By Carlos Kambaekwa
WINDHOEK – Barely 48 hours before the ball gets rolling for the eagerly awaited 2014 FIFA World Cup Brasil, the NBC laid out an appetizing menu for the live broadcast of the global showpiece during a glittering launch ceremony at the Supporters Sports Bar south of the capital last night.
The national broadcaster will flight all matches live, including both semifinals and the final, and has roped in a team of credible former players and local football experts to keep football fans enlightened during the broadcast of matches on both television and radio (including indigenous radio stations).
Local television gurus Wesley Vries and Lesley Tjiueza have been entrusted with the heavy task of anchoring the live broadcasts and will be assisted by a variety of carefully chosen studio guests selected from retired players, coaches and notable football analysts.
Said NBC Chief Commercial Officer, Alex Shimuafeni, at the launch last night: “NBC has the responsibility to amplify what is happening in one corner of the country to the rest of the country. Launching the World Cup 2014 live broadcasts also means that we are going to show what is happening in a country that is four hours behind us to the Namibian nation.”
He added: “The purpose of the occasion is to inform the Namibian nation that NBC will bring all 64 games live to your TV screens. We could not have done this on our own had it not been for the assistance and timely intervention of our esteemed sponsors H&G Advertising (Botswana), Trustco, Simply Black (SA), Coca Cola Carat (SA), Nampost and Windhoek Lager.”
Shimuafeni urged all stakeholders to come on board and assist NBC in its quest to carry its mandate of informing, entertaining and educating the nation.
“Now that the sponsors have played their part, you as an individual also need to be a team player and play your part by paying your TV licence. It is through TV licence fee collections that we are able to acquire broadcasting rights of august events such as the World Cup and the English Premier League that we have shown for the 2013/2014 season,” Shimuafeni said.
For the first time in history NBC will broadcast all 64 matches live and uninterruptedly including the last matches of each group that normally take place simultaneously. This simultaneous live broadcast of the different matches will be done on NBC 1 and NBC 3.
“Unfortunately you will only be able watch NBC 3 via the NBC decoder (the DTT decoder), which is on sale for an affordable amount of N$199 only,” said Shimuafeni.
Viewers stand to win one of 5 HD Television sets (that also operate as computers) worth N$13 000 by sending an SMS with the word ‘FIFA’ to 5005 for a mere N$5 per SMS. Once again, would-be partakers should make sure they are a paid-up TV licence holder in order to qualify for the competition.
Hosts Brazil open their assault for an unprecedented 6th FIFA World Cup triumph with a tough match against Croatia at the Arena De Sao Paolo in Sao Paolo tomorrow evening at 21h00. Africa is to be represented by continental champions Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Algeria in the month-long global showpiece.