Military junta overrules top court decision to force Thai broadcaster to show all World Cup matches for free

A Goal.com report said that the military junta in Thailand has extended its reach in the country's broadcasting industry as what it claimed to be its policy to "return happiness" to its people. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which currently rules Thailand following the recent coup, have overruled a ruling in favor of a national broadcaster over the exclusivity of showing matches of this year's World Cup tournament.

RS International Broadcasting and Sport Management initially appealed to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to relax its "must carry" rule, which enforces broadcasters to show all seven major sport events on free-to-air television aside from pay-television platforms, RapidTVNews.com said. Some of the major sporting events named in the rule are the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games, Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup.

In early April, RS sought legal action against the regulator to obtain an injunction that would allow them to broadcast select matches of the 2014 World Cup only on free-to-air channels, claiming that the "must carry" rule is unlawful and unfair. On Wednesday the Thai Supreme Administrative Court, who presided the case, had ruled in favor of RS, siding with the broadcaster's argument that it has acquired the rights to show the World Cup matches prior to the establishment of the "must carry" rule.

Goal.com said that the NCPO has stepped into the matter and forced the free-to-air broadcast rule for the 2014 World Cup, as RS threatens to stop all broadcasts if it is forced to broadcast the matches for free. NBTC decided to dip into a public fund to pay RS for showing all matches on its free-to-air channels to resolve the issue.

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasit told The Bangkok Post said that it would accommodate RS' demand of THB700million (USD21.5million). He said, "We plan to use BTFP funds to compensate RS' losses, including for the 300,000 set-top boxes it is selling to viewers."

Tags

National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), Thai military junta, 2014 World Cup broadcast, 2014 FIFA World Cup, RS International Broadcasting and Sport Management, National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC)

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