PBA, SolarTV vow better TV coverage of games

No more intermittent interruptions and a better television coverage. This was the assurance made by SolarTV, the television coveror of the Philippine Basketball Association, to the millions of viewers of Asia’s first professional cage league. “SolarTV executives promised us that there will be no more intermittent interruptions, and that they will do everything to improve their coverage of the games," said PBA commissioner Chito Salud — this after he and some members of the board met with a SolarTV group led by chief operating officer Peter Chanliong. “They were resolute during the meeting. They pointed out the main reasons as to why they failed to show a portion of the games last Oct. 15, as well as the intermittent interruptions," said Salud. “But more than that, they assured us of having better coverage in the days to come." The power amplifier and the satellite encoder had bogged down on separate occasions. This was largely the reason why parts of the games were not shown during the scheduled double-header last Oct. 15. Intermittent interruptions were also experienced during the broadcast of some games, prompting the PBA to raise the issue with SolarTV management. But Tuesday’s meeting was also about the renewal of vows between the league and its coveror. Cecilia Major, SolarTV’s vice president for marketing services, said in a previous interview with GMANews.TV that they’ve already come up with a solution to these problems. “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 executive likewise confirmed that SolarTV asked for a 10-day extension to study the provisions of the contract, specifically on whether or not such technical problems could merit a corresponding penalty. Commissioner Salud earlier asked SolarTV to pay the league P3 million as a penalty for its failure to air the Talk N Text-Meralco game last Oct. 15. “Since SolarTV asked for a 10-working-day extension to study the provisions of the contract, it means that we will have to wait until Nov. 17," said Salud. “We intend to get the P3-million fine. This is not about the money, but it’s more about being responsible in handling the coverage." League keeps faith on coveror But how seriously have the technical problems affected SolarTV’s relationship with the PBA? Salud said the board believes the league’s coveror can do a lot better in its coverage. “We’re still early in the season and I don’t think it would be fair to judge them (SolarTV) now, but the board believes they can do a lot better," said Salud. SolarTV’s contract as coveror of the PBA will expire at the end of the league’s 36th season in August next year. To prove its faith in SolarTV, which also serves as a marketing partner of the PBA, it was also tasked by the league to look for a radio station that can carry the games nationwide. “A lot of people think RJ AM 810 is only strong in Metro Manila, which is the reason why we want SolarTV to look for a radio station that will bring the games nationwide," added Salud. Players now active on social networking sites One of the changes in the coverage is to have all the provincial games shown live every Saturday at 5 p.m. beginning Dec. 4 in Digos City. “Before, the objective of showing the provincial games at 9 p.m. was to target the primetime viewers. But we received feedback from social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter that most of the fans wanted to have the games shown live," said the son of former PBA commissioner Atty. Rodrigo Salud. The PBA is now getting itself more involved in social networking sites, and in fact encouraged their players to have their own Facebook or Twitter accounts. “They should have one," said Salud. “It’s one way of connecting with fans. We encourage them to use Twitter, provided that they will be truthful and candid, but not obscene and confrontational." - KY, GMANews.TV