Speaking at the GetActive! Singapore launch over the weekend, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu said that the Olympics won’t be shown live in Singapore because MediaCorp made a decision in its commercial interest.
Commenting on why Singaporeans will only get to watch delayed telecasts of the games, Ms Fu said:
“That’s something for the rights owner as well as the broadcasters to decide – it’s a commercial decision.”
National broadcaster Mediacorp and Olympics broadcast rights holder Dentsu only managed to strike a deal for delayed telecasts of the Olympics here.
The deal-breaker was costs.
Mediacorp apparently refused to pay US$6 million to secure the rights for live broadcasts of the events.
That means Singaporeans won’t get to see the Rio 2016 live action featuring our local athletes such as swimming hotshot Joseph Schooling, sailor Elizabeth Yin, and shuttler Derek Wong.
Meanwhile, other countries in the region will get to enjoy live telecasts.
Hong Kong footed the US$25 million to secure the right,s while Thailand paid US$17 million and Malaysia forked out about US$10 million.
Besides Mediacorp, the Singapore government has come under fire for refusing to help pay for the live broadcast rights.
This, especially since it has shown it has money to splurge on sports such as the S$324 million spent on hosting the SEA Games last year.
