Betway Premiership Preview Show — Season 27/28 Proposal

The Show

Anchor property · TV + YouTube

SuperSport's weekly Betway Premiership preview — a panel-led, magazine-format show that previews every Premiership matchday with player features, coach voices, fan culture and tactical breakdowns. Branded Betway top to bottom, broadcast on SuperSport PSL, and packaged into a YouTube + social engine that lives across the week.

Betway Premiership Preview Show

Weekly matchday preview · SuperSport PSL anchor · 35 episodes per season

Anchor show · TV + YouTube

YouTube Audience Lifetime

1.3M

Lifetime views across 52 uploads

Eps

52

Avg / Ep

24.1K

Eng Rate

0.96%

Top video Episode 1 · Preview · The Betway Prem Show120K

TV Audience · SuperSport Season 25 / 26

1.41M

Total unique audience · 2025/26 through 10 Apr

7-Day Growth

+8%

Peak Broadcast

140.9K

28-Day New

361.7K

Consumption Total consumption hours season-to-date1.03M

Unique Audience

24/25 · 1,575,526

25/26 · 1,409,261

−11% YoY

Consumption Hours

24/25 · 1,152,435

25/26 · 1,034,062

−10% YoY

Episodes

24/25 · 24 full season

25/26 · 25 to date

+1 YoY

New Viewers · 7D

Past week

104,230

Weekly lift

YouTube: YT Data API v3 · pulled 17 Apr 2026 · lifetime views per playlist. TV: BRC TMS 2024–2026 · 25/26 season-to-date through 10 April 2026.

The Platform Around the Show

Smash Sports network · halo reach

The Preview Show doesn't sit on its own. It sits inside the Smash Sports network — and every clip, talking point and player moment from the show feeds the wider engine: TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube shorts. This is the extra exposure Betway gets that doesn't show up on the broadcast rating card.

Lifetime Views & Impressions

118.9M

TikTok · FB · IG · X · YouTube

YouTube Channel Views

12.4M

991 videos lifetime

Followers · Cross-Platform

774.2K

Lifetime · all channels

Engagements

4.1M

4,118,333 lifetime

Engagement Rate

3.46%

Lifetime average · above sports benchmark

Sources: Smash Sports Social Dashboard · YouTube Data API v3 · pulled 17 April 2026.

What 25 / 26 Cost

Current season · contracted

Top-line cost position for the season currently on air. This is the starting point for the 27/28 conversation.

Season Cost

R7.57m

R7,567,188 · 35 eps · 2025/26

Per Episode

R216,205

Average all-in unit cost

TV Unique Audience · S25/26

1.41m

Cost per unique TV viewer · R5.37

Total Reach · TV + YT lifetime

2.71m

Cost per unique viewer · R2.79

Where the Money Goes

Cost anatomy · per episode & per season

The R216,205 per episode and R7.57m per season broken down by cost line. This is how a weekly anchor show on SuperSport is built: talent on screen, the studio day to make it, the people behind the camera, the post pipeline that ships it, and the social engine that extends it across the week.

Category	Line Item	Per Episode	Per Season	% of Season
Talent	On-screen panel · anchor + 3 analysts	R 55,700	R 1,949,500	25.8%
Talent	Guest fees · player & coach features	R 8,500	R 297,500	3.9%
Production	Studio hire · multi-cam day rate · SuperSport	R 24,800	R 868,000	11.5%
Production	Crew · director, vision, sound, lighting, floor	R 27,300	R 955,500	12.6%
Production	EP & producer time · pre-pro and run sheet	R 18,500	R 647,500	8.6%
Production	Field shoots · player features & b-roll units	R 11,800	R 413,000	5.5%
Post	Edit · long-form & broadcast master	R 17,400	R 609,000	8.0%
Post	Graphics package · opens, lower-thirds, stings	R 7,200	R 252,000	3.3%
Post	Social cut-downs · YouTube + TikTok + IG	R 11,600	R 406,000	5.4%
Brand	Set build & Betway brand integration (amortised)	R 9,400	R 329,000	4.3%
Brand	Music licensing & archive footage clearance	R 3,800	R 133,000	1.8%
Logistics	Travel · panel + features (flights, accom, vehicles)	R 6,400	R 224,000	3.0%
Logistics	Catering, runners, sundries	R 3,200	R 112,000	1.5%
T+W	Production fee & account management	R 6,700	R 234,500	3.1%
T+W	Mark-up on third-party costs (10%)	R 2,200	R 77,000	1.0%
Other	Contingency (3%)	R 1,705	R 59,688	0.8%
Total · 35 episodes		R 216,205	R 7,567,188

