SABC Sport is headed for major changes in the coming weeks and Monday night highlights show Soccerzone is set to become the biggest casualty.
SoccerZone is said to be haemorrhaging viewers at an alarming rate and the public broadcaster is planning to pull the plug as the show does not generate much income.
Insiders told Tiso Black Star Group Digital on Wednesday that Soccerzone will be replaced by a 30-minute highlights show that will dispense with presenters entirely‚ leaving current hosts Thomas Mlambo and Minnie Dlamini on the sidelines.
“The new show is apparently going to be at 10pm on Mondays and will not have a presenter — that’s my understanding‚” the insider said.
“The review show will have highlights from the weekend matches. That’s the way forward for now‚ but things change. As it stands‚ yeah‚ that’s management’s position.
The insider said a meeting was held on Tuesday and staff were informed that the once-popular football show is in its last month.
“The story is Thomas and Minnie Dlamini have failed in terms of improving viewership‚ but to be fair things have never been the same since Robert Marawa left the show (in 2006).
“They have tried Walter Mokoena‚ Tshepo Mabona and even Kwena Moabelo. They have all presided over the show since Robert’s departure. Things have never been the same since he left and when they hired Thomas‚ they thought he could steady the whole thing but even his arrival did little to change things around.
“Even the introduction of Minnie didn’t help‚ because she doesn’t know anything about football‚” the source continued.
According to another source who also attended the meeting‚ the show’s viewership is at its lowest.
“We were told (in the meeting) that the current numbers are the lowest numbers since the show started. They didn’t share the current numbers‚ but remember that this show used to attract more than 15-million viewers. The thing with this show is that it is presenter-driven‚ so it needs people like Robert (Marawa). If he’s there people would watch‚” the source added.
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago insisted that changes don’t only affect SABC Sport‚ but their entire television offering and there is no final decision on any of their shows.
“Television is making the changes in their schedule. Sport doesn’t have a channel‚ so already the person who was telling you this is not telling the truth because Sport doesn’t have a channel like SABC 1‚ 2 or 3. All I’m saying is that changes will happen and once everybody is ready‚ then the communication will happen. It is a change of schedule; it might and it might not‚” he said.
“The only thing is people are being consulted and they come running to you. I don’t know what they stand to benefit… We are looking at programming that will work for us and some of the decisions that are made now might change. The official word from us is that we are looking at schedule changes and once they are done we will communicate when we are ready to do so‚” Kganyago concluded.
Part of the changes will see the introduction of a talk show on Tuesday night‚ while Soccer 411 will move from 2pm on Saturdays to Thursday night.
The widely popular Sport @ 10‚ hosted by Mlambo‚ will remain in its current slot on Wednesday night. All sports shows will now start at 10pm.
SoccerZone started in the late 1990s and‚ at the time‚ it was known as World of Soccer.
SABC's 'Soccerzone' to be axed
SoccerZone is said to be haemorrhaging viewers at an alarming rate and the public broadcaster is planning to pull the plug as the show does not generate much income.
Insiders told Tiso Black Star Group Digital on Wednesday that Soccerzone will be replaced by a 30-minute highlights show that will dispense with presenters entirely‚ leaving current hosts Thomas Mlambo and Minnie Dlamini on the sidelines.
“The new show is apparently going to be at 10pm on Mondays and will not have a presenter — that’s my understanding‚” the insider said.
“The review show will have highlights from the weekend matches. That’s the way forward for now‚ but things change. As it stands‚ yeah‚ that’s management’s position.
The insider said a meeting was held on Tuesday and staff were informed that the once-popular football show is in its last month.
“The story is Thomas and Minnie Dlamini have failed in terms of improving viewership‚ but to be fair things have never been the same since Robert Marawa left the show (in 2006).
“They have tried Walter Mokoena‚ Tshepo Mabona and even Kwena Moabelo. They have all presided over the show since Robert’s departure. Things have never been the same since he left and when they hired Thomas‚ they thought he could steady the whole thing but even his arrival did little to change things around.
“Even the introduction of Minnie didn’t help‚ because she doesn’t know anything about football‚” the source continued.
According to another source who also attended the meeting‚ the show’s viewership is at its lowest.
“We were told (in the meeting) that the current numbers are the lowest numbers since the show started. They didn’t share the current numbers‚ but remember that this show used to attract more than 15-million viewers. The thing with this show is that it is presenter-driven‚ so it needs people like Robert (Marawa). If he’s there people would watch‚” the source added.
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago insisted that changes don’t only affect SABC Sport‚ but their entire television offering and there is no final decision on any of their shows.
“Television is making the changes in their schedule. Sport doesn’t have a channel‚ so already the person who was telling you this is not telling the truth because Sport doesn’t have a channel like SABC 1‚ 2 or 3. All I’m saying is that changes will happen and once everybody is ready‚ then the communication will happen. It is a change of schedule; it might and it might not‚” he said.
“The only thing is people are being consulted and they come running to you. I don’t know what they stand to benefit… We are looking at programming that will work for us and some of the decisions that are made now might change. The official word from us is that we are looking at schedule changes and once they are done we will communicate when we are ready to do so‚” Kganyago concluded.
Part of the changes will see the introduction of a talk show on Tuesday night‚ while Soccer 411 will move from 2pm on Saturdays to Thursday night.
The widely popular Sport @ 10‚ hosted by Mlambo‚ will remain in its current slot on Wednesday night. All sports shows will now start at 10pm.
SoccerZone started in the late 1990s and‚ at the time‚ it was known as World of Soccer.
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