Fledgling 'TV7' to air 2002 GP live
Fledgling 'TV7' to air 2002 GP live
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
It began being aired in November last year, and has yet to be
officially launched, but private station TV7 has shown its grit
when it comes to sports coverage.
After its live broadcast of the World Rally and a few English
soccer premiership matches, the station unveiled its plans for
live coverage of another sport -- motorbike grand prix -- at the
Front Cafe in Central Jakarta.
Live coverage will start on April 7 when the opening series of
the 16-leg 2002 championship is held at the Suzuka circuit in
Japan.
The race used to be on AnTEVE but is now set to change channel
this year.
While AnTEVE only broadcasts the 500cc GP live, TV7 has looked
one step ahead and will also include the 250cc in its live
broadcasting package.
All the races at the Suzuka championship can now be watched
live, including the 150cc.
"We will provide live coverage of all three opening races from
Suzuka. The remaining legs will see only the 500cc and 250cc with
the 150cc to rerun later," Tommy Anwar, assistant director of
program and marketing, told reporters.
Tommy refused to disclose the value of the package.
"The amount is not too much higher than before," referring to
when AnTEVE owned the rights to the program.
"I'm afraid I can't reveal the total cost. It's confidential.
"For sure, it is not as expensive as Formula One," he added,
whose live broadcasting rights in Indonesia is owned by TPI.
Tommy said that they hoped that the motorbike grand prix slot
would attract an audience of up to five million in May, by then
TV7 will have reached 50 towns and cities.
Sport is commercially reliable on local stations. RCTI, the
oldest private station, has a program covering the Italian soccer
league and is set to begin broadcasting its 2002 World Cup
package in May. Trans TV is already focused on Spanish league
matches, while Metro TV has J-League in its live sports program.
Sports manager Anton Sanjoyo said that their initiative to
increase coverage of international sporting events stemmed from
the fact that the field was commercially viable.