'RCTI' unveils $5m World Cup schedule

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Soccer enthusiasts in Indonesia are expected to be glued to their television screens for the month-long 2002 World Cup finals after RCTI, one of the country's five current private TV stations, unveiled a US$5 million (Rp 52.5 billion) live broadcast package.

The biggest soccer spectacle on the planet will be co-hosted by South Korea and Japan from May 31 to June 30. A total of 64 matches are to be played in 20 stadiums, 10 each in Korea and Japan.

RCTI, which claims to be the official TV partner of the 2002 World Cup organizers, has confirmed that it will air half of the fixtures live for Indonesian soccer fanatics.

The joint 2002 World Cup will feature 32 national teams, 30 of which have already assured themselves of their places, with one slot being fought over by Ireland and Iran and the last one to go to either Uruguay or Australia.

"We will share the rest of the matches with other TV stations because the schedule will include (instances of) two matches being played at the same time," Teguh Juwarno, RCTI public relations officer, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

He said matches would probably be shared with two other stations, but he would not disclose their names, pending final negotiations.

RCTI sealed the broadcast rights deal last year with KIRCH Media. Teguh said the US$5 million price tag represented a "cheap purchase" package compared with those in any other countries in Asia.

"We went through smooth negotiations. They (KIRCH) took into account our past record, which includes broadcasts of three World Cups," he said.

Unlike at previous World Cups, the Korea-Japan fixtures are to be played at times that will roughly coincide with the afternoon or evening in Jakarta, which has a time difference of minus two hours.

This can be expected to lure a greater number of viewers than normal, as the audience will not need to stay up past midnight to watch the matches as happened in the past when the World Cup was contested on either European or American soil.

However, despite the fact that matches will run during prime time and advertisers will be charged at much higher rates than normal, cigarette advertising, which normally contributes a significant share of the revenue generated by television soccer programming, has been banned from the World Cup broadcasts.