End of sports monopoly

Good news for sports fans in Malaysia.

From May 1, all free-to-air TV stations that do not have broadcasting rights for major sporting events of mass appeal, will be able to share the contents obtained by the rights holder.

Information, Communications and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, said the move is to enable all sporting events that involve the interest of the country to receive wide coverage instead of being monopolised by the rights-holder. This move is so that all Malaysians can watch these sporting events that are being televised live. He added that if a specific sporting event was aired by a free-to-air TV station, the contents would be shared by pay TV stations.

Among the sporting events falling under the sharing programme are the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Sea Games, Sukma, Thomas and Uber Cups, All England, BWF Super Series, AFC Asian Cup, Asean Football Federation Cup, Fifa World Cup (semifinals and final) and English Premier League.


Source: The Star..TV stations to share broadcast contents of popular sporting events from May 1