StarTimes secures key sports properties once held by DStv

Competition in the digital TV sector has moved a notch higher as key players in the industry move to secure content that appeal to consumers with an emphasis on affordability.

In the new twist, StarTimes has moved to woo more sports fans in Africa by wrestling some key sports properties from fiercest rivals DStv. The company has secured exclusive deals to broadcast the International World Rally Championships, the World Boxing Titles and Germany football league, the Bundesliga.

The motorsport deal will see StarTimes broadcast the international World Rally Championships Exclusively for the next two years. African subscribers can look forward to the upcoming Rally Argentina, Portugal, Italia, Poland, Finland, Rallye Deutschland, Australia, Rallye de France, Rally Espana and Wales Rally GB running between 24th April and 15th November 2015. This will include world’s greatest off-road events and at least 20 hours of archive shows, featuring highlights from over the years including things like “Best Crashes”.

“We are very excited to have signed this exclusive deal with World Rally Championships. This is one of the world’s most exciting motorsport championships, which is good news for the many motorsport enthusiasts among our subscribers,” says StarTimes Vice President Mr. Mark Lisboa.

In addition, StarTimes has secured broadcast rights to the German Bundesliga, arguably the fastest growing league in terms of popularity in the world which the company will be broadcasting exclusively from August 2015.

StarTimes will equally air the World Boxing Title Bouts including the Lightweight (Jorge Linares vs Kevin Mitchell), Featherweight (Evgeny Gradovich vs Lee Selby) and Heavyweight (Anthony Joshua vs Kevin Johnson) bouts on May 30th 2015. Other tournaments that will be running in April include the Cruiserweight collision between Denis Lebedev and Youri Kalenga, Battle of undefeated, lightweight supremacy and the World Title showdown (super featherweight).

“This is a demonstration of our commitment to improve the sports experience of our viewers and that we can – and will – deliver a growing array of exhilarating sporting action moving forward,” noted Mr. Lisboa.

With the local market becoming more competitive, he noted that now is the time to bring great sports content to StarTimes subscribers and ensure that they get real value for their money with sports content on the platform.

The rich sporting action will also feature some of the world’s best volleyball events, including the Men’s and Women’s World Cup tournaments, after signing a three year deal with the federation of International Volleyball (FIVB) and acquiring FIFA’s entertaining World Beach Soccer series.

Mr. Lisboa observed that acquiring content that the traditional broadcasters have neglected for many years is the best way forward. “There is so much great sport out there that people know and love that is totally under-served.” In this respect, StarTimes will look to reach out to a range of sports fans to create a more inclusive sports experience on TV”.

He emphasized that StarTimes was also committed to bringing their viewers the high-profile events as well. Last year the company acquired the qualifying games for the Euro 2016 championships, bringing live action of all of the best national teams in Europe to African subscribers.

“It seems 2015 is set to be a great year for StarTimes and our subscribers who are progressively looking out for premium sporting action,”

For African fans wishing to keep in touch with the world’s greatest off-road events, StarTimes subscribers will be able to enjoy an hour of live broadcasting from each stage of every rally, including the final “Power Stage”, a range of highlights programming which include a magazine, daily highlights, event highlights mid and end season reviews.