Senior journalist and KWESÉ Sports anchor Yaw Ampofo Ankrah believes the upcoming Fifa World Cup in Russia will provide a stern test for the Ghanaian media due to the absence of the Black Stars of Ghana.

"I daresay that there can be no shortcuts and certainly no room for lazy, sloppy or low-quality content because this time around, the big bait is missing".

Russia 2018 will feature five strong African representatives in Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Egypt, and Nigeria meaning only West and North Africa would be lining up at football's most expensive fiesta.

In the past, the Ghanaian media had the luxury of exploiting the presence of the Black Stars to create numerous activations and content both off and on air.

However, the failure of Ghana to appear at a fourth consecutive tournament provides an interesting challenge for producers to create content that engages Ghanaians directly and emotionally.

Ampofo Ankrah, however, remains highly optimistic that local media houses will come up with innovative ways of attracting eyeballs to their content even without the headline brand of the Black Stars.

He was tight-lipped on whether the hugely popular World Cup Diary which was first aired on Metro TV and partner stations in 2006 would be on Ghanaian screens and if so how it would be packaged without the Black Stars of Ghana.

"With or without the Black Stars, the World Cup would go on and I believe it would be a success. Let's wait and see shall we," his response to that question.

DID YOU KNOW?
Yaw Ampofo Ankrah first anchored a Black Stars LIVE match telecast from a location in Cape Verde back in 2005 with Metro TV.