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)