No hope for fans of English soccer

MULTICHOICE Namibia General Manager Kobus Bezuidenhout says Namibian football fans will have to be satisfied with the English Premier League (EPL) matches available on SuperSport this season.

“Nothing can be done about increasing the number of matches on SuperSport. There will be no changes.The situation remains the same,” he said yesterday.There was an outcry from Namibian soccer fans over the weekend when they realised that their seasonal dose of EPL matches on SuperSport had been substantially reduced.Namibian followers of English football will see only about 80 matches of the 300 EPL matches to be played this season.Some people have threatened to cancel their subscription to MultiChoice’s DStv satellite package, but Bezuidenhout says this will not change the situation.”If people want to disconnect they’ll have to go ahead.There’s nothing we can do.”There would be no reduction in subscription fees either, he said.Bezuidenhout said the rights to televise 20 per cent of the EPL matches cost the company a lot of money.A UK-based broadcaster, Gateway Television (GTV), acquired the rights to broadcast the other 80 per cent of matches.GTV could not re-sell the rights to SuperSport, Bezuidenhout said.”They bought the rights and they are the exclusive holders thereof.We cannot strike any deals and there is no way that they can sell anything to us,” he said.Gateway only broadcasts in three African countries – Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.Bezuidenhout admitted that several people had cancelled their DStv subscriptions, but could not give exact figures.”There are some people who are disconnected because of non-payment and there are those who reconnect their services again after paying.At this stage, it is difficult to determine how many people have disconnected because of the football,” he said.He said they would analyse the effect of cancellations on the company in the next few weeks.In a statement issued yesterday, the company said: “MultiChoice sincerely apologises for the misunderstanding relating to rights to show English Premier League (EPL) matches.MultiChoice had sent out notifications in subscriber newsletters and press releases indicating that SuperSport will carry 20 per cent of the league this season, thus not all the matches will be available on DStv.”But many subscribers were oblivious of the announcements and had their weekend viewing plans ruined.Callers to The Namibian said that MultiChoice or possibly the EPL had underestimated, or had no idea of the the popularity of English football in African countries.They feel they are being shortchanged.There will be no changes.The situation remains the same,” he said yesterday.There was an outcry from Namibian soccer fans over the weekend when they realised that their seasonal dose of EPL matches on SuperSport had been substantially reduced.Namibian followers of English football will see only about 80 matches of the 300 EPL matches to be played this season.Some people have threatened to cancel their subscription to MultiChoice’s DStv satellite package, but Bezuidenhout says this will not change the situation.”If people want to disconnect they’ll have to go ahead.There’s nothing we can do.”There would be no reduction in subscription fees either, he said.Bezuidenhout said the rights to televise 20 per cent of the EPL matches cost the company a lot of money. A UK-based broadcaster, Gateway Television (GTV), acquired the rights to broadcast the other 80 per cent of matches.GTV could not re-sell the rights to SuperSport, Bezuidenhout said.”They bought the rights and they are the exclusive holders thereof.We cannot strike any deals and there is no way that they can sell anything to us,” he said.Gateway only broadcasts in three African countries – Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.Bezuidenhout admitted that several people had cancelled their DStv subscriptions, but could not give exact figures.”There are some people who are disconnected because of non-payment and there are those who reconnect their services again after paying.At this stage, it is difficult to determine how many people have disconnected because of the football,” he said.He said they would analyse the effect of cancellations on the company in the next few weeks.In a statement issued yesterday, the company said: “MultiChoice sincerely apologises for the misunderstanding relating to rights to show English Premier League (EPL) matches.MultiChoice had sent out notifications in subscriber newsletters and press releases indicating that SuperSport will carry 20 per cent of the league this season, thus not all the matches will be available on DStv.”But many subscribers were oblivious of the announcements and had their weekend viewing plans ruined.Callers to The Namibian said that MultiChoice or possibly the EPL had underestimated, or had no idea of the the popularity of English football in African countries.They feel they are being shortchanged.