Local TV slammed for near-zero Athens coverage<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Amid concerns about the prospect of Indonesian viewers
\nreceiving minimal information on the upcoming Olympic Games,
\nlocal TV stations were accused on Tuesday of running after profit
\nand failing to address public demands.<\/p>\n
The Kuala Lumpur-based Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, or ABU
\n(not APBU as reported previously), which has been appointed by
\nthe International Olympic Committee (IOC) to distribute
\nbroadcasting rights in the Asia Pacific, said Indonesia was the
\nonly country out of the 220 represented in Athens not telecasting
\nthe Olympics.<\/p>\n
Bimo Nugroho of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI)
\nsaid local stations should not think merely about commercial
\nvalue, but also address public interests.<\/p>\n
\"TV stations' owners should not think about whether they will
\nmake a profit from airing the Olympic Games, because the public
\nhas the right to watch and support their athletes,\" Bimo told The
\nJakarta Post on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He said local stations had the power to encourage people's
\nlove for sports by broadcasting international events such as the
\nOlympics.<\/p>\n
\"And they should realize that such a power cannot be measured
\nby profits,\" Bimo said.<\/p>\n
Sudaryatmo of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI)
\nconcurred, saying that, as consumers, people had a right to watch
\nmulti-event international games, especially if national athletes
\nwere participating.<\/p>\n
\"The people should have access to information they want... TV
\nstations are social institutions and should therefore serve the
\npublic instead of neglecting them,\" Sudaryatmo said.<\/p>\n
Local TV stations have decided not to air Olympic telecasts,
\nciting weak commercial value and high costs of the broadcast
\npackage offered by the ABU.<\/p>\n
The ABU declined to reveal the package price for reasons of
\nconfidentiality.<\/p>\n
Separately, state-owned RCTI, which is known for its sports
\nprograms covering big events, said the package rate amounted to
\nabout US$900,000 after lucrative discounts.<\/p>\n
\"The price was reduced substantially by many hundreds of
\nthousands of dollars to assist Indonesian broadcasters to carry
\nthe events,\" John Barton, head of ABU broadcast operations, said
\nvia email to the Post.<\/p>\n
The rate was lower compared to the $1.2 million RCTI spent on
\nthe Sydney Olympics package, according to RCTI spokesman Teguh
\nJuwarno. He had added that if aired live, most of the audience in
\nIndonesia would be watching the games around midnight, \"therefore
\nthere would be low interest from advertisers.\" Offers to
\nadvertisers have not generated much interest, he said.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the station spent $5 million on exclusive rights
\nto broadcast the 2002 World Cup. It also had exclusive rights to
\nthe recent Euro 2004, but this value was not revealed.<\/p>\n
Bimo said if these stations could not afford the broadcasting
\npackage, they could share the costs -- 10 TV stations operate in
\nIndonesia, of which nine are private.<\/p>\n
Apart from ABU's commercial interests, Barton pointed to the
\nurgency in broadcasting the Olympics Games, where Indonesia will
\nbe represented by 39 athletes.<\/p>\n
\"My sadness for Indonesia is that young people, who
\ndesperately need heroes, will miss out on seeing their own people
\nstruggling to achieve at the highest level (of international
\nsports), surely the most noble of all human conditions,\" he said.<\/p>",
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