Publications
Partners
Cape Town - The American sports channels ESPN and ESPN Classic will no longer be offered in Africa by DStv.
The pay-TV operator announced on Monday that it received notification from the channel that it is pulling its channels from Africa, effective 31 July.
Rumours of ESPN's plans to pull out of Africa began circulating back in February.
ESPN, which is owned by Disney, made the decision to cease broadcasting ESPN (DStv channel 230) and ESPN Classic (channel 231) in Africa as a result of a business decision to yank the channel in all non-US territories where their operations are no longer financially viable.
A version of ESPN will continue to air in the UK after a deal was struck with BT.
This potentially opens up the market for Supersport or the SABC to acquire the rights to broadcast major US sports events such as NASCAR, basketball and NFL in South Africa and the rest of Africa.
The pay-TV operator announced on Monday that it received notification from the channel that it is pulling its channels from Africa, effective 31 July.
Rumours of ESPN's plans to pull out of Africa began circulating back in February.
ESPN, which is owned by Disney, made the decision to cease broadcasting ESPN (DStv channel 230) and ESPN Classic (channel 231) in Africa as a result of a business decision to yank the channel in all non-US territories where their operations are no longer financially viable.
A version of ESPN will continue to air in the UK after a deal was struck with BT.
This potentially opens up the market for Supersport or the SABC to acquire the rights to broadcast major US sports events such as NASCAR, basketball and NFL in South Africa and the rest of Africa.
