Ubc False Advertising ...

[rainman]

Looks like the media battle isn't anywhere near over yet:

From: http://www.eufootball.biz/Television/29080...in-La-Liga.html

Sogecable's Audiovisual Sport (AVS) has claimed it is owed an additional EUR 200 million in his suit against Mediapro, with the sides seemingly nowhere close to ending their spat.

AVS, 80 percent owned by Sogecable, is asking that Mediapro end its broadcasting of Spanish football, claiming breach of contract. Mediapro, which helped form AVS with Sogecable, has its channel La Sexta broadcast three matches this past weekend, and Sogecable/AVS is claiming the rights were not Mediapro's to air, claiming piracy.

Sogecable/AVS already have filed a EUR 58 million lawsuit against Mediapro over nonpayment. This would make total target for the lawsuit of EUR 258 million … and counting. Sogecable has been withholding matches from Mediapro, though Mediapro claims it owes no money.

At root of the issue is this: Earlier in the year, Mediapro announced it had landed the rights to most of the top Spanish football clubs, buying them on a club-by-club basis. Sogecable/AVS said this was not legal, and used a 2006 contract with Mediapro as its basis for taking the rival entity to court.

The two formed AVS as a means to air football matches, and have a partnership. After Mediapro began buying club-by-club rights, Sogecable claimed it was owed EUR 58 million as part of the AVS deal. Mediapro said it did now owe Sogecable anything, and reacted by claiming it was owed EUR 43 million.

Later, there was an agreement that Sogecable would pull back to own 75 percent of AVS, and Mediapro would hold 25 percent.

Mediapro said it had 12 individual club rights starting with the 2008-2009 season, and a total of 39 for the 2009-2010 season. Barcelona signed, as did Real Madrid. That set off the furor.

Whether they have legal footing or not, Sogecable tried to use a 2006 contract as a way to stop Mediapro. According to the Sogecable interpretation of the contract, Sogecable/AVS have the rights to award how they want to be awarded. Whether it be pay, free-to-air or new media, Sogecable/AVS believe they are the distributor for Spanish La Liga and second division clubs.

Sogecable/AVS believes that this applies at least until the 2008-2009 season, and claimed it had a number of contracts with clubs that ran through the 2012-2013 season. Therefore, with Mediapro airing matches that, according to its rival, aren't yet in its domain, Sogecable/AVS is taking legal action.

Sogecable claimed, while filing its suit, that Mediapro could not buy rights on its own.

It also claims that it has not received proper payment from Mediapro for the rights to this season's matches. Mediapro does not believe in the Sogecable view of the contract, and feels the entity is retaliating for Mediapro taking the initiative of getting club rights.

Mediapro said there is a clause in the contract that does not prohibit competition. Mediapro claimed a breach of contract, said it would pull out of AVS and claimed it had the right to pursue clubs for future broadcast deals. Without getting specific, it claimed certain obligations of the contract were not fulfilled, so it would leave the pact.

Under the agreement, Sogecable is entitled to the lion's share of TV matches, with the majority running on pay TV. Mediapro has one match on free TV, but can exploit the remainder to other markets. In a sense, when the matches aired on La Sexta this past weekend, Mediapro sold the rights to its self to air, La Sexta being a Mediapro entity.

The enmity between the two sides has reached a point where Sogecable crews are are accused by Mediapro of barring the latter's technical teams from matches this past week. Mediapro has retaliated by changing match times, with the desired effect of having free matches air when pay matches are being televised.

Sogecable's pay services are projected to be off to a rough start because of uncertainty over how matches will be handled. Sogecable also has found that its stocks have taken a dip over fears of a drawn-out legal battle.

Since Mediapro also has overseas distribution rights, whatever matches Sogecable is trying to bar the company from has an international domino effect, with viewers in the U.K. and U.S. unable to see the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona. That, in turn, could bring international pressure against Sogecable.

