the matches are aired nearly 24 hours after they occured, as the broadcaster edits the match before airing it. Often it is so heavily edited that the commentary and audio from the crowd is completely out of sync with the picture.

These numbers, as impressive as they are, are set to rise even further when viewership across the likes of Africa,  major countries like China and India, and many others are factored in as well

ANN7 Adds Daily World Cup Chat Show

Ann7, DStv 405, available online, has added a new one hour daily Soccer World Cup Review/Preview chat show to its schedule. It is hosted by prime time sports anchor, Peter Stemmet, and airs daily in the 4pm time slot, seemingly seven days a week (with another airing in the 10am slot ffollowing Vuka Africa).

As has become the norm of this channel as well, not one word about the show was sent out ahead of time, so viewers will not know it exists. Not even its host has mentioned anything about the show on his Twitter, though he remains active on the social network. The edition on 16 June was also the first also the first to actually be featured on the channels iPlate, DStv's on screen Electronic Programming Guide, the only problem is the iPlate lists Ayesha Durgahee as its host, someone that not only does not host the show, BUT DOES NOT EVEN WORK AT THE CHANNEL!!!

[Ayesha Durgahee is a Bloomberg, DStv 411, Starsat ###, correspondent that hosts a 30 min weekly World Cup show on Tuesdays at 8pm]

One has to question the channels reasoning behind adding the show in the first place, nevermind the lack of promotion, as it faces very stiff competition from Supersport, who has the daily World Cup preview and the first thirty minutes of World Cup Soccer chat in that hour. Afterall, who will watch a second rate, dull world cup show with one host and one often irrelevant panelist when they can get visibly better coverage from the official broadcaster at the same time?

World Cup 2014: How Sony and FIFA Are Bringing the Action to You

As has become tradition, Sony, an official partner of FIFA utilises the most cutting edge technology in ensuring viewers get the best World Cup viewing experience possible.
Here are some facts on the technical details behind bringing viewers the best world cup viewing experience possible:

• In total, more than 280 HD cameras were brought in to Brazil from Sony to be used in its endevours, along with many more technical staff.All cameraswas exhaustively tested leading up to the World Cup

• All matches are recorded in stunning 1080P Full HD

• 3 Matches will be recorded in 4K, a broadcast standard that has a resolution that is four times better than standard HD: A round of sixteen match, a quarter final, and the final, all of which take place atthe Estadio Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. 

• Not one match will be recorded using 3D technology. In 2010 25 matched were recorded using the technology, broadcast to cinemas around the world and specialty channels launched for it. Apparently the closure of ESPN 3D in the US was the nail in the coffin of 3D technology. 

•  Some of Sony’s products and solutions to be used include their CineAlta™ 4K live camera “PMW-F55”, 4K multi port AV storage unit “PWS-4400”, 4K LCD monitor “PVM-X300”, and 4K multi-format switcher “MVS-7000X”

•  The technology being used to capture the HD footage includes 224 Sony HDC camera chains, 64  Super Slo-motion camera chains,  36 Sony switchers and 820 Sony Professional monitors.  

• Each match will have 37 Standard Camera Plans (up from 32 in 2010), including Aerial and Cablecam, 2 Ultramotion cameras and dedicated cameras for interviews

•  Over 2,500 hours of content will be shot in Brazil during June and July 2014 –over 100 days of continuous viewing. Dedicated team bench coverage, tactical player cameras and highlights feeds, dressing room footage and City guide will be provided to all official broadcasters like Supersport and SABC1.

• Half a million meters of cable will used at the tournament

• Sony has built 12 bespoke HD production containers one for each  tournament venue, which will house all of the equipment needed to deliver the action live from Brazil. Each container is 40 foot - the equivalent of 3 OB trucks - and will be individually shipped on a 40 – 45 day 50,000+ mile journey to Brazil, some travelling down the Amazon for their final leg!
• Goal line monitoring systems will be implemented for the first time this year with 14 high speed cameras, seven for each goal post, being used. They track the position of the ball in a 3d space
  
