Just as Kwun has requested Enjoy! APBU laments lack of Olympic TV coverage in RI [font=Arial, Helvetica]Monday, August 02, 2004[/font] [font=Times New Roman, Ms Serif] Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta The Kuala Lumpur-based Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (APBU) lamented the fact that no Indonesian TV stations would air the upcoming Olympic Games. "Indonesia will be the only country out of the 220 represented in Athens, not to telecast it," John Barton, head of the APBU's broadcast operations, said in a release here on Sunday. Barton said that the APBU would be putting together over 3,500 hours of live Olympic programming, which would be seen in the Asia-Pacific region. "We have done everything possible to secure television coverage for the people in Indonesia. "It is a sad day for international sports, and for the many people in Indonesia who would be keen to support their athletes and teams in Athens, and in particular the nation's badminton players who still have a strong chance for medals," he said. Indonesia will be represented by 39 athletes in 14 sports in Athens. Meanwhile, local television stations said that weak commercial value and expensive prices for the broadcast rights were the reason that they would not show the centennial edition of the Olympics to the people of this country. "Learning from our past experience, it is not commercially advantageous to buy broadcasting rights for a multi-event sporting showcase like the Olympics, because we have to buy it in one entire package, while our viewers are only interested in a few sports such as badminton and soccer," RCTI's spokesman Teguh Juwarno told The Jakarta Post. "Besides, the price of the broadcasting rights is very expensive so we cannot determine its economic value if we want to buy it," he said, while refusing to mention the price. RCTI, one of Indonesia's leading TV stations for live sports programming, devoted a large portion of its telecasts to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Teguh said that RCTI was content to simply relay some footage of the events as part of its regular sports news programming. Meanwhile, Uki Hastama, SCTV spokesman blamed Indonesia's discouraging athletic performances for the local stations' reluctance to buy the package. "Usually, a group of TV stations go in together to share the rights, but this time nobody has come up with the plan so I guess the price is too expensive," Uki said. "Back then (previous Olympics), people were interested to watch badminton matches on TV, but since the shuttlers' performances have declined, the people seem to have lost interest," Uki said. Most of the stations are also undecided about whether to send reporters to the world's most popular sporting event, which will run from Aug. 13 to Aug. 29 in Athens.[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Arial]Local TV slammed for near-zero Athens coverage [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica]Wednesday, August 04, 2004[/font] [font=Times New Roman, Ms Serif]Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta Amid concerns about the prospect of Indonesian viewers receiving minimal information on the upcoming Olympic Games, local TV stations were accused on Tuesday of running after profit and failing to address public demands. The Kuala Lumpur-based Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, or ABU (not APBU as reported previously), which has been appointed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to distribute broadcasting rights in the Asia Pacific, said Indonesia was the only country out of the 220 represented in Athens not telecasting the Olympics. Bimo Nugroho of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) said local stations should not think merely about commercial value, but also address public interests. "TV stations' owners should not think about whether they will make a profit from airing the Olympic Games, because the public has the right to watch and support their athletes," Bimo told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. He said local stations had the power to encourage people's love for sports by broadcasting international events such as the Olympics. "And they should realize that such a power cannot be measured by profits," Bimo said. Sudaryatmo of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) concurred, saying that, as consumers, people had a right to watch multi-event international games, especially if national athletes were participating. "The people should have access to information they want... TV stations are social institutions and should therefore serve the public instead of neglecting them," Sudaryatmo said. Local TV stations have decided not to air Olympic telecasts, citing weak commercial value and high costs of the broadcast package offered by the ABU. The ABU declined to reveal the package price for reasons of confidentiality. Separately, state-owned RCTI, which is known for its sports programs covering big events, said the package rate amounted to about US$900,000 after lucrative discounts. "The price was reduced substantially by many hundreds of thousands of dollars to assist Indonesian broadcasters to carry the events," John Barton, head of ABU broadcast operations, said via email to the Post. The rate was lower