January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
ZBM: Glitches are not our fault
Bermuda Broadcasting's programme director Darlene Ming said that the interruptions which had caused the picture to disappear for short periods of the early games, were the fault of Caribbean rights holder IMC.
She also blamed the Jamaica-based company for problems in the final round of group games when viewers complained they were receiving commentary from one match and pictures from another, for short periods.
ZBM and other stations across the region are demanding answers from IMC about why the problems had occurred and how they can be ironed out in the future. The company is expected to make a press statement later this week.
But Ms Ming said the tropical storm, which came through the Caribbean in the opening week of the tournament, and technical difficulties for the company in transmitting two live games at once in the latter group stage, had been identified as the main problems.
She said the problems now appeared to be behind them but she could not promise that there would be no further interruptions because the BBC, like every other broadcaster in the Caribbean (Bermuda is included in that region for the purpose of global distribution of broadcast rights), was at the behest of IMC.
"I anticipate that and I hope for that.
"The general feedback we have taken would suggest that we don't have a clue about how important the World Cup is. It is the biggest event for Bermuda - we know that.
"We know what the community wants, we understand what they want and it is, from beginning to end, our hope, that we can provide them with the standard they are looking for.
"Unfortunately, this is live television from halfway around the world and there has to be some appreciation for the technical complications that such a live broadcast can bring.
"What Bermuda has experienced has been experienced across the Caribbean. It is not just ZBM Bermuda that has had problems with the World Cup.
"It is my understanding that several of the islands, and I would include ourselves in that, have already exchanged strong words with the host provider.
"They are putting together a report which will be out this Friday and I think they will be making a statement after that."
She also defended the BBC's decision not to show replayed matches or highlights in the evenings.
She admitted the company had relied on the goodwill of employers to give their workers a break to watch the football.
"We just assume that businesses out there have been very understanding in allowing their employees to have the down time to watch the games."
But she said there were technical and staffing issues with turning round a highlights show or even showing taped coverage of the day's games.
She said the BBC's commitment had been to show all 64 games live and free for its viewers, (with the exception of the eight group games, which were screened on tape delay because two matches were being played at the same time).
The Bermuda Broadcasting Company also had obligations to its viewers to show scheduled programmes in prime-time, she added.
Football fanatics, she said, could have subscribed to WOW's dollar-a-game package to see replays of every game in the evenings.
Bermuda CableVision could have opted to offer a similar package to its customers, but chose not to.
She said there were ongoing discussions to see if the two semi-finals, which take place next week, in the middle of the working day, could be screened in prime time on ZFB 7, free to air.
But she stopped short of promising that, saying only that talks were taking place.
Has this answered all your questions about ZBM's coverage? If you have any queries please e-mail the Bermuda Sun and we'll put your queries to ZBM.[[In-content Ad]]
Comments:
You must login to comment.