> Solar (Un)Sports
Channel
Who says Naga City is far more advanced than other parts of the
region, technology-wise? The Nagueno experience during the
historical boxing match between Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Eric
“El Terrible” Morales turned out to be the reverse, no thanks to
the two cable television service providers in Bicolandia’s
“maogmang lugar”—the merged Caceres Cable and Naga Cable, as well
as Sky Cable. Even the immediate environs of Naga—Pili, Milaor,
Camaligan, Minalabac, Canaman , Magarao, Bombon and Calabanga
included , missed the opportunity to view live the very exciting
fight.
The clients of the two big service providers in Naga City and its
immediate neighboring towns would have probably contented
themselves in having watched a delayed telecast of the fight ,
because anyway they also had the chance to monitor several local
radio stations airing live the round by round account of the bout,
which was ahead of the Solar Sports by no less than eight rounds.
They would have even taken grudgingly or with a grain of salt the
over excited, sometimes boastful reportage over the radio of the
big sports event.
We even venture to say that the clients of Caceres Cable and Sky
Cable would have swallowed meekly the crude attempts by local
radio broadcasters to mislead them into believing that the radio
coverage took a lot of initiative ,imagination and planning to
realize. They would have probably accepted good- naturedly the
fact that the law prohibits the two service providers from airing
live the match.
As the radio reportage however was going on, it became apparent
that the same was actually hooked up only to a TV set from
somewhere and the comments/observations of the reporters were
being coursed through the land line telephone. In fact, later on,
it became obvious that the radio audience was being fed with
information from Daet, Camarines Norte, where the Pacquiao-Morales
rematch was being aired live, on television!
As a consequence the cable tv subscribers in Naga and its
surrounding towns have been given a second hand treatment , via
Solar Sports, because more emphasis was given to commercials, not
to the very important sports event. Solar Sports Channel
transformed itself into an (un)sports channel and surreptitiously
metamorphosed into a purely commercial television channel. Time
devoted to commercials far outlasted the time dedicated to the
sports event itself.
To top it all, weeks, nay, months, prior to the Pacman-El Terrible
return bout, a lot of income had already been landing into the
coffers of the sports channel. This was easily noticeable in the
commercials being aired prior to and after the pluggings for the
boxing. match. Why then should so much time be eaten up for the
same income-generating pursuit during the airing of the fight
itself? It may be claimed that the profit was yet too meager. Be
that as it may, still, raising the cost of the commercial would
have been a better alternative than flooding the airlines with the
irritating commercials, which resulted in the failure to air live
the rematch. That is an affront to the sensitivity of the cable
subscribers in the Metro Naga area.
On the other hand, should the accusing finger be really directed
only to Solar Sports Channel, or also elsewhere? It will be
recalled that in the previous encounter between Pacquiao and
Morales where the former lost by points only, Solar Sports Channel
was caught red faced. It got severely embarrassed because while it
claimed featuring the fight live, the same was delayed and the
real live coverage was provided by Super Sports Channel. Solar
Sports immediately took a counter move. That is why neither
Caceres Cable nor Sky Cable is still airing Super Sports.
Not only that. To ensure that it had an exclusive right to air the
Pacquiao-Morales rematch, Solar Sports even went further. It
invoked the right to be protected by a patent, as provided for
under the law that seeks to protect intellectual properties. To
put emphasis into it, Solar Sports repeatedly aired an
announcement that it had the exclusive right to air the live
coverage of the fight, even inserting into it a stern warning that
those who infringe into such patent shall be prosecuted
accordingly.
This must be the reason why Caceres Cable and Sky Cable opted to
take hook, line and sinker the warning— not having entertained the
idea at all that others might take lightly such warnings. Now that
the event has passed for more than a week already, there is that
sneaking suspicion that the two cable television service providers
in the “heart of Bicol” must have been tricked too! By whom,it is
not yet clear.
This is so because while the tv crowds in Naga and its immediate
environs were desperately looking for ways and means to get a
first hand account about the fight even at least by radio,
elsewhere, cable television viewers sat comfortably in front of
their sets, watching live the blow by blow account of the fight
which produced in Pacquiao an instant international sports
sensation.
Mind you, it was not only the cable tv firm in Daet that provided
its subscribers a genuine live coverage of the event. Right here
in Camarines Sur, in some places where cable television is
relatively new, the bout was aired live. So, while those in Naga
glued their ears to the radio just to get an update on the Pacuiao-Morales
fight and its under cards while their eyes were focused on the
television , others concentrated their senses only on their tv
sets.
There is even that funny experience of one situated in Naga, who,
trying to be of help to fellow sports enthusiasts over there in
Lagonoy town, informed the later by landline that the true live
coverage of the event was available by radio,only for him to be
informed that the cable television service provider in that town,
owned by Erning Torres, aired the fight live.
How come then that Naga did not get the same treatment? In all
probability, the cable television subscribers in Daet , Lagonoy
and other places were live c overage of the rematch was featured,
availed of DREAM TV. That is why they had that ease in shifting
channels. There is something perplexing on this point, though.
Those cable television companies also hooked up Solar Sports.
Compared to the Solar Sports aired by Caceres Cable and Sky Cable
however, the Solar Sports Channel and Daet and Lagonoy did not
carry those irritating lengthy and repetitious commercials that
gobbled so much airtime and therefore caused failure to air the
fight live.
Where then should the accusing finger be pointed to?
