TV stations fight for Games viewers

TV stations fight for Games viewers

JAKARTA (JP): While some 5,800 athletes from 10 Southeast
Asian countries are flexing their muscles for medals in the
regional sporting meet that officially kicks off today, six local
TV stations are launching a programming war.

State-owned television TVRI will dedicate at least four and a
half hours of air time every day to the SEA Games which runs
through Oct. 19. The special coverage excludes some live shows,
including soccer matches.

A station executive, Diana, was quoted by Antara as saying
yesterday that TVRI would air two packages of coverage per day.
The first will be between 10:00 a.m. and 1 p.m. and the second
from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The station will also provide an evening journal, which will
include the daily medal standings, to be aired after the World
News at 9:30 p.m.

Private station ANteve is allocating 120 hours for the games,
excluding its major live soccer shows.

The station will split its daily coverage into four packages,
the first to be aired from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., the second between
2 p.m. and 4 p.m., the third between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and
the last will use the air time allotted for regular program
Sports Lens starting at 11:30 p.m.

The country's oldest private station RCTI will air the
badminton semifinals and finals, both the team and individual
events, in addition to its twice-daily SEA Games programs, from 9
a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The badminton
competition is scheduled to run from Sunday through Saturday.

An RCTI public relations executive, Mayang, said the station
would air a SEA Games talk show every Saturday and Sunday during
the competition.

Surabaya-based SCTV is making the basketball matches its top
priority. Other sports will be highlighted in two daily programs,
the first from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and the second between 1:30 p.m.
and 2 p.m.

The station will also report the progress of competitions
every hour.

TPI, meanwhile, will show all the volleyball and beach
volleyball matches live. The indoor volleyball competition is
slated for Sunday through Saturday.

The country's youngest station, Indosiar, will be the
broadcaster with the least SEA Games coverage to begin with as it
will only air a five-minute golden moment at 9:30 p.m. every day.
But the station will show the boxing finals on Thursday and
karate matches from Friday to next Sunday live.

All six stations will air today's opening ceremony and closing
ceremony next Sunday live.

Separately yesterday, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia,
the Games official airline, announced it would provide seats on
domestic and regional routes for delegates, athletes and referees
participating in the games.

The domestic routes include Banda Aceh, Medan, Pekanbaru,
Padang, Palembang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Mataram,
Pontianak, Banjarmasin, Balikpapan, Ujungpandang, Manado,
Jayapura. The regional services are to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur,
Manila, Bangkok and Saigon.

Between Oct. 7 and Oct. 20, Garuda will operate an additional
counter in the Hotel Mulia Senayan for city check-in and ticket
reservations, the airline said. (icn/amd)