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PREPARING SOUTH AFRICA FOR THE WORLD |
Popular sports personality Zaid Omar has launched his own weekly World Cup televison show, Twenty10. Project 2010 asked him about this new venture as well as the state of broadcasting in the country in the build-up to the World Cup.  How well has your show been received? Everybody like it, I think. I think viewers find it refreshing and informative which is what we set out to do. There are only two other 2010 television shows at the moment - Woza 2010 and Countdown 2010 - and I think we compare favourably. Supersport is now interested in broadcasting the show, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Do you think the broadcast industry is capitalising on the 2010 World? No, I don't think the industry is aggressive enough. I think the concensus is that the tournament is still a way off when it is actually looming fast. On the bright side, there is a lot more interest in all the 2010 functions - you can see that the interest is picking up nicely. The state broadcaster obviously has an additional responsibility in terms of providing live television and radio coverage to the entire country. Do you think it's on track with its preparations? The SABC has equipped themselves with High Broadcast Definition facilities, although my understanding is that standard facilities will still be available. But in terms of their state of readiness, I'm not quite sure. FIFA and the 2010 LOC have expressed concerns about the slow ticket sales for the Confederations Cup - why do you think the public is so slow to respond? I don't think there's as much interest in this tournament even though it is a key curtain-raiser. The reality is that it's eight teams competing over two weeks ….it just doesn't compare. Of course, another problem is our culture where people leave the purchasing of tickets to the last minute. Overall, do you think we are on track to host a successful World Cup? I gather we are behind with one stadium (Mbombela) and there are concerns whether the Gautrain will be ready. But I think overall, we are on target - I don't think there's that much that can go wrong now. more interviews... |