  For the first time this year, the World Cup is taking advantage of goal-line monitoring systems from Germany's GoalControl — 14 high-speed cameras located around the field, seven for each goal. They track the position of the ball in 3D space, transmitting each successful goal to watches worn by the officials on the pitch within one second. - See more at: http://www.studiodaily.com/2014/06/2014-fifa-world-cup-games-will-be-shot-in-4k-but-not-3d/#sthash.QABmPqd8.dpuf
  For the first time this year, the World Cup is taking advantage of goal-line monitoring systems from Germany's GoalControl — 14 high-speed cameras located around the field, seven for each goal. They track the position of the ball in 3D space, transmitting each successful goal to watches worn by the officials on the pitch within one second. - See more at: http://www.studiodaily.com/2014/06/2014-fifa-world-cup-games-will-be-shot-in-4k-but-not-3d/#sthash.QABmPqd8.dpuf

• Each match will have two helicopters present to bring fans the best possible viewing angles.

Your Ultimate 2014 FIFA World Cup Coverage Guide (Supersport)

Below find a compact yet comprehensive list of all magazine shows and coverage plans for the 2014 FIFA World Cup across many channels that will be providing dedicated or specialised coverage.

First, the official broadcasters SABC  and Supersport

Supersport

Undoubtedly the biggest spender when it comes to world cup coverage, Supersport spared no epense when it came to upgrading their broadcast facilities or bringing in the big names

(c) Supersport

MasterPlan
When: Sundays, 2pm (60 min)

The only magazine show that survives from the previous format, MasterPlan has become a consistant feature when it comes to big sporting tournaments, having appeared as part of their coverage of the AFCON tournaments, UEFA Euro, and even rugby.

This time around, though, it is special guest host John Dykes takes the helm of the show, along with a panel of experts, including Gavin Hunt, Andre Arendse, Earnst Middendorp and Jay Jay Okocha, gives a technical breakdown of each team's on field strategy and tactics. This show is more formal in tone than other shows, as it caters more to the needs of the football intellectual. they will break down every match with the use of the touch screen, augmented realities and tactical camera angles, all from the main studio in Randburg.

Ola Brazil
When: Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 1pm (30 min)
Supersport personality Carol Tshabalala hosts this show live from Sao Paulo and Rio in Brazil, giving viewers a rich, on the ground feel of the atmosphere in Brazil and behind the scenes happenings in this fast paced 30 min show

Insights- Live From Brazil
When: Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 1:30pm(30 min)
Andy Townsend (from FAPLTV) and Nigeria's own Sunday Oliseh previews the up coming live match of the day and perspective into the game. Broadcast directly from Brazil.

Supersport's outdoor garden studio has been re purposed into an arena to house 2014 World Cup Magazine show #FanFest

Fanfest(a.k.a. #Fanfest)
When: Saturdays, 2pm (1 hour)
This one is for the younger ones and for those that enjoy interacting with whats on screen through social media. This one hour show is broadcast from a purposefully constructed arena at the Supersport studios in Randburg(in what has been known as their "Garden Studio') along with an in-studio audience, hosted by the likes of A.K.A and Bonang Matheba. Make your voice heard!

The "Dream team" of A.K.A, Sizwe Dhlomo, Bonang Matheba, Nandi Mngoma and Nono Cele have all joined Supersport as part of its SOuth African based team to cover the 2014 FIF World Cup as part of their World Cup Live programming block.

World Cup Live
When: Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays,1pm-4:30pm 
Providing blanket coverage of all other magazine shows and its own content, World Cup Live is the name of the programming block hosting all the world cup magazine shows hosted by personalities like A.K.A., Sizwe Dhlomo, Nandi Mngoma,Nono Cele  and Bonang Matheba, along with Supersport stalwarts Crystal Arnold and Khmza Mbata, who all in turn will be joined by an array or analysts and footballing legends. The final half hour of the slot will be a casual preview of the evening's matches

John Dykes standing infront of the desk at which Supersports 2014 World Cup Match Build Up will be broadcast from

Match Build Up
When: Before Every Match
Joint anchors John Dykes and Neil Andrews who host the likes of Ryan Giigs, Dr Khumalo, John Barnes, Andre Arendse, Gavin Hunt and many more as they build up to every match of the world cup from Supersport's cutting edge HD studio in Randburg that has things like touchscreens and augmented realities as they build up to every match at least one hour before it starts (the first match of the day gets 90 minutes), analyse it at half time, then break it down post show.

