South Africa’s OpenView to air English Premier League games

South African free-to-air direct broadcast provider OpenView has signed a deal to broadcast one live English Premier League match per week over the course of the 2019-22 rights cycle.

The FTA broadcaster agreed the deal with the EPL and the Infront agency, allowing it to show one match per matchweek on OpenView’s News & Sports channel over the course of the rights cycle.

The deal also gives OpenView the rights to show EPL-produced magazine-style programmes. The deal was negotiated by OpenView’s parent company, South African media business eMedia Investments.

OpenView provides more than 20 channels to South African residents, including the embattled state broadcaster SABC which held the equivalent rights last season.

The value of EPL free-to-air rights in Africa are expected to take a knock after the demise of pay-TV broadcaster Kwesé TV which held the rights during the 2016-19 cycle.

Africa’s key rights-holder for the EPL is pay-TV broadcaster SuperSport which holds the bulk of rights across sub-Saharan Africa in the 2019-22 cycle.