compared to the $1.2 million RCTI spent on the Sydney Olympics package, according to RCTI spokesman Teguh Juwarno. He had added that if aired live, most of the audience in Indonesia would be watching the games around midnight, "therefore there would be low interest from advertisers." Offers to advertisers have not generated much interest, he said. In contrast, the station spent $5 million on exclusive rights to broadcast the 2002 World Cup. It also had exclusive rights to the recent Euro 2004, but this value was not revealed. Bimo said if these stations could not afford the broadcasting package, they could share the costs -- 10 TV stations operate in Indonesia, of which nine are private. Apart from ABU's commercial interests, Barton pointed to the urgency in broadcasting the Olympics Games, where Indonesia will be represented by 39 athletes. "My sadness for Indonesia is that young people, who desperately need heroes, will miss out on seeing their own people struggling to achieve at the highest level (of international sports), surely the most noble of all human conditions," he said.[/font]
No Olympics TV upsets RI athletes [font=Arial, Helvetica]Thursday, August 05, 2004[/font] [font=Times New Roman, Ms Serif] Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta Indonesian athletes taking part in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens said they were disappointed that local TV stations would not be broadcasting the Games, depriving viewers back home the opportunity to watch their home athletes in action. All 10 TV stations here have decided not to broadcast the Olympics, citing weak commercial value and expensive broadcast packages. However, the Kuala Lumpur-based Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) said it had lowered the prices of the broadcast packages by hundreds of thousands dollars. Several non-governmental organizations have criticized station owners for thinking only of profit and failing to address public needs. A number of the Olympic athletes also expressed their frustration with the stations, but were careful not to be too harsh with their criticism. Alven Yulianto, one of Indonesia's best medal hopes in badminton, said he was disappointed that none of the local TV stations would broadcast the event. "Of course I feel disappointed, but as an athlete what can I do?" Alven, a doubles specialist, said. He speculated that the generally poor performance of badminton players at recent international events may have influenced the stations to pass on the Olympics. "Maybe the TV stations think that none of us (badminton players) will make it to the final rounds because of our poor play at international events of late. Maybe that is why they think it is not necessary to buy the broadcast rights," Alven said. He added that being written off in this manner would provide added motivation to all of the athletes to prove that they were worth watching. "It gives us more motivation to bring a medal home so that the TV stations will regret not buying the broadcast rights," Alven said with a laugh. Taekwnodoin Juana Wangsa Putri is also upset about the lack of Olympic TV coverage. "I think people in Indonesia will want to know what is going on in Athens. It will be difficult without coverage from the local TV stations," Juana said. Padmawati, one of seven Indonesian weightlifters competing in Athens, is eager to forget about the controversy and concentrate on the competition. "The most important thing for me is how to do my best and win a medal in Athens, that is my main focus right now," Padma said. The Olympic Games, to which Indonesia is sending 39 athletes, will run from Aug. 13 to Aug. 29. About 220 nations will take part in the world's biggest sporting spectacle. And according to the ABU, Indonesia is the only nation sending athletes to the Games that will not telecast the event.[/font]
House laments Athens TV debacle [font=Arial, Helvetica]Friday, August 06, 2004[/font] [font=Times New Roman, Ms Serif] Musthofid, Jakarta Comments tinged with grief were in abundance on Thursday over the country's Olympic non-telecast by at least two members of House of Representatives. Ferdiansyah and Anwar Arifin, both from Commission VI for religion, education, culture, tourism and sports affairs, agreed on the urgency for local TV stations to prioritize the people's right to information over simply profit-making. They joined in the criticism previously raised by local NGOs and other sports fans, who commented that the motivational power of a spectacle as grand as the Olympics and its potential to encourage people to participate in sports could not be measured by commercial profits alone. However, a former TV sports producer revealed that idealism was hardly practiced in the broadcast business, saying that TV management personnel only looked at the bottom line. "Idealism isn't even in the top-10 in terms of priorities. What they have in mind is how the production cost can be covered when they plan to buy a broadcast package," Anton Sanjoyo, former sports programming producer with TV7, told The Jakarta Post. TV7 was one of the 10 local TV stations bidding for the Olympic broadcast package, but given the high price they, like all the others, backed off. After a "big discount", the cost was later reduced to $900,000, but even RCTI, which is