House laments Athens TV debacle<\/p>\n
Musthofid, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Comments tinged with grief were in abundance on Thursday over the
\ncountry's Olympic non-telecast by at least two members of House
\nof Representatives.<\/p>\n
Ferdiansyah and Anwar Arifin, both from Commission VI for
\nreligion, education, culture, tourism and sports affairs, agreed
\non the urgency for local TV stations to prioritize the people's
\nright to information over simply profit-making.<\/p>\n
They joined in the criticism previously raised by local NGOs
\nand other sports fans, who commented that the motivational power
\nof a spectacle as grand as the Olympics and its potential to
\nencourage people to participate in sports could not be measured
\nby commercial profits alone.<\/p>\n
However, a former TV sports producer revealed that idealism
\nwas hardly practiced in the broadcast business, saying that TV
\nmanagement personnel only looked at the bottom line.<\/p>\n
\"Idealism isn't even in the top-10 in terms of priorities.
\nWhat they have in mind is how the production cost can be covered
\nwhen they plan to buy a broadcast package,\" Anton Sanjoyo, former
\nsports programming producer with TV7, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
TV7 was one of the 10 local TV stations bidding for the
\nOlympic broadcast package, but given the high price they, like
\nall the others, backed off.<\/p>\n
After a \"big discount\", the cost was later reduced to
\n$900,000, but even RCTI, which is known for its telecasts of big
\nevents, still was not interested, because they do not think they
\ncan turn a profit from the advertisements.<\/p>\n
Anwar Arifin, from the Golkar Party faction, however, came up
\nwith an idealistic admonishment. Anwar said that monetary costs
\nshould not be the only priority, but they should also consider
\nthe people's right to information, especially the Olympics, as
\nthe highest priority.<\/p>\n
\"It's deplorable that people will be deprived of the Olympics.
\nPeople's rights should be respected,\" he told the Post by phone.<\/p>\n
His fellow Golkar member Ferdiansyah, however, could
\nunderstand the TV companies' rationale in failing to show the
\nOlympics.<\/p>\n
Given the significance of the Olympics, in which Indonesia
\nwill be one of the 220 countries with competitors in Athens,
\nFerdiansyah did admit that the TV stations should have worked
\ntogether to share the costs.<\/p>\n
\"It is reasonable that the weak commercial value has deterred
\nTV stations from buying the package. This is business,\"
\nFerdiansyah said.<\/p>\n
\"But I also think that they could have come together to share
\nthe cost. But they'll have that to think about that in the
\nfuture,\" he added.<\/p>\n
At this late date, any thought of the stations now working
\ntogether seems infeasible given the competitiveness between them
\nand the inability to secure revenue from advertisers on such
\nshort notice.<\/p>\n
On the athletic front, Indonesia will be represented by 39
\nathletes competing in 14 sports in Athens. They have medal
\nhopefuls in badminton, weightlifting, taekwondo and archery, with
\na windsurfer, a boxer and two tennis players Angelique Widjadja
\nand Wynne Prakuskya also having a slight chance to make some
\nnoise.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the only nation sending athletes to the Games
\nthat will not air it live for its citizens.<\/p>",
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