Namibia Media Holdings (NMH) reached over 80 000 people this weekend through its live coverage of sports events including netball and rugby matches.

Albe Botha, chief executive officer (CEO) of Namibia Media Holdings, described the feat as a new milestone that shows NMH has “truly embraced the changing media landscape.”

“We utilised our extensive social media platforms, in addition to our television channel NTV on channel 285 of DStv and channel 94 of GOtv to ensure we were able to cover all these events in ice-cold weather,” Botha remarked.

Sports events covered live over the weekend included the Capricorn Group Schools Netball League for under-12s to under-19s at Windhoek Gymnasium, where over 15 hours of live netball games were covered.

Botha told NMH publications that they reached 20 000 people with their netball coverage and “ensured that the matches could be reached by all, in and outside Namibia.”

He added: “NTV and our social media platforms, Facebook and YouTube, of My Zone, Sport Wrap, Republikein and Namibian Sun, together with oneuptwo.com, ensured that people had a choice where to watch netball. These games were covered by a dedicated team of 10 people over the two days.”

Highlights

In addition, Standard Bank Namibia Schools Sports Rugby (NSSR) League matches were covered in both Windhoek and Swakopmund on NTV and the company’s social media platforms.

“We reached over 18 000 people on these platforms for the two games. This is part of our continued coverage of school rugby, where we have reached over 200 000 people this year for school rugby at various different events,” Botha said.

He added that “the highlight of the weekend was the semi-finals of the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) Rugby League, which took place in Windhoek and Walvis Bay. All four semi-finalists are sponsored by FNB, who are also the anchor sponsors of our sports events.”

“This weekend, NRU rugby once again set a new record in terms of reach on our platforms, where we reached over 50 000 people during our broadcast of the games on NTV and our social media platforms. It shows the enthusiasm Namibians have for sport and rugby in particular,” Botha – CEO of the largest privately-owned media group in the country – said.

He added that various other sporting events were covered by a dedicated team of NMH sports journalists.

Connectivity

Namibia Media Holdings began utilising internet-based technology to cover live events as far back as 2016 and has perfected the art along the way.

“We have come a long way and our coverage of over 400 hours of live sport this year alone is testimony to our commitment to promoting sport in our country,” Botha said, while acknowledging poor internet connectivity at some venues as one of the challenges the company encounters in its broadcasts.