'RCTI' urges sports bars not to 'steal' World Cup promotion

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

RCTI, Indonesia's official TV station for the upcoming 2002 World Cup, has warned against "commercialization" by sports bars and cafes of its live broadcasts, but stopped short of what action to take for delinquencies.

"We are pleading morally with them to respect our rights as the official partner for the World Cup," Teguh Juwarno, the station's spokesman, told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a gathering last Thursday.

"We secured the right to an expensive package, so I want them to understand the exclusiveness of the program," he said.

RCTI, according to Teguh, has set aside a budget of Rp 100 billion (US$10 million) to bring the World Cup matches to Indonesia.

Half of the amount -- US$5 million -- has been spent on the purchase of the package from German-based Kirch Media, the world soccer body FIFA's commercial agent currently facing insolvency.

The World Cup, which is jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan, will kick off on May 31 for a month-long soccer spectacle.

While disclosing that about 70 percent of its advertising slots had been sold, Teguh said that they were beginning to be worried about indications that many cafes would commercially exploit RCTI's live soccer program.

He said there was speculation that many sports bars and cafes would try to lure customers by promoting the live matches.

"An event organizer will probably turn away from RCTI, when it finds that it is cheaper to do its promotion through cafes. That's unfair.

"If they hold it in an open air area with free entry and with visitors not having to purchase drinks or snacks, that's no problem. In that case, they (cafes) are not capitalizing on our exclusive World Cup package," Teguh said.

But he did not elaborate on what action RCTI could take against perpetrators, should there be any.

"That is an issue we will decide later," he said.