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.

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