Kwesé Free Sports, a channel under the Kwesé TV Network has officially taken over Viasat 1.

The acquisition deal was concluded on Friday, December 16, 2016.

Viasat 1 will effectively be known as Kwesé Free Sports; a 24-hour sports dedicated channel.

A statement copied to 233livenews.com indicates that the new channel, under Econoet Media will take over all assets of Modern Times Group (MTG), owners of Viasat 1 in Ghana and Nigeria.

All staff of the Viasat 1 will however be retained according to the agreement.

“The process will now begin to officially rebrand Viasat 1 to Kwesé Free Sports, Econet Media’s premium free-to-air sports channel within its Kwesé TV network. Kwesé Free Sports is Africa’s first truly Pan-African free-to-air sports channel which is available in 19 countries of which five; Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi, Uganda and now Ghana, have the full 24/7 channel.

Focused on premium sports programming, the channel boasts some impressive international sports content most of which is exclusive to Kwesé. The exciting programming line-up includes the Premier League, NBA, NFL, Formula 1 and many other leagues,” a release from the group said.

The Group Chief Executive Officer and President of Econet Media, Joseph Hundah said “We are excited to bring Kwesé TV to Ghana. Kwesé is fast becoming a leading source for the latest in sports and sports fans in Ghana can look forward to some exciting programming on Kwesé Free Sports. This acquisition marks a significant milestone for the growth of our business and Ghana is an important market for us as we expand our offering across the continent”.

The channel can also be viewed on the Kwesé App which is available for download on both iOS and Android.

Kwesé Free Sports, although newly launched is already making strides in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Malawi.

The channel has acquired the license to broadcast the English Premier League live, NBA, NFL, FIA Formula E Championship, and AVIVA Premiership Rugby.

The sports channel is under the Kwesé TV Network of Econet Media, a subsidiary company of the globally networked Econet Group founded by Executive Chairman Strive Masiyiwa.