TVB’s J2 channel was only allowed to broadcast live the World Cup opening match between South Africa and Mexico that took place back on June 11th. The broadcast was able to garner average ratings of 5 points, with a peak of 6 points – which, though low, still managed to place TVB at the top of the ratings chart among the local television stations that aired the match that night. I-Cable’s broadcast of the opening match only garnered average ratings of 2.5 points, with a peak of 3 points.
TVB’s Director of External Affairs Tsang Sing Ming indicated that they received 3 complaints related to the 2010 Soccer Fever program. The complaints were as follows: 1) during the discussions of the matches, the hosts and special guests were disorganized and all talking at once, often causing confusion; 2) the hosts were reading directly from a script and actually did not know what they were talking about; and 3) TVB was not able to provide actual footage of the pivotal ‘point-scoring’ moments of the matches. Tsang Sing Ming responded: “We will relay the comments regarding the hosting to the production team – the hosts are new and there is room for improvement. As far as the complaint about not being able to provide actual footage of the matches, we [TVB] have already done everything we can – the simulated images that we are currently using are already costing us close to 7 figures. Also, we are the only television station in Hong Kong that sent an actual team over to South Africa to report on the World Cup event.”
In addition, the HK Broadcasting Authority received 17 complaints regarding overall World Cup coverage in the region, with majority of the complaints revolving around the “free” television stations (TVB and ATV) not being able to broadcast World Cup matches. There were also complaints about i-Cable’s footage being blurry and unclear.
Hacken Lee defends TVB’s World Cup coverage
Super soccer fan Hacken Lee has been watching the World Cup with his eldest son Ryan – he even bought a specially endorsed World Cup soccer ball for his son to “practice” his soccer-playing skills.
Asked about the criticism of TVB’s 2010 Soccer Fever as being ‘nonsense’ and ‘boring’, Hacken helped to defend TVB by saying: “Actually, it’s hard for TVB because they don’t have broadcasting rights for the World Cup, so they won’t have footage of the matches to air. I’m pretty sure they probably spent a lot of money already on the simulated images that they’ve been using – hope the audiences will understand!” With regard to the lack of ‘professional’ sports commentators on the program, Hacken replied: “Well, there isn’t too much that can be done, as Mr. Lam and Mr. Ng have both passed away.” [TN: Ng Fong Wing and Lam Sheung Yee were both well-respected sports commentators who passed away in 2008 and 2009 respectively].
When asked whether he will return to TVB to ‘save’ their World Cup coverage, Hacken said: “That’s not my decision to make – it all depends upon when Universal’s management is able to come to agreement with TVB over the royalties dispute.”
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