Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Silverbird Television (STV) and Brila FM have been appointed as the lead broadcast partners in Nigeria for the 2014 FIFA World Cup by Optima Sports Management International (OSMI).
OSMI is the rights owner of the exclusive Free TV media rights for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and other FIFA events in the Nigerian Territory. The media rights include TV, Radio and Mobile.
Speaking at the OSMI Sponsors Dinner held in Lagos, Mr. Rotimi Pedro, CEO, OSMI, said the choice of the stations was due to their pedigree, coverage and wide experience in similar global sports events.
He said: “Our vision as a company is to make premium sports programmes available to the majority of Nigerians without paying for them. The forthcoming World Cup will not be an exception. It doesn’t matter where an average Nigerian lives, we plan to make the World Cup transmission available to him.
“That’s why we have appointed NTA and STV to lead a strong partnership of selected BON TV stations that will deliver to 32 million TV households in Nigeria. For radio, Brila FM, in partnership with other radio stations, will transmit the radio broadcast to millions of Nigeria in both the rural and urban centres. The dual medium of radio and television will synergise to deliver ultimate value to the audience seeking to be part of the biggest sport event in the world.”
While urging companies and brands to support the organization, which has been FIFA’s partner since 2002, Pedro said patronage, either in form of sponsorship or advertisement, will yield high return on investment based on statistics and performance of OSMI in previous World Cup coverage.
“For 2010 World Cup, OSMI’s partnership with BON network was ranked in the Top 3 in the global average audience per live match by channel rating. With an average of 14.9 million per each live match, OSMI network beat many popular European, Middle East and Asian television networks. We are planning to better this record during the 2014 World Cup coverage and we know every discerning companies and brands would want to take advantage of this huge target market that we will deliver,” he added.