Thai PM “will try his best” to secure free World Cup live broadcasts

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul promised today that the government will do its best to ensure Thai people can watch the world’s most popular football tournament, but stopped short of confirming whether the matches will be broadcast free to air.

The tournament runs from June 11 to July 19.

Anutin said the Cabinet has assigned the Public Relations Department (PRD) to coordinate with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to work out details on acquiring the rights to broadcast the matches live and determine the cost involved.

Meanwhile, NBTC chairman Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck said he had earlier discussed the purchase of the live broadcast rights from FIFA with the prime minister, and it was agreed that the PRD would initially be responsible for drawing up a plan for submission to the NBTC.

He said he has no idea how much funding will be needed to secure the broadcast rights until the PRD finalises its proposal.

NBTC acting secretary-general Trairat Viriyasirikul, meanwhile, said that if the government wants the NBTC to help cover the cost of acquiring the rights, the issue will have to be decided by the NBTC board.

A well-informed NBTC source said that if the funding required is only a few hundred million baht, the board would probably have no objection.

If a larger amount is needed, however, the board would have to assess whether the spending would be worthwhile and in the public interest.

The fee for the live broadcast rights is estimated at between 1.5 billion and 1.6 billion baht for Thailand.

The NBTC has excluded World Cup broadcasts from the “Must Have” rule, meaning the rights holder is not required to air the matches on free-to-air platforms.

The source also said board members would be reluctant if the government asked the NBTC to shoulder the cost of the broadcast rights, noting that during the last World Cup, the NBTC paid 600 million baht for the rights, resulting in disputes with the Sports Authority of Thailand and several private sponsors that have yet to be resolved.