SuperSport steps up its Comrades Marathon coverage this year

With exactly two months to Comrades race day, and building on the success of 2023, SuperSport is stepping up its coverage of the Comrades Marathon in 2024, going bigger and better, come Sunday, 9 June.

As the official broadcaster of The Ultimate Human Race, SuperSport, Your World of Champions, is pulling out all the stops to ensure that the thrills experienced in this year’s Up Run are replicated in the viewing experience.

South Africa’s most iconic ultramarathon saw a major increase in viewership numbers in 2023 as compared to 2022, SuperSport’s first year as the host broadcaster.

Last year was the first year that SuperSport had a women’s only feed, which complemented our “Here for Her” campaign that ran throughout 2023, during which women were placed at the forefront of some broadcast productions and campaigns.

STEYN ALIVE

Again, this year, those wanting to follow the women’s race intently – over and above the main feed – will get to see defending champion Gerda Steyn try to retain her title and make an attempt at the women’s Up Run best time after beating last year’s Down Run best time, which previously stood for 34 years.

This year sees an exceptional line up of both local and international female contenders ready to race toe-to-toe in a race that promises to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

DEDICATED FINISH LINE CHANNEL

Last year, SuperSport also had a finish line camera on an OTT channel to allow viewers to see every single person cross the finish line – which we called the “Find Your Friend” channel. To further connect people to their passion for Comrades and the runners, this channel will be on linear as well.

All three channels will be available to DStv Premium subscribers – a great reason to stay connected or upgrade to Premium.

Said SuperSport CEO Rendani Ramovha: “Our mission to connect people to their passion for sport has been quite evident in our coverage of the Comrades Marathon in the past two editions and the positive response we’ve received from our viewers.

“The Comrades Marathon is world renowned for its testing conditions and character-building qualities out of both elite and social runners. It is a show of commitment to a goal whose preparation starts a year – sometimes longer – in advance and requires of the participants discipline, determination, grit and sacrifice.

Here’s what SuperSport viewers can look forward to in 2024:

· Live on-air broadcast: Main feed encompassing 13 hours plus a 1-hour pre-event build-up show.

· 7.5 hours of the women’s only race.

· 5 hours of the Find Your Friend coverage.

· Total live coverage of the event for 2024 will total 26.5 hours.

· Roughly 48 cameras.

· 8 vehicles traveling on the route to capture athletes’ footage.

· 7 Outside Broadcast units.

· Over 400 people working on the production.

· 50-plus fully-packaged inserts will be created for the production.

· 16 different uplink transmitters used for signals from main OB truck to Randburg and back to viewers’ homes or devices.

· Two on-route presenters to interact with runners and spectators.

· One interviewer at the start and finish line.

· One studio at the finish.

CMA Chairperson, Mqondisi Ngcobo says, “We are pleased with the incredible work of SuperSport as the official television broadcaster of the Comrades Marathon. Its 13 hours of live coverage of The Ultimate Human Race makes it Africa’s largest single day production and one of the largest television productions in the world.”

SuperSport will also have a Saturday morning live show from the Comrades Expo from 8:30-9:30 as part of the build-up to the following day’s big race.

The race’s main feed will be broadcast on SuperSport Variety 4 (DStv Channel 209), which means DStv Access customers will gain access to all unscripted drama of race day.