Mediapro also announced it would block Digital+, a Sogecable subsidiary, from showing highlights from the matches covered by Mediapro.

[JRinger]

. I realize most people on this forum are watching Premiership and not so much Spanish and Italian leagues...

That's an unworthy assumption. At any given time there are between three and five football games on and RARELY any golf tournaments. Where's the balance, not everyone is interested in soccer, or is this an assumption also? Are "most people on this forum" soccer fanatics?

[Jimjim]

JRinger, yeah, most people outside of places like the U.S. and Philippines are big football (soccer) fans. Probably more expats in Thailand from other countries than the U.S.

Anyway, couldn't those idiotic media companies in Spain have figured this <deleted> out before the season? Ridiculous.

[roietjimmy]

. I realize most people on this forum are watching Premiership and not so much Spanish and Italian leagues...

That's an unworthy assumption. At any given time there are between three and five football games on and RARELY any golf tournaments. Where's the balance, not everyone is interested in soccer, or is this an assumption also? Are "most people on this forum" soccer fanatics?

The programs aired on UBC reflect the average Thais insatiable addiction to football (soccer). We farangs/TV Forum folks play an insignificant role in UBC's market so it is not surprising football matches dominate programming. I am not a football fan either so think it is ridiculous that with all the sports channels, UBC couldn't reserve at least one that is dedicated to other sports. Fortunately motorsports (F1/MotoGP etc.) do get coverage which I enjoy but it's not likely I can expect to see my favorite sport, ice hockey, on UBC!

[rainman]

Anyway, couldn't those idiotic media companies in Spain have figured this <deleted> out before the season? Ridiculous.

I totally agree. It seems they started the problem on the first Friday before Saturday's first match. Unbelievable.

UBC has "ZARAGOZA VS. RACING" listed for tonight and VILLARREAL VS. REAL MADRID for tomorrow night on Channel 1. We'll see how much we get to see of that.

[rainman]

Just read this on the news:

From: http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/today/?p=1946

A Spanish court has ruled that the production company Mediapro is free to enter the country’s football stadiums to produce its own coverage of the Spanish league until a final decision has been made on broadcasting rights.

[kopite]

liverpool game kept on cuting out. <deleted>

[simon43]

I have no interest in football...

But last week at my hotel the local cable channel was airing some football comentary. But there was just a screen showing 2 commentators talking whilst apparently looking at a hidden screen which was showing the football match. The hidden screen was the UBC channel and the guys were giving a commentary with no picture whatsoever of the match...

... I changed over to The Simpsons....

Simon

[rainman]

Unbelievable! They are showing 2 Spanish League matches right now, one on Sports 1 and one on Sports 3. If they keep it up tomorrow with Real Madrid and Barcelona I'll be happy. But what am I talking about? It won't happen

[rainman]

And they're at it again. For tonight, starting at 10pm on Sports 2, they advertise:

GERMAN SOCCER LEAGUE 2007/2008 004: HAMBURG VS. BAYERN MUNICH (02-SEP-2007)02-ก.ย.-2550 22:00

Guess what they're showing...

Edit: Wow, this time they actually wrote a message saying it's due to longer than expected transmission of the Golf tournament. I forgive them.

Edited September 2, 2007 by rainman

[CarlBkk]

Are there actually any alternatives to UBC/True? You only have to see the number of complaint letters in Postbag (BKK Post) to know their reputation.

Where do you get these black market decoders from?!?!

[rainman]

Where do you get these black market decoders from?!?!

According to my wife, they cost Baht 3000 (2 months worth of UBC subscription fees). I heard from someone that just got one that it works just fine, like regular UBC, but without the monthly fees. No idea where they come from, though. I assume electronic shops in the markets have them.

[CarlBkk]

Where do you get these black market decoders from?!?!

According to my wife, they cost Baht 3000 (2 months worth of UBC subscription fees). I heard from someone that just got one that it works just fine, like regular UBC, but without the monthly fees. No idea where they come from, though. I assume electronic shops in the markets have them.

