SABC fails the test

20 Dec 2012

NEWSWATCH: Cricket is one of SA's leading sports and our national team - unlike our national football team - is ranked at the top or near the top in all forms of the game, but, as Daily Maverick and ESPNcricinfo report, the SABC will not be airing the SA-NZ test matches live.

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Daily Maverick: #SHAMEFUL: SABC Live Test cricket coverage no more... So let's get this absolutely straight... We have our Proteas, the world's top ranked test cricket team, playing at home against New Zealand, but our national broadcaster cannot find its way to airing the test series live for the benefit of all the fans that do not have DStv.
It's agreed, however, to air the three T20s and the ODIs - but not the tests - in which the Proteas are ranked Number 1 in the world. Brilliant.
In "justifying" its decision - which, by the way, it made despite being offered a 50% discount on last year's fees for the broadcast rights - Faulty Towers said: "The decision to broadcast these matches is a clear indication that we take our mandate seriously and we are cognisant that the public of South Africa deserve to see their cricket team."
... But not live in the form in which they are ranked Number 1...There will be many cricket fans out there who will be asking, quite rightly: "Why are we forced to pay TV licence fees for such execrable service?"

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