T20 cricket on SABC: Don’t worry, the soapies are safe

The SABC’s unexpected awarding of the broadcasting rights for Cricket South Africa’s new T20 tournament will bring with it a major headache: what will happen to regular programming, especially the soapies?

Chris Maroleng, chief operating officer of the public broadcaster, on Wednesday confirmed that SABC3 will be the designated channel for the airing of matches.

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Given that the majority of day-night T20 matches’ broadcasts start at 5.30pm, major programming re-schedules were thought to be on the cards and with it, a potential loss of revenue.

But Maroleng insists that the disruption for non-cricketing fans will be minimal, with most matches first and foremost being scheduled to only start at 7.00pm.

“It’s an exclusive agreement, which means the access for broadcasts will only be on SABC platforms,” he said.

“We have made provision for certain clashes in terms of programming. There has obviously been talk on displacement of some of our existing content.

“What we’ve tried to do is not to radically displace our existing schedule. That’s why there will be start times at 7pm. Before that, we’ll move forward some of the programming that would’ve been broadcast during this prime viewing time.

“We don’t want to upset viewers who have become accustomed to watching their favourite programming on our platforms.”

Three double-headers are apparently part of the 32-match schedule, which will mean that a few matches’ broadcast will move to SABC2.

“Some of the matches will be broadcast on SABC2 when there are clashes. We have accommodated our viewers so that they’re not inconvenienced too badly,” said Maroleng.

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