RS unveils advantages of first pay-TV World Cup
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With Thai football fans bracing for their first World Cup not broadcast on free TV, RS chief executive Surachai Chetchotisak has declared that paying viewers will get their money's worth when the tournament kicks off on Thursday.
Like every previous edition of the world’s most-watched sports event, Thais watched the last World Cup, in South Africa four years ago, for free.
Sadly, things have changed. This time they have to pay to watch action from Brazil as RS, the country’s broadcasting rights holders, has allocated only 22 of the 64 matches to free TV – namely BBTV’s Channel 7 and the company’s Channel 8. News came this week of a deal that means TrueVisions will also broadcast all the games in Brazil.
RS also owned the broadcasting rights of the 2010 World Cup, which left many viewers wondering why they can’t watch this year’s matches, played from tomorrow until July 13, without paying, just like in the past.
Blame changing technology.
“Four years ago, there was no satellite or digital TV – only free TV,” Surachai told The Nation in an exclusive interview.
“If the current circumstances applied back then, our current business model might have been operating four years ago. We need to manage the rights according to circumstances and opportunities as they exist.
“Four years ago, we could only find free-to-air stations to broadcast the World Cup and we earned money from the TV commercials and charging a fee for companies using the tournament for commercial purposes.”
Surachai acknowledged it might take fans a while to get used to the new arrangement. “It’s something new for Thai viewers and it will take time before people accept it. When it comes to TV rights, we were the first to manage them appropriately six to eight years ago.”
The RS boss reiterated that watching the World Cup via the company’s newly launched set-top box would give fans full coverage of the tournament, which comes round only once every four years.
“There were limitations in broadcasting World Cup in the past. We had the Cup matches on free TV but fans were unable to see other interesting scenes after or before the games, because the station’s time slot was very expensive.
“It’s different this time as we have launched a new channel set up specifically for the World Cup. With our live coverage of the match, fans will be able to watch from the moment the players arrive at the venue until the end of the game, as well as the atmosphere around the stadium.
“We also bought new content from Fifa – the World Cup Channel will offer a whole new viewing experience for the audience. Our existing Sun Box customers can get access to the World Cup Channel simply by paying Bt299 for the whole tournament.
“Those, who don’t have our box yet can buy a “World Cup” box for Bt1,590, which gets them the World Cup Channel right away with no added fee.”
Surachai defended the company’s selection of World Cup matches for free TV, which drew widespread criticism from fans as it features mostly unfancied teams like Honduras and Greece.
“We’re willing to listen to everyone but we can’t make everyone happy. I think the list of games we drew up for free TV is a decent one as it includes both the opening and final matches as well as games in later rounds. You need to accept that there will be both games you like and you don’t like in those 22 fixtures.
The RS CEO also shrugged off a quip during popular morning news show “Rueng Lao Chao Nee” last week, when a co-host mocked the company’s strict rules concerning broadcasting rights by suggesting that to avoid being penalised he would refer to the Cup by an abbreviation.
“It made me wonder whether they really didn’t know or whether they were just joking. I think everyone knows well what they can and can’t do. Are we too strict? We managed our rights in the way permitted. We have done exactly the same as four years ago. There’s nothing different.”