Sometimes companies don't deserve to make greedy profits. That's when I turn to the black market.

I'll do some research.

[JetsetBkk]

All their emails appear to follow this format:

Dear Mr. xxxx

We really apologise for late reply and for any inconvenience caused once again.

Please be infomed that <BS response, yada, yada, yada>

Should you have any further inquiry, do not hesitate to contact us at 02-7252525 or [email protected]

We are so grateful for your trust in our service and support us all time.

Best regards,

<fancy company logo, address, etc>

[jEFFREYk44]

UBC is a monopoly and service cannot be expected

[rainman]

UBC just announced their schedule for this week's Spanish League. Guess what? They're showing 4 games live! Don't get excited too soon, they are:

008: VALENCIA VS. VALLADOLID (16-SEP-2007) 16-Sep-2007 01:00

009: ATL BILBAO VS. ZARAGOZA (16-SEP-2007) 16-Sep-2007 03:00

011: SEVILLA VS. RECREATIVO (17-SEP-2007) 17-Sep-2007 00:00

010: MURCIA VS. AT MADRID (16-SEP-2007) 17-Sep-2007 02:00

Notice something? I'm guessing the rights for Barcelona and Real Madrid have become too expensive. But for the viewers, it's like leaving out Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea from the EPL matches. I wonder if that's what they'll do next year.

On top, after the recent broadcast fight in Spain with Mediapro and Sogecable, the football association decided that all matches this weekend can be aired freely by anyone - so I wonder why UBC picks the crap teams instead of the ones 99% of the viewers are interested in?

[lazeeboy]

UBC just announced their schedule for this week's Spanish League. Guess what? They're showing 4 games live! Don't get excited too soon, they are:

008: VALENCIA VS. VALLADOLID (16-SEP-2007) 16-Sep-2007 01:00

009: ATL BILBAO VS. ZARAGOZA (16-SEP-2007) 16-Sep-2007 03:00

011: SEVILLA VS. RECREATIVO (17-SEP-2007) 17-Sep-2007 00:00

010: MURCIA VS. AT MADRID (16-SEP-2007) 17-Sep-2007 02:00

Notice something? I'm guessing the rights for Barcelona and Real Madrid have become too expensive. But for the viewers, it's like leaving out Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea from the EPL matches. I wonder if that's what they'll do next year.

On top, after the recent broadcast fight in Spain with Mediapro and Sogecable, the football association decided that all matches this weekend can be aired freely by anyone - so I wonder why UBC picks the crap teams instead of the ones 99% of the viewers are interested in?

if it was'nt for the epl i would have cancelled it a long time ago ,watch it for 10days and the next 20 its all repeated again .....

[rainman]

Just got this email from UBC:

Thank you very much for your e-mail below. TrueVisions has acknowledged your message and would very much like to clarify you that there are several things and conditions not broadcasting live studio from the host channel such as program license agreement form Barcelona and Read Madrid. However, we expect to broadcast the matches as original soon. Please be informed that your precious comment will be passed through the related party for further consideration and improvement.

We are terribly sorry for this inconvenience caused.

Should you have any further enquiry, do not hesitate to contact us at 02-7252525 or [email protected]

We are so grateful for your trust in our service and support us all time.

Best regards,

TrueVisions

[colino]

so why dont we all e-mail them on the same day and state that we are all very unhappy with their service ,

i remember way back when cable first came to my home town of southampton , to promote it the cable company let you have x amount of channels free for 6 months , this included an indian channel and after 6 months the cable company decided to charge for the channels but the local indian community told them that if they charged them for indian channel that the whole community would cancel their subscription and they would lose x amount of customers , and it worked they got their channel kept as a free one ,

its only an idea ,

[rainman]

What I'm wondering if they're not heading towards the same direction as some European countries already have, with PayPerView channels. I noticed UBC has been slowly introducing these, then they cut the EPL feeds from ESPN and StarSports, now they stop showing some major European leagues. Maybe next season we'll be able to enjoy football matches from England, Spain, Germany and other countries only on PPV?

