Greed Shrouds 'World Cup' Telecasts
The Ministry of Information spends tens of millions of KD on its annual budget but can't shell out KD 3 million or so every four years for one of *the* major television events of the decade? No, instead every Tom, Dick and Harry in Kuwait has to shell out between 80-120 KD to get an ART package.
Had the Ministry shelled out that amount, it would have telegraphed to the local community here - Kuwaiti and expatriate alike -that they cared about the public and that they were first and foremost created for the public.
The Ministry could easily offset some of that cost by planning in advance to sell advertising or getting sponsors but they don't see farther than their noses - just like every other government institution in Kuwait.
Here's an interesting article by the Arab Times:
A security guard stands guard at the World Cup Stadium in Cologne, Germany, Thursday June 8, 2006, ahead of the opening Group D soccer game between Angola and Portugal on Sunday. The other teams in the group are Iran and Mexico. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Rip-off blocks kick-off … stingy purse begs a tin Cup; $11m too high
By John Mathews
Arab Times
KUWAIT CITY: Soccer fans in Kuwait will have to put up with a disappointment — Kuwait Television (KTV) will not telecast the World Cup matches from Germany. Telecasting fee sought for the World Cup, which is starting on Friday, from the KTV was $11 million, which is the reason why the plan to telecast the matches live on the national channel was dropped, Habib Dashti, Director (Production) KTV told the Arab Times. He also had no information on KTV telecasting the finals, which is usually beamed free-to-air world over. The official said that the information would be made available next week.
With the football frenzy reaching a crescendo the world over, the TV channels are gearing up to beam the soccer mega event to millions of diehard fans who are raring to see the action on television. With only a few days to go for the kickoff, Arab Times tried to find out which channel(s) will be showing the finals in Kuwait. According to the officials at “Showtime” Kuwait, they have bought the exclusive rights to show the World Cup live in the country.
Arab Radio and Television or ART-1 and ART-2, now rechristened as World Cup-1 and World Cup-2 will be telecasting all the 64 matches live. “We have this package for the soccer buffs and it will come at an additional cost of KD 80 and the subscriber will have access to this bouquet of channels for six months,” the officials added. An official with “Orbit”, a cable TV company, said they will not be showing the sporting event. It is learnt that Saudi Arabia is getting the telecasting rights free, a privilege extended to the participating nation and the matches will be aired in terrestrial mode.
But these matches will be limited to the games in the Saudis take part, the semifinals and final. While satellite officials say that ART would be the only channel to telecast the World Cup in Kuwait, the cable operators here are looking for ways of getting access to other World-Cup telecasting channels. “We will somehow manage to show our customers the much awaited event — by hook or crook” was their common refrain. According to one operator Star Sports, and ESPN will be telecasting the game in the subcontinent. And he has also a workaround plan to pull these two channels into Kuwait: A particular transponder available in India, costing around Rs. 4000 (KD 25) if fitted to dish antennas will make the channels available for viewers here.
All those channels showing the World Cup in India can be available here through the transponder. Many people in Abassiya have already procured the transponder. “This is a better bargain as you can have all the important sports channels for just KD 25 and the channels are going to be there for good. Another operator in Abbassiya said that he will have to go along with the Showtime: “I will subscribe to their channels and rout it to my customers”, he said. While Majid, another cable operator in Riggai doesn’t buy that argument and claims that the matches can be viewed also in some sports-TV majors like Fox Sports, Eurosports and Ten Sports.
But in some parts of the expat populated areas, especially in Hawally, Riggai, Khaitan and Fahaheel still out of the cable loop, the soccer fans will be left in a lurch or will have to shell out money for the 6 month subscription from the official providers. World over, some of the important World Cup telecasters are Sportsnet All, ESPN, ESPN 2, Univision, RDS, TSN, TV5, Pacific and Setanta USA. In the USA, ABC Sports and ESPN are covering the World Cup, while in the UK, BBC Sports will provide live coverage.
Statistics indicate that television coverage at the 2002 FIFA World Cup reached 213 countries, virtually every country in the world, with over 41,100 hours of dedicated programming.
Reuters adds: North African soccer fans are angry over stalled negotiations on costly access to television coverage, fearing they may miss out on a large chunk of World Cup action. Television executives from Morocco and Algeria have yet to clinch deals with Arab Radio and Television (ART), a Saudi company that has World Cup broadcast rights in the region, for the transmission of each match on their national state networks.
In Tunisia, whose national team is participating, state television will be allowed to broadcast the opening ceremony, the matches involving Tunisia, plus the semifinal and the final. But nothing more. Fans are up in arms. And the realisation that many of the region’s normally expert satellite pirates are as yet unable to decode the World Cup signal has only deepened the dismay. “It would be a nightmare to miss it. The World Cup is a golden opportunity to forget our daily problems for a while,” said Nabil Kerri, a 30-year-old unemployed Algerian.
“It is absurd ... to deprive poor people here and elsewhere in Africa from moments of pleasure in watching the World Cup,” said Bilal Simoudi, a bus driver in the Moroccan capital Rabat. Tarek Chlago, a journalist in Tunisia, said: “The Cup is based on the idea that the world is a village, but with the exclusive purchase of broadcast rights this notion no longer exists”. Failing an agreement, television services in Algeria and Morocco will be allowed to broadcast only a 20 minute-summary of each match. Those desperate to watch all the matches at home will have to scrape together anywhere from $125 to $165 for a special ART decoder — impossible sums for many in a region suffering serious unemployment and poverty.
