17 TV stations to cover SEA Games

17 TV stations to cover SEA Games

JAKARTA (JP): Seventeen TV stations will give 14 sports events
continuous live coverage during the 19th SEA Games here next
month, the organizers' information and communication deputy,
Ishadi SK, said by telephone yesterday.

The coverage will be transmitted to the International
Broadcasting Center (IBC), which will be located in the state-
owned TVRI station in Senayan.

Since the organizers are not allowed to sell the TV rights,
each TV station will be charged transmission fees. The fees will
be determined based on the time and distance of their
transmissions.

There will be six TV stations from Indonesia, three from
Malaysia, two from Thailand, two from Singapore, two from the
Philippines and Hong Kong-based ESPN based at the IBC. Vietnam,
Myanmar and Laos will share a channel between them.

"This is the first time the SEA Games is to be covered by
ESPN," Ishadi said.

He also said that the organizers had only received Rp 400
million of their Rp 2.8 billion (US$933,334) budget from the
consortium.

Kompas reported Wednesday that Rp 2.25 billion would be used
to set up the center. Sixty percent would buy equipment to
install the system, build master controls and pay the TV pool
operational costs.

IBC chairman Alex Kumara said that without the equipment, the
TV coverage could be worse than that of the National Games last
year.

Alex said 12 outdoor broadcast vans would be used to cover the
events.

Seven of the 12 vans will come from TVRI and one each will
come from RCTI, SCTV, TPI, ANteve and Indosiar.

"But none of the vans has the special equipment needed to
transmit slow motion shots," Alex said. (yan)