SingTel, StarHub stuck in a tight tug-of-war over 2014 World Cup broadcast rights

Negotiations are challenging, said StarHub.

Neither StarHub nor SingTel has scored a goal in the much anticipated broadcast of the 2014 World Cup.

The telco giants revealed that discussions are still on-going with regards to the broadcast rights of the tournament slated to kick off in June.

Ms Lee Soo Hui, Head of Media Business Unit, StarHub, said “sports content is an important part of our content line-up and we seek to add quality sports properties such as the FIFA 2014 World Cup to our programming.

However, the cost of sports content continues to soar, especially for popular sports such as football. We started discussions with FIFA to explore our options as early as 2012.

We hope to acquire the content at a sensible rate so as to keep the World Cup affordable to the majority of Singapore viewers. With most matches being played in early-morning timeslots (such as 4am Singapore time) due to the 12-hour time difference, we do not expect a strong response from sponsors and advertisers that can help defray the cost of the content. These factors have made negotiations very challenging.

Our customers are our priority, and we will only acquire content sensibly to ensure good value for our customers. With four months to the tournament, we remain in discussions with FIFA.”

Meanwhile, SingTel said it is still in talks with relevant parties as to the progress of the bidding.

“We are in discussions with the content rights holders,” said a SingTel spokesperson.