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.
On the sidelines of the press conference introducing the VTV International Women's Volleyball Tournament - Hoa Sen Plastic Pipe Cup 2018, Mr. Phan Ngoc Tien, Head of Sports Program Production Department - VTV, said: "We could not buy the copyright of ASIAD 2018 because the partner offered too high a price. After VTV bought the copyright of World Cup 2018, maybe the foreign partner will have a different view of VTV's financial capacity."
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| It is likely that Vietnamese sports fans will not be able to watch live coverage of the 2018 ASIAD because the television copyright price is too high. |
The exact price for VTV to buy the copyright of the 2018 World Cup has not been disclosed, but many sources say that this is the most expensive price VTV has had to pay in all of its World Cup copyright purchases so far, estimated at about 15 million USD, and in the deal to buy the copyright of the 2018 World Cup, VTV received support from 2 leading economic groups in Vietnam.
Mr. Tien also said that VTV is not sure about the possibility of getting the copyright for ASIAD 2018 at the last minute, because currently there is no sign that the unit holding the copyright for the Asian Games in Vietnam will reduce the asking price to VTV, and the prerequisite for VTV to be able to negotiate is that the partner must change the previously offered price.
However, whether VTV buys the copyright for ASIAD 2018 at the last minute or not, according to Mr. Tien, VTV will send to Indonesia the largest production team compared to previous ASIADs to work.
VTV's announcement on the afternoon of July 30 said that the task of this production team is "in addition to making news, reports, and interviews, outstanding images of Vietnamese athletes in competitions will also be recorded by VTV reporters and broadcast promptly on channels".
According to Mr. Tien, if possible, VTV reporters will film the sports or competitions that VTV reporters are allowed to produce.
After the success of the Vietnam U23 team at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship and the accompanying fever of admiration from Vietnamese audiences, the price of television copyright for regional and continental football tournaments with the participation of the Vietnam National Team has been pushed to sky-high levels, such as the case of the 2018 ASIAD, which was almost free, now costs several million USD, or the copyright for the 2018 AFF Cup is said to have been priced at up to 4-5 million USD.
However, ASIAD is not a significant sporting event like the World Cup, so VTV has to make efforts to maintain negotiations until the last minute to buy the television rights.
Not only that, in the current economic conditions, if spending several million USD to buy the copyright of ASIAD, the possibility of VTV recovering the cost through advertising channels is almost zero. Therefore, VTV finally decided not to negotiate to buy the copyright of ASIAD 2018.
According to research, VSTV, the television unit that owns the K+ brand and is often involved in television copyright deals for international sporting events with the participation of the Vietnam National Team, currently seems to have no plans to negotiate to buy the copyright for ASIAD 2018.