I can understand how that works in Europe, but I doubt most of the Thai population that watches EPL every week would pay to see a match. Their email above about the 'licensing issues' is ridiculous. Spanish newspapers announced that all matches would be free for broadcasting both nationally and internationally, so I have no idea why they can't show teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid. Seriously, who wants to see Athletic Bilbao vs. Zaragoza when at the exact same time, Real Madrid is playing?

We'll see what happens tonight, maybe they change again in the last second as they always do, at least for this one time I hope they will.

[timonase]

Hello all,

its the same with the german bundesliga, the show one game on Sunday. The German bundesliga only has one or two sunday games a week. The rest is ALWAYS on saturday.

For example today Schalke-Bayern Munich is broadcasted live in 148 countries in the world. Too bad i chose one to live in, which must be one of only remaining countries with modern tv, where the game is not shown.

Tomorrow then its: Hertha-Wolfsburg.........even in Germany nobody watches that game.

I called and emailed and called and emailed again and again.

Nobody can tell me why they are not showing a Saturday game.

It cant be the broadcasting rights as the German bundesliga has, unlike most other big leagues, no teams who have their own tv rights.

well,

maybe one day i will get an answer.

annoyed regards

Timo

[marshbags]

What I'm wondering if they're not heading towards the same direction as some European countries already have, with PayPerView channels. I noticed UBC has been slowly introducing these, then they cut the EPL feeds from ESPN and StarSports, now they stop showing some major European leagues. Maybe next season we'll be able to enjoy football matches from England, Spain, Germany and other countries only on PPV?

I can understand how that works in Europe, but I doubt most of the Thai population that watches EPL every week would pay to see a match. Their email above about the 'licensing issues' is ridiculous. Spanish newspapers announced that all matches would be free for broadcasting both nationally and internationally, so I have no idea why they can't show teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid. Seriously, who wants to see Athletic Bilbao vs. Zaragoza when at the exact same time, Real Madrid is playing?

We'll see what happens tonight, maybe they change again in the last second as they always do, at least for this one time I hope they will.

I know Sky is U.K. based, but, they started off the same way that Ubc are beginning to go forward.

Now all the high profile sports are Pay per view.

The monthly subscriptions are 40 pounds and still you have to use P.P.V to watch the bigger occasions relating to the popular ones in addition to the 40 quid.

I was a plat. subscriber until the start of this month.

I got peeved off with the sports arrangements and also that they asked me to pay more if i wanted the additional Disney Channels ect.

I went back to gold and have installed " U Cable " for 300 baht which now gives me lots more options and if Ubc goes on the blink via lame excuses, relating to inconsistancies regarding transmittion, i can still watch many of the news programmes without interruptions.

Some you cannot get on Ubc anyway as they are not available.

Plat = 2155 baht.

Gold 1568 baht + U Cable 300 baht ( no large intallation fees by the way ) = 1868 baht

( 900 baht for the first 3 months viewing which i consider more than reasonable.)

This really is a case of more for less in every way.

My daughter can now U Cable in her bedroom and can access all her favourite channels they provide on the second connection they provided.

Even better, when the nightly soap is on they can watch it in the bedroom and i can watch my news or whatever.

marshbags

Edited September 15, 2007 by marshbags

[rainman]

You're right, Schalke vs. Bayern, one of the best games of the season in Germany is today and they're not showing that either. Top it off with the qualification of Formula 1 today in Spa/Belgium, it's happening right now and nothing is visible on UBC. I'm starting to wonder if they will even show the race tomorrow.