known for its telecasts of big events, still was not interested, because they do not think they can turn a profit from the advertisements. Anwar Arifin, from the Golkar Party faction, however, came up with an idealistic admonishment. Anwar said that monetary costs should not be the only priority, but they should also consider the people's right to information, especially the Olympics, as the highest priority. "It's deplorable that people will be deprived of the Olympics. People's rights should be respected," he told the Post by phone. His fellow Golkar member Ferdiansyah, however, could understand the TV companies' rationale in failing to show the Olympics. Given the significance of the Olympics, in which Indonesia will be one of the 220 countries with competitors in Athens, Ferdiansyah did admit that the TV stations should have worked together to share the costs. "It is reasonable that the weak commercial value has deterred TV stations from buying the package. This is business," Ferdiansyah said. "But I also think that they could have come together to share the cost. But they'll have that to think about that in the future," he added. At this late date, any thought of the stations now working together seems infeasible given the competitiveness between them and the inability to secure revenue from advertisers on such short notice. On the athletic front, Indonesia will be represented by 39 athletes competing in 14 sports in Athens. They have medal hopefuls in badminton, weightlifting, taekwondo and archery, with a windsurfer, a boxer and two tennis players Angelique Widjadja and Wynne Prakuskya also having a slight chance to make some noise. Indonesia is the only nation sending athletes to the Games that will not air it live for its citizens.[/font]
KONI hopeful TV stations will show Olympics [font=Arial, Helvetica]Saturday, August 07, 2004[/font] [font=Times New Roman, Ms Serif] Musthofid and Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta The National Sports Council (KONI), which is sending 39 athletes to the Athens Olympics, said on Friday it was keeping up hopes that a TV station would make a last-ditch bid for the Olympic broadcast package. "I'm still hopeful that our TV stations will broadcast the Olympics, although I'm not sure, because the price seems an obstacle to them," KONI secretary-general Djohar Arifin Husin said. Asep Sulaeman, deputy manager of live broadcasting programs at state-run TVRI, said even if a network did an about-face and was willing to run the program, it was highly unlikely to materialize, as the Olympics would begin in only a week. "That'll be dependent on how stations can arrange their promotional advertisement offers," Asep said. Indonesian viewers may be deprived of Olympic telecasts, as local stations seemed uninterested in purchasing the package offered by the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) on the pretext that it was too expensive, while it would not give promising commercial gains. "We met with officials from the ABU two months ago. All TV stations were there. The ABU offered the package for US$1.5 million and no one was interested," said Asep. "I hoped RCTI would take it, and then we could have shared the cost as we did for the Sydney Olympics. But RCTI seemed to have been run down by its Euro 2004 broadcast," Asep added. Michael Payne, head of global broadcast media for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), thought it strange that Indonesian stations had backed off only because the Olympic program lacked advertising interest. "As things now stand, Indonesia risks being the only country in the world not to have the Games. I met with all Indonesian broadcasters with Mr. Barton earlier this year, and the broadcasters assured the IOC that they did want to cover the Games," Payne told the Post in an email, referring to head of ABU broadcast operations John Barton. "I have seen the press comments about lack of advertising interest -- all I can say is that this is very, very strange. Indonesia the only country in the world where there is no interest in the Olympics, no support, etc. "I wonder whether it is not more a case of broadcasters, having spent all of the money on European soccer championships, now hoping that they can get the Olympic rights free of charge?" Payne said. Local stations' backpedaling from the Olympic telecast has drawn criticism from many quarters deploring the social institution's failure to heed the public's right to information and accusing them of being money-grubbers. Other observers have approached the issue from the perspective of the industry's financial straits, such as that raised by Toho Cholik Mutohir, director general of sports agency at the national education ministry. "It's deplorable that we can't watch the Olympics, but I understand the financial condition TV stations face. To be able to broadcast the Olympics needs huge financial resources," he said. Looking ahead, Djohar and Toho agreed to start thinking about tackling the issue for the sake of national sports. "I hope this will not sap athletes' fighting spirit in Athens," Toho said [/font]
Thanks! Hi Kwun!! thanks for fixing the name. I am typing using computer at the office and the keyboard is just ARRRGHHH!!! LOL its hard to type and i often mistype words using this keyboard enjoy reading!
