World Cup games ruling annoys Smash TV

Smash TV is at loggerheads with the Broadcasting Authority after the regulator ruled that eight World Cup matches must be screened on a local terrestrial television station.

Smash Communications Ltd, the company that runs Smash TV, yesterday filed a judicial protest against Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, the BA and its chief executive, Kevin Aquilina, saying the authority's decision could disrupt a commercial agreement it has with Melita Cable.

Under the agreement, Smash TV may screen replays of all World Cup matches and also provide live coverage of the opening game, the semi-finals and the final.

However, the authority is insisting that the World Cup final, the two semi-finals and the play-off for third place must reach a wide audience. It has expressed concern that Smash TV has only limited coverage and it therefore ordered Melita Cable to make arrangements with another terrestrial channel to air these matches.

In the judicial protest, Smash Communications Ltd said it was managing, although with difficulties, to transmit its signal all over Malta and Gozo.

When asked why the Prime Minister was listed in the judicial protest, Smash Communications Ltd owner Joe Baldacchino said Dr Gonzi had asked the Broadcasting Authority to investigate the issue.

When contacted, Melita Cable's head of sales and marketing, Franco de Gabriele, said it was still too early to comment on the authority's ruling, since it was a five-page document which the company only received late on Tuesday afternoon.

"We need to look at the implications of this ruling," he said.

He also refused to give any comments on the issue surrounding Smash TV. He pointed out that 21 matches, including the opening game, would be available to all Melita Cable subscribers over the Weather and Information Channel - channel four on analogue and 106 on digital.

The authority's decision was described by Labour MEP Joseph Muscat, who raised the issue twice in the European Parliament, as a "small but positive step".

"Nevertheless, there are more crucial issues on the way consumers are being treated in the digital switchover that must be tackled," he said.

According to Infront Sport and Media, which is handling sales of the broadcast rights of World Cup 2006, the tournament will be watched by an estimated cumulative audience of over 32 billion, over 10 per cent more than in 2002.