APBU laments RI indifference over Olympic telecast
Eva C. Komandjaja Jakarta
The Kuala Lumpur-based Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (APBU) lamented the fact that no Indonesian TV stations or radio broadcasters 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.