Dinesh Sukhija was willing to drop some cash to watch the Cricket World Cup in style. He even bought a 32-inch flat screen HD TV to honour the occasion.
But Sukhija didn’t realize at the time that it would cost nearly $200 extra just to get a signal — a standard-definition signal, at that — for the month-and-a-half-long tournament, which starts on Saturday and is being co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
“They think they can just dish out whatever they want to Canadian viewers,” the disgruntled 33-year-old IT expert said of the Asia Television Network, which owns the Canadian rights to the broadcast, and sets the price.
ATN’s signal is distributed by cable providers such as Rogers, Bell, Shaw and Telus.
Willow TV, an internet-based provider from the U.S., is offering access to all of the World Cup games in HD for $129 U.S. But the site has blocked Canadian users, like Sukhija, from signing up.
“It’s take it or leave it,” Sukhija said of the ATN package.
Prakash Naidoo, vice-president and general manager of ATN, defends the cost, which is $10 more than the station charged during the 2007 World Cup.
“It’s economy of scale. Costs go up all the time,” Naidoo said. “We tried to minimize the increase.”
Naidoo refused to speculate on how many Canadians will watch the World Cup through the station’s signal, but acknowledged that the demand for the sport is growing, especially in HD.
“Going forward we are looking at HD possibilities,” he said. “Unfortunately, we were not able to put it into operation for this particular stream.”
Still, he maintains there is nothing the station can do about the cost. Both Rogers and Bell are subsidizing discounts for new subscribers, Naidoo confirmed. But regular, loyal customers are stuck with the $199 fee.
Ranjit Saini, president of Cricket Canada, says the price of watching the sport’s premier event is too high and, ultimately, self-defeating. “I protest, strongly protest, the cost of the broadcast,” he said.
“With high costs there is less accessibility — and less people watching it,” Saini said over the phone from Delhi, en route to join the Canadian team for the opening ceremonies in Bangladesh. “There’s not a lot of people out there with that kind of money.”
Saini stressed that he doesn’t know the specifics of the costs ATN had to incur to secure the live feed. And he acknowledged that the package offers a plethora of games, beyond just the Canadian team. But much of that cost could be reduced through a greater effort to secure more sponsorship, he said.
Naidoo admits ATN secured less sponsorship for the 2011 World Cup than it did for the 2007 tournament.
“They’re just robbing people of this event,” said Sukhija, who recently started a Facebook group to protest ATN’s “monopoly” of the Cricket World Cup.
Still, he’s planning to pay the $199.
“I have no option,” he said. “And they know that.”
But Sukhija didn’t realize at the time that it would cost nearly $200 extra just to get a signal — a standard-definition signal, at that — for the month-and-a-half-long tournament, which starts on Saturday and is being co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
“They think they can just dish out whatever they want to Canadian viewers,” the disgruntled 33-year-old IT expert said of the Asia Television Network, which owns the Canadian rights to the broadcast, and sets the price.
ATN’s signal is distributed by cable providers such as Rogers, Bell, Shaw and Telus.
Willow TV, an internet-based provider from the U.S., is offering access to all of the World Cup games in HD for $129 U.S. But the site has blocked Canadian users, like Sukhija, from signing up.
“It’s take it or leave it,” Sukhija said of the ATN package.
Prakash Naidoo, vice-president and general manager of ATN, defends the cost, which is $10 more than the station charged during the 2007 World Cup.
“It’s economy of scale. Costs go up all the time,” Naidoo said. “We tried to minimize the increase.”
Naidoo refused to speculate on how many Canadians will watch the World Cup through the station’s signal, but acknowledged that the demand for the sport is growing, especially in HD.
“Going forward we are looking at HD possibilities,” he said. “Unfortunately, we were not able to put it into operation for this particular stream.”
Still, he maintains there is nothing the station can do about the cost. Both Rogers and Bell are subsidizing discounts for new subscribers, Naidoo confirmed. But regular, loyal customers are stuck with the $199 fee.
Ranjit Saini, president of Cricket Canada, says the price of watching the sport’s premier event is too high and, ultimately, self-defeating. “I protest, strongly protest, the cost of the broadcast,” he said.
“With high costs there is less accessibility — and less people watching it,” Saini said over the phone from Delhi, en route to join the Canadian team for the opening ceremonies in Bangladesh. “There’s not a lot of people out there with that kind of money.”
Saini stressed that he doesn’t know the specifics of the costs ATN had to incur to secure the live feed. And he acknowledged that the package offers a plethora of games, beyond just the Canadian team. But much of that cost could be reduced through a greater effort to secure more sponsorship, he said.
Naidoo admits ATN secured less sponsorship for the 2011 World Cup than it did for the 2007 tournament.
“They’re just robbing people of this event,” said Sukhija, who recently started a Facebook group to protest ATN’s “monopoly” of the Cricket World Cup.
Still, he’s planning to pay the $199.
“I have no option,” he said. “And they know that.”
No comments:
Post a Comment