Melita wins UEFA broadcasting rights

Mr. M.Debono thanks for your input, in fact that is what I usually do! But my question was addressed to our National TV station, since on the Italian stations we view, primarily, those matches involving Italian clubs. Therefore the Local Station might feature matches involving other clubs.

@ l Galea

Yes Melita is the only Cable TV provider. So what.? It is not the only digital TV provider. Go also provides a digital service, in direct competition with Melita. It is not the ONLY TV service provider One, Net TV, the Public Broadcasting Services ( god bless their cotton socks) all have a licence to transmit. and provide a service. I do not know whether they have or have not bid for the rights. Perhaps you should ask them.

Don't hold your breath, though, that some one else will be mad enough to start another cable service.

If you think that Melita are abusing of a monopolistic situation then you should take your case to the Malta Communications Authority. God knows they do little enough to protect the consumer as it is.

But my question is how does Mr/Ms Galea expect any service provider, to make good for the costs of the rights. Perhaps we should have thought of this when we allowed government to effectively dismantle and neuter PBS, and allow political parties to own their own TV stations, thus diluting the advertising pool nd therefore teh buying in potential of our public service.

Since in Malta it is possible to watch Italian channels, you can watch the one free match per matchday on the RAI network.

"The successful conclusion of these negotiations enables Melita to continue delivering live and exclusive coverage of every UEFA competition on 8 Melita Sports channels...etc.

It does not say that after the bidding Melita was able to acquire the rights; there is a difference which in my opinion the only source to verify this is the TV station companies.
As regard to Matches on the free channel. UEFA league award: rights In territories which are members of the European Union, at least one match every Matchday (a Matchday being comprised of both the Tuesday and Wednesday night) must be broadcast on a free TV channel Typically in EU territories, the free TV broadcaster (which cannot be a commercial-free channel) will be awarded the right to the ‘1st pick’ of matches either over the entire Matchday or for a single night.

It means we are entitled to view one match on Tuesday & Wednesday. I expect that TVM should clarify this query.

@cgatt
Isn't Melita the only cable television provider?

Doesn't ONE service provider mean a monopoly?

@Galea and @ Cassar

You really should get your facts right. There is no monopoly, this is merely a case of the highest bidder winning. the UEFA games are a money making institutions. how welse do you think the players get paid obscene amounts.

In italy rights for certain matches were given to one TV network, others to another, so you woudl have to but services from both to see the whole league. how is that preferable?

@Mr Debono
Hellooo! wake up and smell the roses. This is not a case of you simply watching sports. Football is not about sport. its about money. Why do you think so many millionaires are getting involved? if you want to watch sport, watch Eurosport or Rai Sport piu

Which monopoly are you on about? The report mentions a competitive bid, so I gather that GO have also submitted their bid, but lost to Melita's better proposal. Very likely, the rights' owners would also consider the subscriber base factor - which Pay TV platfom has the biggest household penetration? In Malta's case, it's Melita by far.

Another point. These riGhts would probably cost hundreds of thousands, therefore I doubt that our free-to-air stations can ever sustain that investment.

I believe that some years back, a particular TV platform in Belgium had acquired similar rights and never bothered broadcasting the matches due to capacity limitations. So at least, football fans like myself now have peace of mind until 2012.

@JOhn FenecH -
the report mentions a "level of exposure on the basic tier channels" - so it seems yes, we will also be able to watch some games on the normal packages.

Following are the UEFA rights for broadcast the Champions league:

The UEFA Champions League rights are awarded directly by UEFA to broadcasters on a territory-by-territory (country-by-country) basis, and in all territories a pay television broadcaster holds the majority, if not all, the rights. In territories which are members of the European Union, at least one match every Matchday (a Matchday being comprised of both the Tuesday and Wednesday night) must be broadcast on a free TV channel. Typically in EU territories, the free TV broadcaster (which cannot be a commercial-free channel) will be awarded the right to the ‘1st pick’ of matches either over the entire Matchday or for a single night. This means that the free TV broadcaster is given priority over the pay TV broadcaster in determining which match they will be broadcasting, so in effect the free TV broadcaster will be able to pick the match which it perceives to be most attractive to their audience. Both the free and pay channels typically carry the final.

My questions are did the other TV stations bid to broadcast the tournaments? And are we entitled to view matches on a free TV channel, that being the national channel?

Weren't monopolies supposed to be done away with?

It is cheaper to watch a game in a pub with close friends or work collegues, rather than paying through the nose. Think positive, it is also a way of not becoming couch-potato .. and with a little bit of socialising!!! TV, in a way, blocks you from "socialising". Maybe, a psycologist could tackle this subject for us, at a later stage?!?!? :)))

I agree with Ms Cassar. I can barely afford the Lm9 monthly charge imposed by Melita simply for watching sports. What's more, I can do nothing about it because they have a monopoly in the market.

I wonder when the Consumer Affairs Directorate wakes up and tackles this unfair practice.

Abroad, no one is given exclusive rights to broadcast such events. In Italy, for example, both Sky which operate via satellite, and Mediaset Premium which operate via digital terrestrial, have rights to broadcast Champions League games. So why have Melita effectively been allowed to block the competition for the next three years? I doubt that GO would not have been interested in acquiring them too.

If UEFA endorses such monopolistic practices in which the consumer is made to carry the burden, then maybe it too should be taken to task by the European Commission and eventually the European Court of Justice.