The government has managed to obtain enough private sponsorship to cover the RM30 million cost of broadcasting the 2018 World Cup live on RTM, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said today.
"The cost to run the live telecast is zero now.
"The cost is fully sponsored already, and Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo will be announcing the matter soon.
"We will not be paying a single sen for it," he told Malaysiakini.
As Lim explained, these sponsors are purchasing airtime to show their advertisements.
Though RTM is a state broadcaster, the sponsors will be paying slightly over standard advertising rates as they consider it a donation to the country.
Not in the Hope Fund?
Lim said that he has been inundated with questions as to why these sponsors do not donate the money to the government’s Hope Fund instead.
The difference, he explained, is that they will get some benefit in return in terms of being able to air their advertisements.
"There is a great difference. Sponsorship will get them daily advertisements throughout the whole month, so at least they will get some returns and they will account for it," Lim explained.
"Who wants to just give away RM30 million for a one-off event like that?
"You need to understand, they are companies, they also need some sort of advertisement revenue," he added.
Lim also said that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was initially hesitant to accept the idea of showing the World Cup on RTM due to being a little “stingy” in terms of finances.
"However, after it was explained to him that the tournament only comes once in four years, and that allowing it to be aired on RTM would allow the public to watch the sport for free without having to subscribe to any sports channels, Mahathir gave it the green light.”
The 2018 World Cup is scheduled to take place in Russia between 14 June to 15 July.
The RM30 million fee will be used to purchase the rights to broadcast 41 of the 64 matches, of which 27 will be shown live. - Mkini
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