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.