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January 18th 2006, less than a week into the announcement that Melita Cable plc acquired the exclusive TV rights to broadcast the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the topic has raised considerable interest. Amongst those who have shown particular interest is Dr. Jeffrey Pullicino Orland.
After having read the press contributions on this topic, Melita Cable would like to clarify the position. The facts are the following: -
Over the past 6 months Melita Cable has been receiving enquiries regarding the broadcasting of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. There was strong concern from the public at large that the 2006 FIFA World Cup would not be available to the Maltese public, given that RAI’s signal will be encrypted and that there seemed to be no interest from any of the local TV stations to acquire the rights.
On the basis of the foregoing, Melita Cable, as the leading provider of international sports content in Malta, decided to acquire the TV rights of the 2006 FIFA World Cup to ensure that it meets the Maltese public’s strong demand for this event.
The process for the acquisition of the rights for the 2006 FIFA World Cup was very transparent and was open to any network provider and broadcaster in the territory. The award of the rights to the 2006 FIFA World Cup is dependent on a number of criteria, including subscriber base and reach.
We have ensured that football enthusiasts in Malta will have a platform on which they can enjoy what will be the most widely viewed sporting event of 2006. It should be noted that nearly 105,000 households and commercial outlets, such as bars, can access the 2006 FIFA World Cup this summer. Had Melita not invested in this event it is highly probable that the vast majority of Maltese households would not have had the opportunity to access the event.
The TV rights for the 2006 FIFA World Cup come to Melita Cable at a substantial cost. “We are very surprised with Dr. Pullicino Orland’s comments regarding the 2006 FIFA World Cup transmission on our Sports Channels” commented Franco de Gabriele – Head Sales and Marketing of Melita Cable plc. “The TV rights for this event were available to other network operators and broadcasters in Malta. We would have been probably equally satisfied had a local free TV station (such as PBS) acquired the rights for the event. This would have meant that all our subscribers would automatically have had access to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, with the cost being borne by the station. The reality, however, is that the market has changed considerably since the launch of competing platforms and Melita Cable wanted to ensure that the 105,000 households connected to our network have access to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. A majority of the Maltese public would have been deprived of the possibility to watch the 2006 FIFA World Cup in their homes had any competing networks acquired the rights to this event,” continued Mr. de Gabriele.
With reference to the “Television without Frontiers Directive” and the Maltese Broadcasting Act cited by Dr. Pullicino Orland it is pertinent to note the following: -
The Broadcasting Authority has authority to regulate the transmission of events of major importance for society and to order that such events be transmitted via live coverage or deferred coverage on free television accessible to the general public;
This provision is based on the Council of Europe’s European Convention on Transfrontier Television;
The Broadcasting Authority published Legal Notice 806 of 2001 which superseded the previous Legal Notice published in 2000.
The FIFA World Cup finals have been defined by the Broadcasting Authority as an event of major importance for society.
In order to comply with the law, Melita Cable will sub-license the opening game, both semi-finals and final to a free TV broadcaster for the live broadcast of these four matches. Moreover Melita Cable will provide a free TV broadcaster with the rights to at least 20 minutes of each game on a deferred basis. The fact that Melita Cable will sub-license its rights in the above-mentioned manner will ensure that those members of the public who do not choose to have access to Melita’s sport content will still have the possibility of following the most important moments of the event live on free TV, and the remainder of the tournament on deferred coverage, also on free television, in conformity with the Council of Europe’s European Convention on Transfrontier Television.
“Melita Cable understands that the 2006 FIFA World Cup is an event viewed like no other. As such, we will do our utmost to provide the viewing public at large, and not just our subscriber base, with the opportunity to enjoy the highlights of this unique event. However, for those to whom watching the event in its entirety and live is essential, Melita has ensured that this possibility is available as part of our premium sports channel line up” added Franco de Gabriele.
With regard to the transmission of 25 games on the RAI channels, it is significant to point out that contrary to what may be perceived through Dr. Pullicino Orland’s speech in parliament and as reported in the local press, the fact of the matter is that RAI had, through an agreement signed in 2001, acquired the live Free-TV rights to broadcast, in Italy, one match a day (25 matches in total) for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In addition, Sky Italia confirmed in May 2005 that it had acquired the exclusive pay TV rights for all 64 matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Of these matches SKY will have the right to broadcast 39 matches live exclusively on pay TV. The situation in Malta is considerably different in that no local free TV broadcaster showed a serious interest in acquiring the rights for the event.
Mr. de Gabriele commented that RAI have rights to broadcast a game a day in the Italian territory. As such they are bound to encrypt their signal to prevent the re-transmission of the games by foreign network operators.
The concern of the Maltese public was not without basis. There was a major risk that the 2006 FIFA World Cup would not have been broadcasted in Malta. The people have spoken and we have acted in their best interests. Happily, the nightmare scenario has been averted thanks to Melita Cable’s investment.
© Copyright 2005 - MaltaMedia Online Network
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