Football fans across sub-Saharan Africa will now be able to listen to the BBC commentating on Premier League matches in four more languages, thanks to an agreement between BBC World Service and the Premier League. The three-year deal, which will be in force until May 2014, means that the BBC’s key African multimedia services – BBC Afrique (French for Africa), BBC Hausa, BBC Para Africa (Portuguese for Africa) and BBC Somali – will be offering their audiences commentary on Premier League weekend matches.The agreement also extends the existing commentary rights of the BBC Swahili service, which has been broadcasting live Saturday afternoon football commentaries since 2004. BBC Swahili will now also commentate on Sunday matches.
Isa Abba Adamu, executive editor, African Region, BBC World Service, says: “This exciting new agreement follows on from our World Cup broadcasts in English and Swahili, when we received an overwhelming response from African football fans. Thanks to this commentary rights agreement, BBC World Service will be bringing England’s Premier League football to a combined weekly audience of 80 million, making them part of the excitement, the drama and the suspense of the English football.”
(Source: BBC World Service International Publicity/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)