PBA board to discuss issues on TV coverage

The Philippine Basketball Association board will meet Tuesday to discuss their problem concerning the league’s TV coverage. The special board meeting was called after a series of technical failures marred some of the games’ broadcasts, specifically the doubleheader last Oct. 15 pitting Rain or Shine against Alaska and Talk N Text versus Meralco. SolarTV, the official coveror and marketing partner of the PBA, failed to air the last few minutes of the game between Rain or Shine and Alaska. The station couldn’t also show the Meralco-Talk N Text tussle after its satellite encoder bogged down. “We’re very disappointed. The board of governors is disappointed and the PBA fans are disappointed," said PBA commissioner Atty. Chito Salud. “Failure to broadcast the game is certainly a big disservice to the fans." Cecilia Major, SolarTV’s vice president for marketing services, told GMANews.TV that they requested the PBA to have the Meralco-Talk N Text game be shown Monday, Oct. 18, and apologized for the equipment failure. She gave assurance that the problem won’t happen again. “We came up with a Plan B. Aside from replacing our satellite encoder, we also got a backup, so that unfortunate things that happened before won’t happen again," said Major in a telephone interview. The station’s executive also gave light on SolarTV’s request to the PBA for a 10-day extension to study the provisions of the contract, specifically on whether such technical problems could merit a corresponding penalty. “Our lawyers and their (the PBA) lawyers are studying the contract, which is why we asked for a 10-day extension," said Major. “This issue is a very sensitive matter so we really have to study it carefully." Commissioner Salud said that the failure of SolarTV to air the games live as provided in the contract means that the coveror should be meted a fine of P3 million. “It is stated in the contract. Although they were able to show the games on Monday, I don’t think it could spare them of a fine because those viewers who are waiting to see the games on the regular schedule failed to catch the action because of the equipment failure," said Salud. “This is not about the money. It’s about the coveror’s responsibility to the PBA and its fans. I encourage SolarTV to show more concern to the public and be more responsible," added the second-generation commissioner. Salud, whose father Atty. Rodrigo Salud served as the league’s commissioner from 1988 to 1992, also stated that besides SolarTV’s failure to air portions of the games last Oct. 15, there were other instances when the broadcast suffered technical problems. “There were several more where some of the games were not shown or missed a quarter, and several games where there were fluctuations during the coverage," said Salud.

“But are we going to terminate our contract with SolarTV? Definitely not, and I have told the board about that. We cannot afford to lose them now, being our coveror and our marketing partner. But we want them to find ways to improve on their coverage," added Salud. The younger Salud, who became the PBA’s eighth commissioner after succeeding Renauld ‘Sonny’ Barrios before the start of the 36th season, also wanted SolarTV to give a good impression in its coverage. SolarTV is on its final year as coveror of the PBA. “We want SolarTV to exert more effort in improving the coverage. We want the loud roar of the fans in the coliseum to be heard clearly on television. We want to see better and more camera angles and we want to see sharpness of the games they’re airing when we’re watching on TV," added Salud. Major said that the problems in signal and reception have now been addressed by SolarTV, particularly the broadcast of games played in the provinces where a large number of fans watch the PBA. - OMG, GMANews.TV