They will be joined by the likes of Carol Tshabalala, Robert Marawa and Phumlani Msibi who will host things live on location from Brazil with analysts like Andy Townsend and Sunday Olesh.

Supersport Adds even More Personalities to Its Already Star studded World Cup Coverage Line up

Eariler this week, Supersport quietly started rehearsals for its World Cup coverage at its Randburg studios.

Along with the previously announced and advertised names that are big in the soccer industry are local celebrities from other spheres of entertainment.

Included among these is South African singer AKA, who had previously co-hosted gaming show The Verge on Vuzu and an entertainment show on what is now Star One.

AKA and Sizwe taking pics while having their suits fitted

He is joined by  current MTV Base VJ, and without a doubt the diamond in the crown of MTV Africa's  networks, Sizwe Dhlomo, hot off the heels of the relatively successful MTV Africa Music Awards this past weekend.

Be it an audience of thousands or just a rehearsal, the talented Bonang Matheba always brings her A game.

They are joined by the fantastic Bonang Matheba, host of Mzansi Magic's Clash of the Choirs and Top Billing on SABC 3. This is not Bonang's  first World Cup she is covering as she hosted 2010 World Cup magazine show Tjovitjo on SABC 1.

Another local star joining the already impressive list is Namdi Mngoma, a previous host of Mzansi Magic's  All Access and a singer as well and also Nono Cele.

The team of AKA, Bonang Matheba, Siwe Dhlomo, Nono Cele and Namdi Mngoma take a break from  rehearsals for their World Cup show, World Cup Live on Supersport 3, for this beautiful picture.

Together, they, along with Kamza Mbata and Crystal Arnold will be the on screen team responsible for World Cup live, stylized #WorldCupLive,a World Cup magazine show that will air for the duration of the World Cup on Supersport 3 (DStv 203, Simulcast on Supersport 3HD, DStv 213 and DStv Mobile as well). The show is to air every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1pm all the way through to 4:30pm (you see why the necessity for the big team now?).
During what now seems to be a programming block will be other previously announced magazine shows Ola Brazil, Insights, MasterPlan and #FanFest. The last half hour of the show (4pm-4:30pm) will be a casual buildup to that day's matches.

When news of the additioanl talent joining the World Cup team broke, I wondered why Supersport has not promoted these personalities heavily as they did with their other personalities. But then I saw why they did not promote these personalities considering how big their fan bases, at least not in the traditional sense, they left it up to these stars to do it themselves. Combined, they all have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, an audience they have been tweeting to extensively to promote their show, tweeting that costs nothing but reaches the masses and, afterall, the show is being billed as an extremely interactive show, so why not promote it on the platform that will be central to its content in any case?

Either way, not everyone is happy about the selection of the stars, as seen in this tweet:

This #WorldCupLive show...I don't know okes. AKA, Bonang and Sizwe? Uhm, what about the world cup are they gonna be talking bout? The Swag?

— Man Of The Year (@MrGanca) June 10, 2014

Your First Look of the Brand Spanking New Supersport HD Set to be used in Supersport's Presentation for the Worldcup

These are the first pictures of what is billed as only an "upgrade" to Supersport's  main studio, Studio 6 at Mnet, though, from the pictures it is evident that it is a complete remodelling of the studio and not just the few touch ups as previously stated.
 
The first program to go live from the set, ironically, was not a sports program at all, but rather Mnet's Carte Blanche, which has now made a home for themselves in the Supersport Studios, though one must say their colour scheme and graphics go hand in glove with the studio.





This will be the studio from which all their South African based World Cup shows will be broadcast from, anchored primarily by John Dykes and Neil Andrews.

From the pictures, one can see that this set is actually smaller than its predecessor (seen below). The 2010 version of the set had stairs leading to higher presentation points from which hosts could present, but were never fully utilised. Its main mosaic of screens was bigger, and wider, than the new one, and even included one identical in size on top of it. The overal studio lacks the depth that it originally had that often made for some very good camera angles.

