The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) has unveiled eight sporting events that will be streamed live on the station for free.
During the launch on Wednesday, June 29, the state-owned media house stated that it had acquired rights to air the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) which is played by top German teams such as Bayern Munich and Borrusia Dortmund among others.
Additionally, Kenyans will be able to watch the FIFA World Cup - scheduled to begin in November, and the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Other matches that will be aired by KBC include World Athletics Championships, World Under 20 Athletics, Rugby League 4 Test matches between Kenya and South Africa and the World Half Marathon which will take place in China on November 13.
Speaking at the event, ICT Cabinet Secretary, Joe Mucheru, stated that the move was aimed at expanding the audience base of the state-run media house given that many Kenyans were struggling to access the content due to high charges levied by various service providers.
He stated that the programme would also promote local talent with Kenyan teams being covered extensively in the new programmes.
"Sports has the power to unite. Kenyans will surely come together to enjoy the sporting events. Famous sportsmen and women locally and internationally will be beamed live across KBC channels," Mucheru stated.
KBC acting Managing Director, Samuel Maina, on the other hand, credited the acquiring of the rights to air the sporting events to the investments the station had made following President Uhuru Kenyatta's intervention.
"We request our government to increase our budgetary allocation to enable us to continue transforming our national broadcaster in line with the modern trends for improved service delivery.
"As KBC, we appreciate the government of His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta for the continued support accorded to the national broadcaster over the years to improve our capacity in all our broadcasting activities, as well as in improving the welfare of our staff," stated Maina.
The announcement by KBC comes barely days after the High Court ordered the government to shut down 44 websites that were streaming sporting events for free by disregarding copyright issues.
This was after some of the broadcasters filed a case seeking government's intervention over the websites that were streaming their content for illegally.
The websites include Totalsportek, ronaldo7, stream-cr7, ripple, vipleague, and livesoccertv among others.
