5 - 11 April 2001
Issue No.528
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 5 - 11 April 2001 Issue No.528 |
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Half-time
Air war
Multi-million dollar contracts are not being negotiated on the fields and courts alone. Tons of money can be made through the air waves as well. Like in all sports, though, there are losers in bidding wars and Egypt is quickly losing its share of the fight.
The most recent setback was in the African under-20 football championship in Ethiopia. The Arab satellite TV station ART bought the rights to broadcast the tournament, leaving Egyptians, whose country was participating and in fact reached the semi-final, out in the cold, unable to follow the games except by listening to the play-by-play on the radio.
In 1999 came the country's first introduction to television broadcasting rights but this first taste of on-air commercialism did not go down well at all with Egyptians. ART deprived local viewers from watching the intercontinental soccer championship in Mexico which Egypt was playing in for the first time.
Two problems arise here: unable to bid higher than ART, Egyptian TV did not air these championships to viewers who, in turn, do not have access to ART.
In the Western hemisphere, public TV networks are forever fighting for rights to air showpieces like the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, baseball's World Series, American college and professional football and any of tennis' four Grand Slams. But in the end the viewer is always the winner, no matter which stations emerge empty-handed. Cable TV brought a few bumps to what had been a smooth and comfortable ride for the viewer. But what the TV spectator was forced to pay for, such as heavyweight boxing, was a minor inconvenience when compared to the dozens of other sporting delights he could follow free of charge.
These bumps on the Western road, however, are cavernous potholes in Egypt. The majority of Egyptians are far from affluent. Most people in this country do not have either cable or satellite dishes; they are forced to depend almost entirely on public television's eight local channels for their viewing fare.
Put together, these factors add up to a public with modest means and modest goals, wanting just to watch football on TV. To this public, though, a favourite pastime is being severely undercut by unrelenting and unforgiving market forces.
ART demanded a huge sum from Egyptian TV to broadcast the under-20 tournament live. It requested a smaller yet still substantial $30,000 figure to tape the matches and broadcast them later in the day. Egyptian TV's answer was thanks, but no thanks. Other stations have asked for LE5 million to air this summer's World Club football championship and a whopping LE160 million for the 2002 World Cup. Still others are seeking big-time money for relatively minor encounters, like LE600,000 to broadcast Egypt playing Côte D'Ivoire in an African qualifying group that Egypt has just about sewn up.
It would be unrealistic to ask for government support in this matter, given economic difficulties. But Abdel-Rahman Hafez, president of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, recently told a press briefing that Egyptian TV would not stand still, that it was seriously negotiating to either reduce rates or share broadcasting rights with other countries.
ART has bought the rights to many future international sporting and other events. That is the station's prerogative. But that is scant solace to many Egyptians who might be forced to start dusting off their transistor radios.
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