Make World Cup free-to-air once more

[makapaaa]

May 19, 2010

Make World Cup free-to-air once more

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THE unprecedented high cost of watching the upcoming World Cup and the plans made by many to give it a miss mean that the number of families getting access to the premier football event of the world will inevitably be reduced.
This, coupled with the rising cost of watching football in general, might actually be detrimental to the development of the sport in Singapore. This is because fewer of our young would be exposed to the sport, and thus fewer of them might fall in love with and take up the sport. As a result, our pool of local talent will be reduced.
I remember falling in love with football when I watched it as a 10-year-old. One of my fondest memories of my childhood is watching football with my dad in the middle of the night. Those days, matches were broadcast on free-to-air television.
Let us not deprive our young of the chance to have ready access to the sport. Let us not deny them the thrill and exhilaration of watching some of the world's best players exhibit their skills on the World Cup stage.
Therefore, may I suggest that future editions of the World Cup be made entirely free-to-air again.
The Government could, through entities such as the Singapore Sports Council or Singapore Pools, pay for the broadcast rights and make the tournament freely available to all Singaporeans.
Johnson Ng

 

[makapaaa]

May 19, 2010

Football fans object to price hike for good reason

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I REFER to Friday's letter by Mr Keith Gerard Tan ("It's time we stopped whining").
Passive acceptance would lead the telcos to believe that they can charge exorbitant prices while football fans willingly hand their cash over, blinded by their passion for the sport.
If this goes on, prices of future World Cup packages will continue to spiral, possibly ending in the demise of the love for the sport in this country because it has become too expensive for the average person to enjoy.
Football fans do understand that prices rise. We are willing to tolerate reasonable increases in subscription fees, but not such a gargantuan increase that could have been avoided altogether. SingTel and StarHub have also refused to disclose official figures of the deal, raising questions about the transparency regarding this issue.
The high demands by Fifa were precipitated by the impulsive bidding wars by SingTel and StarHub to secure "exclusive rights" for the Barclays Premier League. They could have put in joint bids like they did for the World Cup and shared the content, but did not.
This race to outdo each other has allowed Fifa to work out how much it can squeeze out of Singapore telcos to broadcast the World Cup here.
Mr Tan is right to point out that if fans feel that $70 is too much to pay, they are free not to subscribe to the World Cup packages. I can assure you that many Singaporeans, including myself, are doing exactly that. We are prepared to explore alternative means to catch this showpiece event. And no, we are not worried that we will not be able to watch future World Cups due to poor subscription rates. Not if they are going to cost $70.
Gurubaran Subramaniam

 

[makapaaa]

May 19, 2010

In a bind over steep World Cup telecast fees

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THE recent uproar over the World Cup telecast rights and subscription fees has left me in a quandary.
I am in a dilemma as to whether I should pay the $70.62 as quoted by the two telcos.
Given inflation, it would not be reasonable to expect the price to be close to what we had paid four years ago, but it seems ludicrous to have to fork out such an amount. I was equally disappointed when both telcos did not have a second plan for existing customers who have already subscribed to their sports packages. As a subscriber to the English Premier League package, I had hoped that SingTel could at least have made a more attractive offer.
Both telcos are standing firm and will not give any discounts despite the displeasure from fans. So now I have only two weeks to decide whether to boycott the telcos' World Cup offer or succumb to my craving for a dose of football next month.
Lim Suyin (Miss)

 

[SIFU]

I REFER to Friday's letter by Mr Keith Gerard Tan...

keith gerard tan

must be a 'lan cheow lan' with a 'lan cheow face' calling himself such 'lan cheow' name.

 

[Ramseth]

In the olden days, it was SBC (or later TCS) going to FIFA (or its agency) and asked, how much would the broadcasting rights for Singapore cost? FIFA would reply $XXm. SBC/TCS would check projected sponsorship and advertising revenues, then reply, OK we'd take it (usually not all matches package, but selected group stage matches plus all matches from knock-out stage onward).

Then came SCV, later become StarHub Cable, later joined by SingTel MIO. Think they have some agreements to block MediaCorp from providing comprehensive football coverage as in days of old. StarHub controls all cable points and is obliged in return to carry all MediaCorp channels free, with the dismantling of aerial antennaes.

Football became premium paid cable channel. There wasn't too much noise made in the transition as that meant paying more but for even more comprehensive coverage, including mid-week and weekend league games normally not available free anyway.

The trouble came with SingTel MIO joining the fray. First splitting ECL and EPL into two service providers, then now bidding for exclusivity upping the broadcast prices, in the end settled for joint broadcast but stuck with the high bid prices, pass it on to you.

 

[Watchman]

In the fight today for the hard earn dollar .

I never will think for a moment will consumers stand to lose anything .

We will have more meaningful pursues . Like more meaningful family time .

Not sitting together and watching football .

One day those premier league footballers will have to find another job .

 

[ah_phah]

in sinkieland, we all pay and pay, pay until die also still pay. not only we pay, our kids also continue to pay.

 

[tonychat]

forget it lah, sinkies no balls to push their rights. It is only right that they are taken advantage of. Too bad, they deserve it!!

 

[Alamaking]

Singaporeans can dream on watching World Cup for free lah, damn sad.... :oIo::oIo::oIo:

 

[SIFU]

CB Kia tonychat wanna offer u to fuck his ladyboy wife FOC. any takers

 

[ah_phah]

actually i dont know y so many ppl kena squeezed in the balls just bcos sinktel & stuckup setup the cut-throat prices. just boycott & switch to RTM or RCTI lor... their channel is free-to-air.

 

[tonychat]

if so expensive might as well dun broadcast. after dying to get the rights, still pple tulan.

is that how sinkieland is run? always making its pple pissed off. It is very unhealthy to stay in such a place.

 

[tonychat]

if so expensive might as well dun broadcast. after dying to get the rights, still pple tulan.

is that how sinkieland is run? always making its pple pissed off. It is very unhealthy to stay in such a place.

 

[eQuipment]

in sinkieland, the sinkies r made foreigners on our own soil. soon, we'll be called chindapore (china-india-pore)

 

[oli9]

Ever wondered why SINKtel & SHIThub refused to divulge how much they paid FIFA?
Strange that Edward Gayfuck can gloat & claim credit for securing the World Cup. Im waiting to see how many dumbfucks will succumb & pay subscription & let Sinktel & SHIThub win for the day.

 

[toyohon]

Singaporeans can dream on watching World Cup for free lah, damn sad.... :oIo::oIo::oIo:

You'll be even sadder when reminded that Singaporeans are the rare ones still paying TV licence in this world.

 

[wrcboi]

Everything is own by the company....they tax u by every means.......ur phone bill ur tv bill ur grocceries, ur air ticket, ur bus ticket, ur flat, ur taxis, practically everything...nothing will be free....

and this is all approved by 66.66% sporns

 

[jw5]

In the olden days, policemen wore short pants and ministars were paid salaries comparable to leaders of other countries.
There's a reason why they are called "the olden days". It doesn't benefit the policemen and the politicians to recall them.