Dark horse snags Thai World Cup deal

BANGKOK: An upstart company has taken Thailand's TV industry by

surprise by snatching the country's live broadcast rights to World Cup

2002 and 2006 matches.

In past years, TV Pool of Thailand (TPT), a cartel of free TV stations

established to negotiate jointly for the broadcasting of major sports

and other events of national significance, had enjoyed the right to

decide which stations broadcast which World Cup matches. But Tospak

Communication Agency came from behind and negotiated the sale of the

broadcast rights from the owner, Kirch Media of Germany.

Tospak is a new firm chaired by a former army general and backed

financially by the owner of Chang Beer and Sang Som whiskey. It intends

to buy airtime from TPT to broadcast the games and manage ad sales by

itself.

The 2002 package reportedly cost US$7.5 million, double the cost

for the 1998 event.

With partial sponsorship from Chang Beer and Sang Som, the company

intends to broadcast all 64 matches without commercial interruptions

during gameplay, according to Tospak's managing director Worawoot

Rojanapanich.

Tospak is now negotiating with TPT to decide which stations will

broadcast the matches.

Worawoot denied claims by a Government official that the state-run

Channel 11 would be the core station in broadcasting the 2002

matches.

Meanwhile, Thai TV, a free cable service that is not a member of TPT,

has announced it will be broadcasting some of the matches.

Live World Cup matches will mark a major step forward for Thai TV, which

debuted in October under the operation of World Star TV. Currently, Thai

TV's main source of income is the sale of the antennas required to

receive the service.