TANJUNG MALIM: All free-to-air TV stations that do not have broadcasting rights for major sporting events of mass appeal, will be able to share the contents obtained by the rights holder from May 1.

Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said the move was to enable all sporting events that involved the interest of the country to receive wide coverage, so that all Malaysians can watch such action, instead of it being monopolised by the rights holder.

“Sports that have a mass appeal like the Olympics, badminton, football and other major sporting events would not be allowed to be monopolised by any one station but such broadcast contents must be shared,” he told reporters after launching ‘RTM Mobile’ in conjunction with Radio dan Televisyen Malaysia’s (RTM) 66th anniversary at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris here Wednesday.

He added that if a specific sporting event was aired by a free-to-air TV station, the contents would be shared by pay TV stations.

The initiative would be carried out through the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and aimed to enable more Malaysians to view popular sporting activities that involved Malaysians, he said.

Rais said TV stations could choose what event they wanted to broadcast and request for such programmes accordingly from the station that held the rights.

Among the sporting events falling under the sharing programme are the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Sea Games, Sukma, Thomas and Uber Cups, All England, BWF Super Series, AFC Asian Cup, Asean Football Federation Cup, Fifa World Cup (semifinals and final) and English Premier League.

The sporting events listed were chosen since they can function as a tool to enhance integration and unity in the spirit of 1Malaysia, he said.

For more information, people can surf the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission website. Bernama