Minister claims Govt. cannot lower World Cup TV fees

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

WTF. Isn't Singtel owned by the Govt? Than why can't they direct SIngtel to lower the price. In fact, one of their directors is Peter Ong, Head of the Civil Service and Perm Sec in MOF,and the whole board and management team are populated by govt. insiders in one form or another. Temasek Holdings, (govt. owned) owns 52% of Singtel shares. This Lawrence Wong is a fucking liar. Anytime the Govt can request the World Cup Fees be lowered because they are the owners and this is a GLC. The govt. just want to make maximum profit over even the little thing SInkies can enjoy, i.e. watching World Cup Live.

Singapore authorities can't slash pay-TV fees for World Cup says minister
Rebecca Hawkes | 15-04-2014

The government is unable to intervene to lower TV subscription fees for World Cup matches because Singapore is a "price-taker not a price-setter" when it comes to acquiring the content from FIFA, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Lawrence Wong told Parliament on Monday (14 April).

In response to widespread criticism over the price local pay-TV operators are asking for World Cup subscriptions, Wong said that the cost of acquiring broadcast rights for the World Cup has risen by between 20% and 40% around the world in the past four years. However, as Singapore is a small market, it has not been able to offset the increase as effectively as some other countries.

"Content owners such as FIFA are not obligated to sell their content at a price they do not agree with. It is not something we welcome, but on this issue, we are unfortunately a price-taker, not a price-setter," Wong said.

In March 2014, SingTel announced it had won the country's exclusive broadcast rights for the World Cup finals, which kick off in Brazil on 12 June 2014. Due to the Media Development Authority (MDA)'s cross-carriage rule, rival cable network StarHub will also be able to show the matches.

Wong, who is also Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information, said the cross-carriage policy would be looked at as part of a larger Media Market Conduct Code review later in 2014. Regulation will form part of the remit but only with a cost-benefit analysis applied, he said.

Wong also told Parliament that the MDA could look into regulation to ensure contracts between content providers and telcos are signed at least 12 months before major events such as the FIFA World Cup, in case that would provide more advertising or sponsorship opportunities to offset subscription fees.

Pay-TV operators SingTel and StarHub will offer all 64 matches for a standalone subscription fee of S$112.35 (US$89) up from S$88 (US$70.20) in 2010. Existing SingTel mioTV subscribers can catch it for free if they extend their subscription to selected football packages for 24 months.

Four matches (the opener, semi-finals and finals) will also be shown free-to-air on MediaCorp in Singapore, as they form part of the MDA's anti-siphoning list.

SingTel has not disclosed how much it paid to acquire the rights from FIFA for this year's World Cup finals. In 2010, SingTel and StarHub shared the rights deal for a reported S$21million (US$16.75 million).


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