BY BONG PEDRALVEZ
FILIPINO football fans hoping to watch the Philippine Azkals’ game live in its entirety in the group stage of the Asian Challenge Cup starting on March 21 in Myanmar may miss at least two games.
Studio 23, which is covering the games, may not air the matches on March 23 and 25 live because the air time for both games has been awarded to block timer Solar TV for its coverage of the pro league.
"Studio23 cannot cover Azkals’ Mar. 23 & 25 games LIVE bcoz Solar TV has already bought rights to 5pm timeslot for d PBA," PBA statistician Fidel Mangonon said on his Twitter account yesterday.
The games affected are the Azkals’ battles against Palestine on March 23 and Bangladesh on March 25. Both games are set at 3:30 p.m. in Myanmar, 5 p.m. in Manila.
The nationals, who advanced to the next round after beating Mongolia 3-2 on aggregate in the qualifiers, open their bid against the host team on March 21, a non-PBA playing day, also at 5 p.m.
Both games can be telecast on a delayed basis.
Fans quickly flooded the Azkals Facebook page with reactions to the report, ranging from sadness to outrage.
"Azkals minsan lang makita maglaro!!! Tapos ganyan pa!!!Hindi tulad ng PBA..always na may laro.. Ano ba yan!!!" fumed somebody identified by his handle as Yo Non Lee.
"Huh!..sayang," Azkal fanatic Rechie Arellano said.
"I blame basketball for destroying the popularity of football in the country," Kyrilsama Jimeno said.
Others had cheeky comments.
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22 hours ago
this makes me hate PBA more. They should find a way how to telivise this live. ABS-CBN signed a contract for 1 year. Are they not following that contract?
ReplyDeleteI'm not privy to the agreement like most of us but my understanding is that ABS-CBN committed to air the games live.
ReplyDeleteBesides, I have read somewhere that Azkals' games in the past had higher ratings compared to that of PBA.
Hey ABS-CBN, wake up!!!
i really had a thought of the conflicts of airing between games of AZKALS and PBA philippine badketball aso..sa totoo lang mas malinaw ang cs9 keysa studio 23mas madami dapat nakakapanood doon,my point is,kahit sang tv station pa yang badketball na yan,kung talagang papanoorin sila papanoorin sila, eh di sila magworry,..gaya ngayon aagawn nila ang limelight ng AZKALS. sabik na sabik ang mga tao mapanood ng live ang game ng azkals tapos ito lang mangyayari,BADKETBALL NGA NAMAN!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is ridiculous. ABS-CBN owns ABS-CBN 2, Studio 23, Cinema One, the Knowledge Channel, among others. WHY CAN'T THEY SHOW THE GAME ON THESE OTHER CHANNELS???
ReplyDeletePlus, they freaking OWN Sky Cable? Why not air it over some channel that no one is using?????
If it's only delayed a few hours, I won't mind much.
ReplyDeleteBut if it's delayed by more than 12 hours, I will hate the PBA more than I hate it now.
This is really bullshit. I agree with that anonymous. They want to show those boring house meetings on merci (we all know they are gonna impeach her) but they cant find 90 mins to show this one live? If they cant show this live then they shouldnt have signed that contract to telecast the games. They are not helping the popularity of the sport. If the results are known prior to the telecast, fewer people will watch. Since they are locked in with that deal with Solar they would probably be breaking a few rules if they telecast something in direct competition. Why dont they show football live and the basketball delayed??!! We get enough basketball games with the PBA and NBA. These are just two games!! Jeeez. The PFF should question this. If they care about how football will gain more momentum those games need to be aired live. They should have a clause in the contract that if ABS CBN cant deliver, other networks should be allowed to air them. Its really bullshit.
ReplyDeleteguys this might be the start of a conspiracy to snuff football. the PBA did this before... the PBA is a rival league killer. Azkals is not a league but the Azkals games beat the PBA on several occasions in TV ratings... so the PBA is making a move now to kill football.
ReplyDeleteand yes the did this before. they killed MICAA semi pro league for football, baseball and volleyball. they did this to the semipro league of football in the 90s as well. they did this to the MBA. they did this also to the PBL.
now they are doing it to football.
www.philippinesthesickmanofasia.blogspot.com
would myanmar tv stations cover it? if yes, then maybe we could watch it online.
ReplyDeleteThe bad thing about the PBA is that it's year-round, unlike leagues in other countries where there are off-seasons and sports leagues often try to be active at other sports' off-seasons.
ReplyDeleteThat's why PBA sucks.
Why you guys acting all surprised?? This is the Philippines. We're always gonna get bullshit everyone now and then.
ReplyDeletethe reason for it not being aired is because the gov't of myanmar did not allow satellite feed. you blame basketball as if football is the only sport that must be played in this country. this is not a sports rivalry.
ReplyDeleteThe Anonymous just posted before me:
ReplyDeleteStudio 23, which is covering the games, may not air the matches on March 23 and 25 live because the air time for both games has been awarded to block timer Solar TV for its coverage of the pro league.
"Studio23 cannot cover Azkals’ Mar. 23 & 25 games LIVE bcoz Solar TV has already bought rights to 5pm timeslot for d PBA," PBA statistician Fidel Mangonon said on his Twitter account yesterday.
Do you see any mention here of what Myanmar is allowing or disallowing? If thats the case, then they should have clarified that in this press release. If you read it can you not come to the same conclusion that it is ultimately basketball, which ABS-CBN in their carelessness didnt see coming?
Popularity of football is at an all time high. I think we will agree, what kind of reaction do you expect?
why do we filipinos stick to a sport that needs hight since we all know that we dont have, heres a sport that dont need that its all played on the ground. so why dont they promote this sport that surelly we filipinos would excel......
ReplyDeleteBobo nyo naman, walang kinalaman ang abscbn sa hindi pag cover ng laro, tanongin nyo kya ang myanmar govt kng bakit! Salita kayo ng salita. Kala nyo namn
ReplyDeleteHindi kami bobo..Please read the above press release which came out March 17. Now you can say it is the myanmar govt. because ABS CBN and the PFF has blamed them in a joint statement released March 19. Did you know this before March 19? Sinasabi ko, with this kind of a press release, what can you expect will be the reaction of people who are going crazy over the azkals and they say it was due to commitments to basketball? Siyempre marami magagalit hindi lang sa ABS pero sa basketball na rin. thats the thing..hindi kasi bobo mga tao para maniwala sa mga dahilan nila..
ReplyDeletegising abs cbn...
ReplyDeleteat tama ka dyan jay hindi bobo ang mga tao para maniwala sa mga dahilan nila.. ilipat na lang kaya ang coverage sa ibang chanel....
ReplyDelete