`TVRI' vows to be your World Cup station

`TVRI' vows to be your World Cup station

By Richard Pedler

JAKARTA (JP): Saluran Piala Dunia Kebanggaan Anda, which
translates roughly as "Proud to be your World Cup Station" could
not be a less appropriate term to describe RCTI's contribution to
Indonesia's USA '94 coverage.

'Proud' to be able to broadcast all 52 matches in their
entirety, the nationwide commercial channel has failed to mention
that viewers will know the results of 40 of them, including the
Opening, Semifinals and the World Cup Final itself, before the
games are even aired on RCTI. There are 40 Saluran Pilihan -
i.e., Delayed Matches - which can all be seen Live on another
channel first, thanks to the four-way division of the Indonesian
World Cup cake by the state-run TVRI.

The Late, Late Show

Admittedly, all the games do kick-off between the hours of
10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. Local Time (WIB). But for just one month
every four years, all those soccer fans yearning to sample the
unique atmosphere of the World Cup without having to leave the
comfort of their homes will be insomniacs by the time it's all
over.

TVRI has exclusive rights to the Opening Ceremony and Match
and the Final itself - good if you hate advertisements, bad if
you do not wish to suffer the Indonesian commentator's tendency
to mispronounce just about every foreign-sounding name with more
than one syllable. An ominous-sounding "Journal" also awaits you
every night after the 9 p.m. News.

SCTV is limiting its coverage to just the eight live matches
it drew in a lottery with RCTI, including the joker in the pack,
Saudi Arabia vs Morocco. TPI has the most attractive Group
matches, such as Colombia vs Rumania, Spain vs Bolivia, Brazil vs
Sweden and Argentina vs Nigeria. RCTI has only one match to whet
the appetite, Brazil vs Cameroon.

Talk, Talk, Talk

One style common to all football broadcasts here is the use of
studio pundits to 'analyze' the first half of the game, predict
the rest of it, and generally talk too much about nothing in
particular to fill in the gaps between the breaks. Expect nothing
new this year, except the Showaddywaddy uniform enforced on
presenters and 'commentators' alike.

But when will those Sports Departments catch on to the idea of
a World Cup Highlights program that is guaranteed to be packed
with all the goals and action, and which can give its audience a
decent preview of the evening's games. Indonesian TV companies
have all chosen the easy option by filling their soccer programs
with talking heads rather than living pictures. Perhaps a result
of too many journalists who still have not realized they can stop
writing and interviewing.

The one channel sadly absent from the USA '94 local ratings
battle will be ANteve, so far the only channel to have shown some
originality in its Sports coverage. We could have looked forward
to Yesayas and Deddy flaunting the latest German kit, maybe even
wearing the shorts and socks as well.

ANteve's original Thomas-Uber badminton production was the
first in Indonesia to contribute something really positive -
actually adding to the atmosphere of what was admittedly already
an electrically-charged event. If nothing else, I will miss that
Psychedelic color splodge all over the stage-set.

Meanwhile, the Big One just basks in its ratings, under the
false assumption that two million viewers are actually listening
(no pictures!) to the aimless pre-game and half-time monologues
that pose as entertainment during Italian League football. If the
other stations imitate the format, they falsely conclude that it
must be good. No, they just don't have any idea what to do
either.

I would hazard a guess that the most frequent viewers'
reaction to the radio culture that still prevails on our screens
is to turn off the sound and have your own debate while awaiting
more from world-class Serie 'A' stars such as Gullit and
Lombardo, Sosa and Bergkamp, Baggio and Moller. And why do the
TV stations miss the restart so often - don't they have watches?

Pie In The Sky

Look out for two more hours of the same old pre-World Cup hype
next week - Dialog Piala Dunia is about. The producer has assured
this writer that there will be "no pictures whatsoever," so if
reading lips is your idea of World Cup entertainment, RCTI is the
channel for you!

Otherwise, find a friend with a satellite dish and tune-in to
any channel you like. Take your pick for language commentary and
you are all set. Whichever station you select, at least you can
be sure you won't miss the kick-off!

Monday: A Guide To The Stars