i read that too on kompas newspaper this morning and i was in biG shock.. this is the first time since 1988 indo hasnt cast live olympics on tv..does espn or star sports cast live badminton?does anybody know??
to dave and syaoran style : you're welcome! i dunno if espn and star sports will broadcast badminton let's wait and see btw : yesterday, an ABU official sent me an email saying that the package offered to indo tv stations were only US$200,000!!! Argh! and these TVs said it's "expensive" ARGH!!!
not sure if that'd make you much more popular, but i think you guys should write an update article on it telling the public that! $200,000 is dirt cheap when it comes to the broadcast right of the Olympics! imagine how much NBC in the US is paying, probably many millions.
these tv stations already knew the price was only US$200,000 but they refused to buy because they thought it would not be profitable since most of the telecasts would be aired late at night kwun : i have included the info on my editor's article appeared on newspaper today
'Kabelvision' to show Olympics live in Jakarta [font=Arial, Helvetica]Musthofid, Jakarta Due to the local TV stations' lack of interest in airing the Olympics, Kabelvision, a cable TV broadcaster, has stepped into the vacuum and made a deal with the Kuala Lumpur-based Asia-Pacific Broadcast Union (ABU) for the rights to the program. "We are proud to announce that Kabelvision will broadcast the 2004 Olympics, the most prestigious global sporting spectacle, taking place in Athens," Anya Wenas, the manager of marketing communications, said in a release here on Saturday. Anya said that the broadcasts would begin on Friday, Aug. 13 and the various events could be viewed on six channels. ABU, whose broadcast package did not draw interest from local TV stations, confirmed the deal when contacted by The Jakarta Post. "It was concluded last night," John Barton, ABU's head of broadcast operations, said. Barton said that it still was not an ideal situation for the Indonesian people given that Kabelvision is only accessible to its limited number of subscribers and the coverage area is only in greater Jakarta. Local TV stations decided not to show the general public the Olympics, after complaining of overly expensive broadcast rights and little interest by would-be local advertisers. While the ABU declined to mention the value of the package, RCTI mentioned US$900,000. TVRI said that the starting price had been US$1.5 million. A source close to the negotiations, however, said that the original price was over $2 million, which was then significantly trimmed to $400,000. The ABU suggested that in the interest of Indonesian citizens, and from a cost management point of view, that the television stations should cooperate like tv station in Japan and Korea have. "They declined," Barton said. "It is the policy of the IOC, and supported by the ABU, for the Olympic games to be seen by the widest audience possible, hence the desire for it to be broadcast on free television, by a country's national broadcaster, or a combination of them as is the case in Japan where five stations are sharing the telecast, and Korea, where all their country's broadcasters (three) are involved," Barton said. The ABU made the latest offer but there was still not a positive response from the broadcasters. "As late as yesterday (Friday) I offered a daily highlights program to Indonesian broadcasters but they still were not interested," Barton said. "The program would feature all the medal events, ceremonies and other happenings on a daily basis," Barton said. The highlight packaged was offered at just US$75,000. thejakartapost.com[/font]
espn or starsportsi called the kabelvision today but they havent make any decisions, yet..i have to call back in 2 days
