MCOT labour union opposes EPL broadcast deal with CTH
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MCOT's labour union plans to publish an open letter calling on PM's Office Minister Varathep Ratanakorn to examine the company's management if it approves a plan to enter into a deal with pay-TV operator CTH to broadcast English Premier League (EPL) so
Varathep has been assigned to oversee the state enterprise, which operates Modernine TV and a network of radio stations.
A committee of MCOT’s board will today consider a plan to pay CTH Bt480 million for audio-visual broadcasting rights for the EPL for three seasons from this year. Union president Suvit Mingmol said yesterday that if the committee approves the plan, he would take action against it on behalf of all employees.
“How have the negotiations resulted in this Bt480-million deal? Did MCOT’s management attempt to negotiate that deal with CTH?” the union president asked.
He added that the huge investment called for under this deal could cause financial problems for the company, though chairman Sutham Saengpratoom claimed last week that the firm’s marketing and sales teams could potentially receive Bt270 million from sponsorship deals, after pre-launching a sponsorship package priced at Bt50 million.
Today, the board committee members will make their decision on whether to sign this deal.
The deal would also give MCOT the right to televise 17 key live matches per season and to air live audio of 380 matches a season via its nationwide radio network, FM99 Active Radio. Additionally, MCOT would obtain the rights to organise on-ground activities related to the EPL throughout the coming three seasons.
A source at a media agency said the Bt480-million deal would put MCOT at risk in terms of cost management, because it could televise only 17 live EPL matches. The cost per match is about Bt10 million.
It appeared to be difficult for MCOT to seek more revenue to offset such costs under the time limit. For example, during a live match, a TV broadcaster is able to sell airtime slots amounting to a maximum of 20 minutes, and can seek additional revenue from EPL-related TV programmes. Under these limits, MCOT must offer an ad rate of Bt500,000 per minute to advertisers. This rate is too high, the source said, compared with the prime-time rates offered by market leaders such as Channels 3 and 7.
Given these factors, the sponsorship packages offered by MCOT would not be sufficiently attractive to base the budget on, the source said.
