NBTC plan for public funding of World Cup broadcasts slammed
Media academics are vociferously objecting to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC)’s decision to use public funds to purchase 2022 Fifa World Cup broadcasting rights.
Academics from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Communication Arts and Thammasat University’s Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communications called a press conference on Tuesday to make their objections public. The conference was held on the Chulalongkorn University campus.
In a joint statement, the academics pointed out that the broadcasting rights will cost US$42 million (1.6 billion baht) and to fund this, NBTC would have to dip into the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund for Public Interest (BTFP).
However, they said, BTFP’s purpose is to give a specific group of people, especially the disabled, elderly and the underprivileged, equal access to broadcasts and telecommunications. The fund is also meant to be used in promoting as well as supporting development and research in this field.
The statement also clarified that BTFP is divided into two accounts. The first is to fund the above-mentioned purposes, while the second is to be spent on the Universal Service Obligation roadmap providing everybody equal access.
NBTC had previously taken 240 million baht from the fund to finance the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT)’s purchase of broadcasting rights for the 2020 Summer Olympics, the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics (postponed from 2022) and the 2022 Asian Games.
SAT was eligible for this funding because Thai athletes participated in these competitions, which covered a large variety of sports.
However, the academics said the 2022 World Cup is only geared at football fans and the national team is not competing in this tournament, so it does not fall within the purview of BTFP.
Moreover, they said, NBTC published its resolution to withdraw funds from BTFP on April 28 and declared its first account had 3.44 billion baht and the second had 804.27 million baht.
However, the academics said later resolutions by the new NBTC board were not published on the NBTC website. Also, Isra News Agency quoted an NBTC source on November 3 as saying that BTFP only had about 2 billion baht left.
Hence, the academics said, if 1.6 billion baht is used up to purchase the broadcasting rights, then there will be little left for the fund’s actual purpose.
Assoc Prof Preeda Akarachantaechote, dean of Chulalongkorn’s Faculty of Communication Arts, said instead of draining BTFP, related organisations should jointly work on finding outside funding sources.
As a long-term solution, he suggested the authorities also review the “must have/must carry” rule, which stipulates that all matches are broadcast on terrestrial TV channels.
Asst Prof Munyat Akarachantaechote, Chula’s head of the Mass Communications Department, said if NBTC insists on draining the fund, then it should reveal its financial status and explain how this purchase will affect its plans and projects for next year.
The NBTC executive board is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to decide on SAT’s request for funds to buy broadcasting rights.
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