As part of ongoing efforts to diversify and keep basketball fans interactive, Viasat1, Your Number 1 Entertainer, has launched a new NBA live show.

The introduction of the new show follows Viasat1’s acquisition of exclusive rights to telecast live 2016/17 NBA matches in Ghana, courtesy Kwese Free Sports.

Court Side, which premieres on Viasat1 this Sunday, November 13 at 2pm, will be hosted by experienced basketball pundit and CEO of Rite Multimedia, Yaw Sakyi.

Speaking at a short ceremony to launch the show on ‘This Morning’, Acting CEO of Viasat1, Mr. Richmond Sey, said the channel is ready to diversify into other aspects of entertainment in response to yearnings from their viewers.

“Over the 8 years of our existence, we have tried to bring quality entertainment to our viewers. We are well known for our telenovelas, drama, lifestyle shows, and blockbuster movies. But over the years we have had several requests from our viewers asking for live sports games.” Mr. Sey said.

The CEO further added that “since we have been quiet lean on sports, we saw an opportunity to explore some live sports programs whilst to meet the demand of our viewers. Recently we acquired rights to telecast live EPL games and have moved on to add this to the bouquet. We strive keep our viewers happy and glued to our channel.”

Also present at the launch were President of the Ghana Basketball Association, Mr. David Addo-Ashong, and host of Courtside, Yaw Sakyi, who joined Patrice Amegashie and Kokui Selormey on our morning show;” This Morning”.

On his part, David Addo-Ashong argued that despite the lack of media coverage for Basketball in Ghana, the sport remains huge.

“Basketball hasn’t got much television coverage or media coverage as it should have but if you go down to schools and communities where basketball is been played as well as looking at the stern work people like Yaw have done, I think it is hugely popular. If you follow the competition he runs and the level of involvement from the schools, I mean it’s quite amazing and we believe it’s the second biggest sport in this country. I think the statistics bear me out that after football, its Basketball among the youth.”

“I am glad that this is happening now and it feeds into a certain narrative which is only positive,” he added.

This initiative by Viasat1 has been lauded by industry players, and according to some, it will build the bridge which will eventually balance the scale of sports coverage in Ghana.

Earlier this year, Viasat1 Broadcasting Limited was granted a sub-license to exclusively air the upcoming 2016/17 season of the English Premier League in Ghana on free-TV, making the channel the only broadcaster with such rights. Courtside premieres this Sunday at 2:00pm and will air every week, only on Viasat1.