Panel member wants changes to NBTC 'must have' rule on sports events
A member of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission's broadcasting committee will on Monday try to persuade his fellow panellists to move seven international sports events from the "must have" to the non-exclusive category under a d
“I want to ensure that the new regulation will not lead to unintended consequences for related business,” Thawatchai Jittrapanun said yesterday.
The seven programmes, which are subject to indefinite restriction if and when the regulations are promulgated, are the Southeast Asian Games, Asean Para Games, Asian Games, Asian Para Games, Olympic Games, Paralympics and the Fifa World Cup Final.
Under the proposed rule, the holders of broadcasting rights to those sports tournaments must allow them to be aired on all free-TV channels besides their own media platforms. This might not fit the plans of rights holders wanting to offer more choices for their customers.
The non-exclusive list would allow holders of broadcast rights to select the channels to show selected matches. However, those holders would not be able to seal an exclusive agreement with the owners of the rights to the seven competitions.
On Monday, the NBTC’s broadcasting committee will devote its weekly meeting to considering revising the “must have” draft regulation. If it passes the committee, the draft rule will be submitted to the NBTC on Wednesday and if approved will be published in the Royal Gazette.
This draft regulation sparked a new conflict between the NBTC and media and entertainment giant RS, which has secured the rights to broadcast the Fifa World Cup soccer tournament in 2014.
The company also plans to use this soccer spectacular to lure customers into buying its SunBox set-top box, as it has been doing with Spain’s La Liga soccer tournament.
Last week, RS appealed to the NBTC against the “must have” rule, claiming that it was impractical and could lead to breaches of copyright.
However, Natee Sukonrat has said he believes that RS had enough time to adjust its business model for the World Cup broadcast to comply with the draft.
An analyst at Aira Securities said this new draft rule seemed to be unworkable and was not likely to hurt RS’ business in two years when the World Cup kicks off.