In Algeria, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has intervened personally to find a solution, Sports and Youth Minister Yahia Guiddoum told state radio on Wednesday. “The president of the republic mandated the prime minister and the government to find a solution. The negotiations are still underway,” he said. “But in all the manners, the problem is dealt with by the government which will find solutions within the next 24 hours, God willing.”
Comments
Hand over KTV sports channel to me, and i will make it the best sports network in the region.
To all high officials, to Minister Al-sanousi: I am willing to head the Sport channel, give me a year and watch me put this channel on the media map.
For a kuwaiti, who grew up drinking and eating while watching sports, I am really sad to see where this channel is today. KTV was great during the 70's and 80's, I really do believe i can turn things around.
Give me a shot. what do they have to lose???
Posted by: Dr. T | June 8, 2006 5:39 PM
Sanousi is doing his best - judging by the recent programs on tv and the changes he plans to make to the news division (he brought in Al-Rai people, but maybe he shoulda brought in the peeps who did the Dubai network) - he came in too late anyway, he's been less than a month on the job but he's seriously pushing ahead with his agenda.
Still for all practical purposes the ministry should be disbanded and privatized.
Kuwait TV is all cultural documentaries, subpar programmes, ad infinitum.
Even the news dedicates half its running time to "Mr. X sends Mr. Y a congratulatory letter" or "Mr. X receives X delegation at his office today."
Journalism in Kuwait has no concept of what constitutes a LEAD, a real story, a breaking news. The LEAD story to them is the PERSONALITY, the GOVT official.
Every local tv station in the US or in the West has an on the spot camera crew and reporter/anchor - if anything breaks out anywhere: fire, etc - they go report on the spot - LIVE - this is something KTV and the ministry have never done unless its a government conference or summit.
Few years ago missiles were hitting KUWAIT and I had to tune in to FOX news to get coverage IN MY OWN COUNTRY.
That should tell you enough.
Posted by: amer | June 8, 2006 6:17 PM
And by the way, I've worked with MOI first-hand and know how they operate: I did the live English language voiceover for the President Bush arrival and departure KTV2 segments in 1994 with Lubna Saif Abbas.
They did not even send us a 'thank you' note for our work.
Posted by: amer | June 8, 2006 6:21 PM
Shame on KTV! Disgraceful.
Sigh... I guess we are not nicknamed "Jews of the Gulf" for nothing.
Posted by: The Grenadine | June 8, 2006 6:57 PM
well everyone knew from 4 years ago that art had the rights for this year's tournament. i know that my bro paid about 125 kd for a year and a half's worth of the art's subscription and the world cup.
btw its not free in the states, u have to have cable/dish to get espn, abc will be broadcasting 12 matchs.
Posted by: Yazeed Al Harthi | June 8, 2006 7:20 PM
We watched the last World Cup on HRTV on Hotbird. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see it on a European channel this time around.
When I was growing up, we used to watch it on RAI (Italian channel) which was FREE or part of a basic cable plan in Massachusetts.
I wonder why ESPN on Orbit isn't showing it?
Posted by: Stinni | June 8, 2006 9:25 PM
Football is a unique event which has a worldwide popularity. Almost all the countries are waiting to enjoy this world cup. However, it is very shocking news that some countries are going to miss the live broadcast of the world cup matches in spite of having a great popularity in those countries just for high fees of taking broadcasting right. It should not go on as it seems one kind of disparity to a country and Fifa should ensure that every country will have access to enjoy world cup matches live.
Posted by: Razib Ahmed | June 8, 2006 10:53 PM
I’m very exciting for today, If Rooney is fully recovered, of course he should play in the group stages.what do you think? How about tomorrow?
Anyway,Thank you for your blogger about world cup and By the way,I’d like to exchange message with you,and nice weekend
Nickname of team
Angola: Palancas Negras (Black Antelopes)
Argentina: Albicelestes (White-Sky Blues)
Australia: Socceroos
Brazil: Seleçao Canarinho (Canary Selection)
Costa Rica: Ticos (from the local linguistic habit of creating diminutives by adding “tico” instead of “tito” to the end of words)
Croatia: Vatreni (the Fiery Ones)
Czech Republic: Lokomotiva (the Locomotive, rarely used)
Ecuador: La Tri (Tricolors)
England: Three Lions (rarely used)
France: Les Bleus (Blues)
Germany: Die Nationalmannschaft (National Team)
Ghana: Blacks Stars
Iran: Team Melli (National Team)
Italy: Azzurri (Blues)
Ivory Coast: Les Eléphants (Elephants)
Japan: Blues
Mexico: El Tri (Tricolors)
Netherlands: Oranje (the Orange)
Paraguay: La Albirroja (White-Red)
Poland: Bialo-Czerwoni (White-Reds)
Portugal: Seleçao das Quinas (Selection of the Shields)
Saudi Arabia: Al Akhdar (the Green)
Serbia and Montenegro: Plavi (Blues)
South Korea: Reds
Spain: La Furia Roja (the Red Fury)
Sweden: Blagult (Blue-Gold)
Switzerland: Die Eidgenossen (the Oath Comrades)
Togo: Les Eperviers (Sparrow Hawks)
Trinidad and Tobago: Soca Warriors
Tunisia: Les Aigles de Carthage (Carthage Eagles)
Ukraine: Zbirna/Sbornaya (Selection, in Ukrainian and Russian)
United States: None, really, but we’ve been using Yanks and Amerks.
www.fifaworldcup-yahoo.co.uk
Dr Han (Super football fans)
PAIN IN BRISTOL-- www.backachetherapy.co.uk
Posted by: Dr han | June 9, 2006 4:26 PM