Olympic broadcast rights is a commercial matter: MCCY

SINGAPORE – With Mediacorp securing an eleventh-hour deal for the “live” broadcast rights to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games that left many fans here on tenterhooks, Dr Lee Bee Wah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Nee Soon, said today in Parliament that this could not be left to a “commercial decision”.

Raising the issue of Singapore’s goal to become a sporting nation, Dr Lee pointed out that Singaporeans had almost missed the opportunity to witness swimmer Joseph Schooling’s historic gold medal moment “live” on television due to the protracted negotiations. Dr Lee suggested that the relevant bodies – the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), MediaCorp, cable television operators and telco companies – could work together to negotiate for a deal with the Olympics broadcast rights holders ahead of the Games.

In her response delivered in Parliament today, MCCY Minister Grace Fu stressed that it is a “sound and rational” approach to leave negotiations of broadcast rights to MediaCorp and pay-TV operators.

“I agree with Dr Lee that the live TV broadcast enabled Singaporeans to come together to rally behind our athletes.

“Moments like these bind us one united people, and bring us tremendous national pride. The Government is certainly supportive of live coverage of our Team Singapore athletes, and does provide funding support to Mediacorp. However, we are also mindful of the escalating fees for broadcasting such events. You may have read from media reports that Mediacorp paid about US$2.5 million for broadcast rights to the 2012 London Olympics, and were quoted almost three times that for the Rio Olympics.

“It would be unwise to take the position that we should have live telecasts regardless of cost, and for the Government to underwrite any amount demanded by rights owners. This would be a poor position to take, particularly while the rights are being negotiate," said Ms Fu.