SVGBC: We are doing a favour carrying CPL

St Vincent and the Grenadines Broadcasting Corporation is broadcasting the cricket matches of the Caribbean Professional League on SVGTV as a public service.{{more}}

Assistant manager of St Vincent and the Grenadines Broadcasting Corporation (SVGBC) Rodger Dalrymple, in an interview with SEARCHLIGHT yesterday, said that SVGBC pays between US$3,000 and US$5,000 to carry the Limacol Caribbean Premier League (CPL), without any sponsorship.

“We are doing the community of SVG a favour by carrying the CPL cricket,” he said.

“It is a situation where we have to pay to carry it. There is a cost. The original charge that was given to us…these they classify as technical fees, to allow the signal into St Vincent and the Grenadines and then we would pick it up on one of our dishes,” Dalrymple said.

Dalrymple stated that originally, it would have cost US$5,000 to broadcast the matches from the CPL, however, because of certain negotiations, the company was able to pay a little above US$3,000.

In addition to the high costs, the deputy manager disclosed that one of the major problems is that there is no sponsorship to broadcast the matches.

“We don’t have local sponsorship, but there are regional sponsors and probably international sponsors that are getting the benefit of coming into St Vincent on the signal we are taking,” he explained.

Dalrymple said businesses declined offers to sponsor the broadcasts, because they may have already negotiated deals with the original carriers of the CPL.

As a result, those businesses’ commercials will be aired on the feed that is being broadcast by SVGBC, whether or not they sponsor the broadcasting station.

“We cannot do like the cable companies and charge for the signal, because we are free to air. Once we put it in the air, anybody can take it,” the assistant manager said.

“That is the difficulty we are having,” he said.

Once the broadcasting company pays its fees, all CPL matches are aired on channel 9, SVG TV. However, while some matches can be viewed by citizens live, others have been delayed.

Dalrymple indicated that SVGBC is required to give preference to persons with whom they have prior arrangements for paid programming.

“All of the cricket games came, but some of them were delayed. We could not carry some of the games live, because we had paid programming. There are people who have paid for programming at a specific hour on a specific day. You cannot move the people’s programming, if you consult with them and they say ‘No, I want my programming at that time because that is my contractual arrangement with you’,” he explained.

“Our obligation is to bring the people’s programming or to forfeit the contractual arrangement we have with them.

“When the cricket is over, which we didn’t get sponsorship for and which the teams that people wanted to win didn’t win, what do we do? We go back hat in hand to beg the people to come back?”

The assistant manager told SEARCHLIGHT that in some instances, they were able to bring live broadcasts because persons agreed to have their programmes shifted from the scheduled times.

In cases where they could not do so, Dalrymple said that the CPL was recorded and shown in the free slots available.

“I think we have done a fantastic job in bringing cricket live for most Fridays on to Sunday and there was cricket on Wednesday, so we were able to push some programmes around that people, in their willingness, were willing to move it,” he said.(BK)