VietNamNet Bridge – The meeting on the broadcasting right of the Premier League, held by the Association of Vietnamese Paid-TV Service Providers, found a new direction. Accordingly, the service providers have accepted to sit together to find a common voice.

Do not buy at any price

In addition to representatives of the Association of Vietnamese Paid-TV Service Providers, the meeting was attended by representatives of big TV stations in Vietnam like the Vietnam Television (VTV), VTC, Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV), Hanoi Television (HTV) and AVG - An Vien Television.

At the meeting, Mr. Vu Van Hien, Chairman of the Association of Vietnamese Paid-TV Service Providers called broadcasters to search for a common ground on the price of the broadcasting right of the British Premier League.
 
According to Hien, Vietnamese TV stations should not purchase the TV rights of the Premier League at any costs. Some attendants even said that if the price increases by 10 percent compared to the price of 3 years ago, Vietnam should not buy it. Earlier, in its dispatch sent to the Association of Vietnamese Paid-TV Service Providers, VTV also confirmed that it will only accept the price that is similar to the price for the three previous seasons.

At the meeting, Mr. Vu Quang Huy, Deputy Director of VTC offered: domestic broadcasters to cooperate and send their representative to stand out to purchase the broadcasting right of the Premier League to put an end to competition among Vietnamese buyers, which contributes to push the price up.

Huy said: "This is the way for broadcasters to protect themselves and to protect the interests of the fans. Broadcasters should compete with each other by their brain."

Still need time to find a common voice

At the meeting, the representative of AVG - An Vien TV said there is still time for TV service providers in Vietnam to unify their viewpoint and to appoint a representative for the TV right auction of the Premier League.

According to AVG’s, in the bidding dossiers sent to partners, Vietnam is in the package 16, standing independently from other packets. This shows that the organizing committee of the Premier League considers Vietnam a big market.

An important decision was made at the meeting is that TV service providers in Vietnam will continue to work together on October 23 on the TV rights of the Premier League.

In an interview with the Football Newspaper not long ago, Mr. Nguyen Ha Nam - Head of the Editorial Secretariat and the spokesman of VTV, said that VTV is willing to share the broadcasting right of the Premier League with its partners if it wins the bid.

Representatives of other TV stations warmly welcome VTV’s move.
 
Nam Nguyen