Sport kicks off week of ABU General Assembly in Vietnam
Discussions on the spiralling cost of television broadcasting rights for major sporting events kicked off the Asia-Pacific broadcasting industry’s most important event of the year.
A meeting of the ABU Sports Group and a forum on women in the media on 23 October 2013 launched a week of workshops, seminars and meetings leading up to the 50th ABU General Assembly in Hanoi, Vietnam.
More than 680 delegates registered for the annual event, which this year runs from 23-29 October, centred on the Melia Hotel, Hanoi.
One of the first sessions was a meeting of the ABU Sports Group, where the rising cost of buying sports rights was a major issue.
ABU’s Senior Rights Negotiator Mr Jaeyong Chung, and Mr Cai Yanjiang, Senior Sports Producer at ABU, briefed members on the complex broadcast rights negotiations that were taking place for the Asian Games and the Winter and Summer Olympics.
Members said they were facing escalating costs for broadcast rights and would have to make some critical decisions soon on how to move forward.
Members were briefed on the progress of production operations for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the Incheon Asian Games, and there was welcome news that the ABU had come to a rights agreement with the Commonwealth Games Federation for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia.
This year’s General Assembly is hosted by VTV, who were praised by the ABU as “able and terrific hosts”.
“They have fully supported all our activities and have spared no resources to ensure a successful event,” said ABU Secretary-General Dr Javad Mottaghi.
Dr Mottaghi also praised the exhibitors showcasing some of the world’s most leading-edge content and technologies, with major regional broadcasters such as Korean Broadcasting System and NHK Japan demonstrating the latest in high definition television content.
The second day of events will see the Sports Group meeting continue, together with meetings of the Technical Bureau, Radio Working Party and Programme Committee, as well as a high level forum jointly run by the ABU, FES and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).