Last year we've had a wonderful selection of nearly all Premiership games, 3-4 Spanish games, at least 3 German league games, all Formula 1 qualifying and the actual races. This year? Premiership no longer with the ESPN commentary, somewhat acceptable. Either no Spanish games or teams that nobody watches. If you're lucky 1 game of German league, but also not the good ones. Formula 1 it seems they scratches the qualifying.

At this point, I wouldn't mind PayPerView if I cannot see it any other way, but they stop broadcasting the games and then think about implementing PPV sometime over the next few years, that's ridiculous.

[JetsetBkk]

Top it off with the qualification of Formula 1 today in Spa/Belgium, it's happening right now and nothing is visible on UBC. I'm starting to wonder if they will even show the race tomorrow.

Last year we've had a wonderful selection of nearly all Premiership games, 3-4 Spanish games, at least 3 German league games, all Formula 1 qualifying and the actual races. This year? Premiership no longer with the ESPN commentary, somewhat acceptable. Either no Spanish games or teams that nobody watches. If you're lucky 1 game of German league, but also not the good ones. Formula 1 it seems they scratches the qualifying.

F1 times:

Tonight:

23:00-00:00, Star Sports - Formula One Qualifying 2007 # 07014

Tomorrow:

05:00-06:00, Star Sports - Formula One Qualifying 2007 # 07014

11:00-12:00, Star Sports - Formula One Qualifying 2007 # 07014

19:00-20:30, Star Sports - Formula One World Championship 2007 # 07014

Edited September 15, 2007 by JetsetBkk

[rainman]

Yeah, but Qualifying tonight wasn't live. It happened sometime around 7-8pm. They showed it at 11pm.

[timonase]

Hello all,

this is the answer i received from UBC after many call and emails.

Dear Mr. Ruge:

We are terribly sorry for late reply and for any inconvenience caused.

Please be informed that TrueVisions has recently acquired the live telecast license for the German Bundesliga 2007-2008 for its German football fans on Sunday (only). However, as you know that we improve the service all the time for better, but sometimes it does not meet your need. We have to apologize for that. We will also convey you comment to the related party for further consideration and improvement.

Should you have any further enquiry, do not hesitate to contact us at 02-7252525 or [email protected]

We are so grateful for your trust in our service and support us all time.

Best regards,

Again the question would be WHY? Why did the acquire the telecast license for Sunday, as the German Bundesliga is historically played on saturdays. As mentioned before the license is centralized by the german football association (DFL) in germany. Well, maybe the was a supersaver offer to UBC only to get Sundays.

Another thing is that the sunday schedules are only made 2-3 weeks in advance and sometimes change, so i will never now when and what game will be on.

It just doesnt make sense.

As rainman pointed out, last year was very decent, EPL, bundesliga, spanish liga and some italian and some french.

I think i will have to look for alternatives, any suggestions ??

best regards

Timo

[rainman]

I've been looking around too, but there aren't really any alternatives I believe. It would be good if we could get European satellite channels, but I don't think there's any around...

[candoman89]

Soccer, er um, football....................... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[JetsetBkk]

Yeah, but Qualifying tonight wasn't live. It happened sometime around 7-8pm. They showed it at 11pm.

Oh, I know - but it was better than nothing.

Unfortunately, I forgot to not watch the BBC news and the b@$^@%ds give the result before I could bung a finger in each ear and shout "La la la la la la la ..."

[rainman]

They're making a little bit of progress. Tonight they showed, as announced, Sevilla vs. Recreativo. While watching that game, the commentator was talking something about the upcoming Osasuna vs. Barcelona game, even though that one was not announced. I asked my wife to translate it for me and she said that the commentator said that after the Sevilla game, they will show the Barcelona game even though they had announced a re-run of the Murcia vs. Atletico game.

Imagine how happy I was. So now I'm sitting here, at 2am, and guess what game they're showing? Not the Osasuna vs. Barcelona they announced 10 minutes ago, but the re-run of Murcia vs. Atletico.

Is it possible that UBC commentators think they're going to see one game but then they show another? Unbelievable.