Wednesday, January 29, 2014

BREAKING. MultiChoice launching an Oscar Pistorius TV channel to cover the court trial of the Olympic hero who killed his girlfriend.


MultiChoice is launching an Oscar Pistorius TV channel on 2 March DStv to give viewers rolling coverage of the Oscar Pistorius court trial starting on 3 March.

The Oscar Pistorius murder trial will kick off in March after he killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentines Day on 14 February 2012. The trial is scheduled to start on Monday 3 March, and is set to continue to 20 March in the Pretoria High Court.

It's not yet clear whether the trial judge will allow any of the Oscar Pistorius trial to be televised or broadcast live on television - a decision will be made closer to the time.

Whether or not a judge grants permission, the Oscar Pistorius trial TV channel will go live on DStv on 2 March, a day before the court case is set to begin.

MultiChoice is calling the channel the Oscar Pistorius Trial: A Carte Blanche Channel. Combined Artistic Productions will be primarily responsible for producing content for the channel which will run on channel 199 on DStv.

Combined Artistic Productions also did the Nelson Mandela tribute channel on channel 199 on DStv at the end of 2013 following the death of the elderly statesman.

Whether the judge allows the proceedings to be filmed or broadcast live, the Oscar Pistorius TV channel will run documentaries, interviews, profile segments as well as in-depth analysis of the court case and the star personalities who will testify, as well as on Oscar Pistorius.

"This channel will give our viewers in-depth coverage of the Oscar Pistorius trial, with a rich variety of content and social media integration," says Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice's head of content.

"The Carte Blanche producers were the obvious choice to create and package the channel," says Aletta Alberts.

'"Their mantra of 'You have the right to see it all' ensures that viewers will get a fair and balanced coverage of the trial," says Aletta Alberts.

The Oscar Pistorius TV channel will be available to DStv Premium, DStv Extra and DStv Compact subscribers.