Compare the two and tell me size doesn't count

Even the desk at which the analysts and hosts are to sit has shrunk in size, likely a sign of what we have been seeing over the last few months of fewer analysts being used for Supersport presentations

The overall set just seems to lack space for anything exciting to happen, or for many people to fit into, which is concerning considering one of their World Cup shows, Fan Fest, is to actually have an audience in this studio in the same vein as 2010 show Super Nova had and even back then in a larger studio did it seems as if it was hard to fit the studio audience onto the set.

When the original HD set debuted in 2010, Supersport ran various 'warm up' broadcasts from the facility to get the feel of things, which included giving friendly matches in the middle of a work day few people watched the full treatment they give a match like a World Cup match to sort out any 'kinks' in the system and for analysts to get used to working the touchscreen. However, this time around, it seems as if none of this will take place.It is said that the studio now has 3d hologram features, which I would presume needs to be tested before the world cup so that no mess ups occur on the big stage. But there won't be broadcast dress rehearsals this time around (at least not broadcast on tv).

Eiher way, this will make for some interesting viewing.

WORLD CUP COVERAGE: Presenters and Analysts Announced, Includes Mega names John Dykes, Andy Townsend, Ryan Giigs

Supersport's main soccer presenters, Robert Marawa and Neil Andrews MC'd the launch event held in Durban

Supersport earlier today, 20th May, announced their lineup for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and they really did not fail to deliver when it came to acquiring big name talents. The launch of their World Cup coverage was held in Durban at the Beverly Hills hotel in Durban.



The usuals seen usually during Supersport programming will be there: Shaun Bartlett, Andre Arendse, Neil Tovey, Ernst Middendorp, Ruud Krol, Stuart Baxter, Gavin Hunt and Doctor Khumalo.

As usual, the team from Supersport Nigeria will be there: Sammy Kuffour, Jay Jay Okocha and Sunday Olis.

John Barnes, who was Supersport's "big get" for the last World Cup held in South Africa will be there. Though he was supposed to only be used for the world cup, he has stayed on for the full four years, usually flying in for the last few stages of the UEFA Champions League.

Then there are the big names. At first I thought they will cut back on big names considering the World Cup will not be as big in Africa as the last one, considering it was hosted on African soil.
But then I arrived at the logic that because they do not have to have so many field reporters on the ground this time around, they can divert the funds used usually for reporters on big names, and big names they got.
 
Firstly, they have the FAPLTV's main presenter, John Dykes, who will hold the fort in South Africa where he, along with Neil Andrews, will anchor their live coverage of the matches. This was a very surprising considering what a big name he is in Eastern countries like Singapore where he worked at the regional version of ESPN, and I am sure he could have anchored coverage for one of the networks that side, or just taken a break as he had been on air for almost every Barclay's Premier League match build up. He is not totally unfamiliar with Supersport thoug. He does maintain a column on their official website, along with the occassional on air promo he records for Supersport.

He doesn't come alone, however. He is joined by undoubtedly the Premier League's top analyst for their programming, Andy Townsend. He will join the team that will be broadcasting on location from Brazil.

The biggest name in their coverage, without a doubt, is freshly retired Manchester United Player-Coach (and future Assistant Coach), Ryan Giggs, who is slated to join the team broadcasting from Johannesburg, South Africa. The deal to secure his services must have been concluded very recently, as he is not listed in the DStv Magazine for June that is printed a few weeks ahead of time.

Marcel Desailly

Former World Cup winner Marcel Desailly of France, and former Spanish star Gaizka Mendieta are among the big-name football personalities who will be analysing matches for SuperSport as well.

 The Maximo (Portuguese) channel headliners are Oliveira Gonçalves, former head coach of the Angolan national team, Bernardino Pedroto, winner of five national championships, and former international José Luís Vidigal.


The team broadcasting from Brazil will consist of South Africa's First Lady of Football, Carol Tshabalala, PSL and UEFA Champions League coverage presenter Robert Marawa (who has a sports centric radio show on a local station that will senselessly take a hiatus during what is a peak time for sports), PSL sideline reporter and occasional presenter, Phumlani Msibi, Suprsport Nigeria's  Sunday Oliseh and Colin Udoh along with the aforementioned Andy Townsend.