Why Vietnam can't buy the copyright of Asiad 2018
(Baonghean.vn) - Vietnam is the only country in Asia that has not yet had the broadcasting rights to ASIAD. Is the reason due to the copyright owner or other reasons?
In an announcement broadcast on the evening of July 30, Vietnam Television (VTV) said that it "could not negotiate the purchase of the copyright for ASIAD 2018" because its partner KjsmWorld Corp (headquartered in Korea, the unit that bought it from the Asian Games organizing committee) offered too high a price. In recent days, a rumor that Vietnam owned the copyright for Asiad has also been circulating, but VTV has denied the above information.
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| Vietnamese fans can only follow the Asiad through the press. Photo: VNF |
Firstly, the copyright of sports programs can only increase year by year without any sign of decreasing, especially for countries with special needs and interests in football like Vietnam.
Since the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, the appeal of the Vietnamese men’s football teams has been huge and therefore the need for TV stations to serve their audiences has also increased. However, the revenue from advertising cannot compensate for the sky-high copyright fees. It can be said that the price of the copyright package depends on the attractiveness of the tournament.
According to the latest sharing from commentator Trinh Long Vu, Chief Editor of Vietnam Cable Television, the Asiad copyright package is only sold as a whole set of sports and not divided into smaller packages. This year's price is dozens of times higher than last year, so Vietnam has almost no hope at the last minute.
The reason for the increase in copyright prices is not only due to user preferences but also to improved image quality and technology. Therefore, unlike the 2018 World Cup, a tournament like the Asiad is difficult to rely on a sponsor or any individual or business to accompany it.
In case of spending too much money to buy the copyright of Asiad, the stations will face a big risk not only economically but also may have their broadcasting terminated because it is difficult to protect copyright domestically.
Once Vietnam cannot buy the copyright, any international or regional TV channel will not broadcast the Asiad in Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnamese fans have started to look for “illegal” broadcasts or Sopcast, and websites from abroad.
Schedule of the Vietnam Olympic Team in the group stage of ASIAD 18
August 14 - 4:00 p.m.: Vietnam Olympics - Pakistan Olympics
August 16 - 19:00: Vietnam Olympics - Nepal Olympics
August 19 - 4:00 p.m.: Vietnam Olympics - Japan Olympics
VTV is not sure to have the copyright for ASIAD 2018 at the last minute.
Responding to a question regarding VTV's decision not to negotiate to buy the copyright for the 2018 Asian Games (also known as ASIAD 2018), a VTV representative said that the copyright holder may have seen that VTV bought the copyright for the 2018 World Cup at a high price, so they decided to raise the price for the copyright for the 2018 ASIAD.