StarHub’s head of media business, Lee Soo Hui, said that the Singapore pay-television broadcaster remains hopeful of acquiring rights for the 2014 World Cup national team tournament “at a sensible rate” even though talks with Fifa, football’s global governing body, have dragged on for more than a year.
Lee claimed Fifa’s desire to seek a more lucrative rights fee and the prospect of the tournament’s games kicking off in the middle of the night in Singapore made “negotiations very challenging.”
The Straits Times added that telecommunications company SingTel also remains in talks with Fifa.
The newspaper said there are fears that a late deal could lead to increased rights fees in Singapore and a knock-on impact onto subscription fees. Following a late agreement by the two broadcasters for the 2010 World Cup, an early bird package to watch the tournament cost S$70.62 ($56.02/€40.87) – up from $10.50 for the same package for the 2006 edition.
The report added that the operators have little incentive to increase their offers for the rights considering the introduction of the cross-carriage rule in 2011, which means pay-television operators have to share their premium content.