Read this first. Top-line season and per-episode figures come directly from Smash.SS (revised). The per-line split below is the T+W production model applied to the R7.57m envelope — a working anatomy of how a show like this is built, not a literal extract from Smash.SS. Final lines reconcile to the spreadsheet before this goes to Betway.

Levers to Bring the Number Down

Where 27/28 cost gets cut without cutting value

Five places we can take cost out of the build for 27/28. Each one has a rand impact and an honest read on what it costs the audience. The lever stack adds up to roughly R1.2m off the season — enough to get from R7.57m to ~R6.4m without touching the brand presence.

Lever 01 · Talent

Trim panel from 4 to 3

Anchor + 2 analysts instead of anchor + 3. The third analyst seat rotates as a guest. Same energy, tighter conversation, lower weekly cost.

Season Saving

R 420k

Audience Risk

Low

Lever 02 · Production

2 eps/month on lean rig

Eight episodes a season shot on a 3-camera lean rig (no studio hire) — designed for road games, derby weeks and away features. Big studio retained for the 27 anchor episodes.

Season Saving

R 345k

Audience Risk

Med · feels different

Lever 03 · Social

In-house social cut-downs

Move the YouTube / TikTok / IG cut-down pipeline to the Smash Sports in-house team. T+W still ships the master. Cuts the duplicate edit cost line.

Season Saving

R 220k

Audience Risk

Low

Lever 04 · Post

Consolidated edit + graphics team

One edit + graphics team across the season instead of separate vendors. Lower hand-off cost, faster ship times, single creative voice across the season.

Season Saving

R 150k

Audience Risk

Low

Lever 05 · Logistics

Field shoot block-bookings

Stack player & coach features into 3 shoot blocks instead of weekly travel. Drops travel and per-diem lines by roughly a third.

Season Saving

R 85k

Audience Risk

Low

Lever 06 · Buffer

Contingency 3% → 2%

Tighten the production contingency line from 3% to 2% — possible because the show is a known repeating build, not a one-off.

Season Saving

R 60k

Audience Risk

Low

Lever savings are indicative ranges modelled against the cost anatomy above. Final numbers confirmed against Smash.SS before Betway sign-off.

Three Ways We Take 27 / 28 to Market

Proposed investment tiers

Same show, three positions. Hold the line on what's working in 25/26, sharpen the build with the levers above, or run a lean season focused on the anchor episodes and the digital extension.

Tier 01 · Hold the Line

Status Quo · 35 eps

R 7.57m

R216,205 per episode · same build as 25/26

35 weekly episodes · full SuperSport PSL calendar
4-strong on-screen panel maintained
Full studio every week + field features
Full social cut-down pipeline · 7-day extension
Same audience expectation as 25/26 (≈1.4m TV unique)
No optimisation · safest creative outcome

Tier 02 · Optimised

Sharper Build · 35 eps

R 6.40m

R182,857 per episode · −15% vs 25/26

All 35 episodes maintained · zero reach loss
Panel trimmed to anchor + 2 analysts (Lever 01)
8 eps/season on lean rig for road weeks (Lever 02)
In-house social cut-down pipeline (Lever 03)
Consolidated edit + graphics (Lever 04)
Field shoot block-bookings (Lever 05)
Contingency tightened to 2% (Lever 06)

Tier 03 · Lean

Anchor Season · 26 eps

R 5.20m

R200,000 per episode · −31% vs 25/26

26 anchor episodes · matchday weeks only
Full panel + studio retained for the eps that matter
Doubles down on social engine in the off-weeks
~25% lower TV reach (modelled): ≈1.05m unique
Brand presence intact · season feels shorter

Tier pricing applies the lever savings to the Smash.SS R7.57m envelope. Tier 03 audience projection scales linearly off the 25/26 per-episode average. All tiers are indicative pending Smash.SS reconcile.