EPT
MBC Official: Gretech really doesn't understand how TV stations work
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/i8ASa.jpg)
- The negotiations between the two sides haven't been going so smoothly; why do you think this is the case?
MBC: Frankly, they just don't understand our company's situation. We really want to agree to their terms, but there's a few details that we cannot accept.
- Gretech's official said that their terms were very lenient; is this true?
MBC: That was concerning SPL, but their stance on individual leagues is totally different. Since both sides signed a nondisclosure agreement, I can't really reveal everything. Their fee for the live broadcasting of individual league matches on just Friday was reasonable, but their asking price for broadcasting twice a week was far too expensive, making it hard for us to agree with them.
Note: Gretech exposed a portion of the talks to the media on Oct. 16. According to these terms, the fee for hosting the tournament was 1 won, and the fee for broadcasting it was 100 million won. Gretech claimed that they had the same terms for SPL, MSL, and OSL; SPL runs for about 10 months, and individual leagues run for about 3 months.
- Right now, KeSPA has already paid a significant sum for broadcasting rights; is this right?
MBC: According to the terms, if we integrate both the team league and individual league, we will be paying more than KeSPA is asking for. Moreover, the KeSPA-affiliated agency of IEG will be in charge of the broadcast fees, and we will provide for broadcast television post-production costs. However, to think that Gretech would help subsidize a portion of our live broadcast post-production costs is an extravagant fantasy.
- Do you believe that the other side's terms are harsh?
MBC: Right now, we practically break even on broadcasting Brood War, so we're just happy we're not going into the red. The primary audience for Starcraft is the youth of age 13-18, so advertising doesn't have much effectiveness. And the tournament prize money and raffle prizes at the finals, with broadcasting and related expenses, make it impossible to make a profit.
If we were to actually agree to their terms, our company would feel enormous pressure. At the same time, we'd have to keep in mind that we're almost losing money in order to broadcast these matches, instead of profiting. They just don't understand the real situation in TV companies; they act like just because we're a for-profit TV company, we actually make a profit.
- Last time at the parliamentary hearing, the other side said that broadcasting Starcraft matches was "illegal". You felt wronged, correct?
MBC: Correct, I felt very wronged. At least up until now, we couldn't believe they could say something like that. MBC has always paid KeSPA broadcast fees, and KeSPA is a subdivision of the Korean Ministry of Culture. We paid dues to a government department; if that is illegal, I really don't know what's legal.
- Is this problem caused by your not having received rights from Blizzard?
MBC: At the very beginning, we got the rights for broadcasting Starcraft from Blizzard's Korean partner, Hanbitsoft, and Hanbitsoft is a member of KeSPA. So, are the leagues we got permission to hold then illegal leagues? However, from the beginning of the negotiations until now, Gretech thinks that our leagues are illegal, which directly hurt the negotiation process. If we continue like this, we may not have any choice but to terminate the negotiations, and this would damage Gretech a lot.
- Recently, there's been much talk of forcing the leagues through; what do you think about this?
MBC: We don't know how this round of talks will end, so as to not prevent [casual] gamers from viewing these leagues, we have to force the new season of MSL to be broadcast.
- Is there still room for the negotiations between the two sides?
MBC: There still [should be]. We would have no problem if the other side revealed the terms of the arrangement. However, as the television station that broadcasts the team leagues, we shouldn't have to suffer the danger of losses for just this, right? The costs of broadcasting the league games is estimated to be in the tens of billions of won or more, and with such a huge market size solving many problems should be quite easy.
Really though, it's not that we don't want to pay this much to them [Gretech], but rather because if we did comply [with Gretech's demands], it would be absolutely impossible for us to broadcast the leagues afterward.
Finally, I hope Gretech does not think that my television company is so simple to run. We are competing cable stations and Korea Electric is our partner, and we both promote Starcraft leagues.
Therefore, they [Gretech] should first do some good market research before making a final decision.
Source: http://sc.plu.cn/note/2010-10-19/22071.html
Thanks to flamewheel for helping!
