The BBC is making late changes to BBC Three’s schedule in the coming week, after the public broadcaster announced a last minute deal just over 48 hours before the opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) football tournament.
- BBC Three will show opening game between Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau live and free-to-air on Saturday 13th January at 8pm.
- The channel will also screen further games, including both semi-finals and the final on 14th February.
- Sky confirmed earlier this week that it would provide pay TV coverage.
The BBC left it late to secure coverage of the 2023 AFCON tournament, which was moved to 2024 due to weather conditions in host country Ivory Coast.
With just over 48 hours until Saturday evening’s opening match between the hosts and Guinea-Bissau, the BBC has confirmed a package of live games allowing non-Sky subscribers to access at least some of the action.
As a result, BBC Three’s previously published Saturday evening schedule, which included Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, will be replaced by live coverage of the opening game.
The group stage clash between Ghana and Egypt will be shown on BBC Three on Thursday 18th January, again replacing the previously published schedule at 8pm.
Later in the tournament, the BBC Three will carry two games from the round of 16, two from the quarter final, both semi-finals and the final itself, on 14th February.
Coverage is also available through the BBC Sport website and iPlayer.
BBC hopes for ratings success
The last Africa Cup of Nations, held back in 2022 helped BBC Three secure its biggest audience since relaunching as a linear channel. The channel relaunched on 1st February 2022, as the AFCON was reaching its climax. BBC Three carried coverage of the semi-finals and finals, with ratings peaking at 1.3 million.
The resurrected channel has since then struggled to attract anywhere near the same ratings.
Sky to carry full coverage of all games
Earlier this week, Sky confirmed it would carry every single AFCON game on pay TV. They’ll be shown on either Sky Sports Football or Sky Sports Mix.
Marc Thornham