`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