Showtime and ART in turf wars
Live broadcasts of the English Premiership for the next three seasons will be shown exclusively on Showtime, the pay-TV operator confirmed last week, as it was keen to dismiss competition from its rival Arab Radio & Television (ART).
"Showtime Arabia... is the only network that is able to broadcast live games," said Phil Lines, head of International Broadcasting and Media Operations at The Premier League.
"No other broadcaster in the region has the rights to air any of the Premier League games live or even delayed on the same day. It is important to clarify that Club Channels will not be showing any live matches nor will they be able to show delayed broadcasts of matches on the same day that they are played."
However, ART has said that it will broadcast some of the Premiership games one day later on its sports channel.
ART is also seeking to retain its subscribers by broadcasting regional games. It has already acquired the broadcast rights for the 2007/2008 Saudi Football League and is currently bidding for the UAE League.
"The Saudi League is very expensive to broadcast but we believe that this will be worth it as this is what our customers want," claimed Adnan Hamad Al Hamadi, regional chairman of ART.
Showtime's CEO, Marc-Antoine d' Halluin, however, was skeptical about the potential of regional games to attract large audiences. He has stated that few sporting competitions had the power that the English Premier League wielded over audiences, and defended the huge price Showtime has paid to secure the rights to the Premiership. "It is completely worth it as it is one of the only sporting competitions that drives extensive viewing figures," commented d'Halluin.
Showtime plans to show all of the games live with Arabic and English commentary and live studio analysis with some of the best football commentators from the region.
The pay-TV operator recently announced that Rob McCaffrey would be the channel's main English presenter. McCaffrey, who is one of the UK's Sky Sports most famous personalities and known for his witty on-screen persona, will relocate to Dubai for his new job and will be joined in a new purpose-built studio by familiar UAE TV football pundit, and ex-Celtic star Derek Whyte.
Source:
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/index.php?option=co m_content&view=article&id=14274&Itemid =1
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