Fans watch a football match on a satellite channel. Some private media houses have defied Rwanda Broadcasting Authority’s warning to cease screening the 2014 Fifa World Cup matches without its authorisation as the exclusive broadcasting rights holder. Photo/Cyril Ndegeya

Fans watch a football match on a satellite channel. Some private media houses have defied Rwanda Broadcasting Authority’s warning to cease

 the 2014 Fifa World Cup matches without its authorisation as the exclusive broadcasting rights holder. Photo/Cyril Ndegeya

IN SUMMARY

  • The first week of the tournament, which is taking place in Brazil, saw bitter wrangles between RBA and others who had promised to continue broadcasting the event, prompting Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (Rura) to intervene.
  • Rura observed that “Fifa should be the one to protect RBA content from any third party who may illegally access or use it.”
  • Rura’s response was seen as a go-ahead by the defiant media organisations to continue screening matches from other sources or directly from the state broadcaster Rwanda Television (RTV).
Rwanda TV wars hot up over World Cup

The rights to broadcast the ongoing Fifa World Cup continue to pit private television and radio stations against Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA), which says it has exclusive rights to relay all content related to the biggest world football competition.

TV1, Lemigo TV, Flash FM, Radio 1 and pay-per-view service provider StarTimes have faced the wrath of RBA, which insists it is the only authorised entity to broadcast or distribute World Cup content in Rwanda and it will protect those rights at all cost.

The first week of the tournament, which is taking place in Brazil, saw bitter wrangles between RBA and others who had promised to continue broadcasting the event, prompting Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (Rura) to intervene.

Rura however side-stepped the matter, stating that it could not intervene in a matter concerning RBA and other parties, namely African Union of Broadcasters (AUB) and Fifa, with which it has a contract, as it was outside its mandate.

In a letter, a copy of which was seen by Rwanda Today, Rura observed that “Fifa should be the one to protect RBA content from any third party who may illegally access or use it.”

Rura’s response was seen as a go-ahead by the defiant media organisations to continue screening matches from other sources or directly from the state broadcaster Rwanda Television (RTV).

Consequently, RBA director-general Arthur Asiimwe has faulted Rura for failing to fulfil its duties.

“Isn’t it Rura’s job to regulate content?” Mr Asiimwe asked while blaming Rura for failing to resolve the standoff over broadcasting rights. “If we went to Rura to say, look, these people are broadcasting our content illegally, why wouldn’t they intervene?”

While the local media houses continue to broadcast the World Cup, Mr Asiimwe says that a precedent will be set when the AUB comes in to regulate the field and penalise whoever is showing the games without authorisation.

“We paid $125, 000 for the rights,” he said. “It would have been easier for us to tap the games from DStv but we wouldn’t because we know the implications of doing so.

“It is time people knew that rights exist and they should be respected.

“Unfortunately, our media houses continue to work this way, infringing on copyrights and intellectual property, and the regulator Rura is not helping matters. This will set a precedent because whoever continues to show the games will face fines. We are recording everything.”

To date, RBA said it only left RTV on the StarTimes menu after removing the channels that were showing the games because most Rwandans own the Chinese firm’s decoders.

Mr Asiimwe said that, before the World Cup, he asked the private media houses to help cover part of the cost of the rights but they refused.

“If you look in the region, NTV, WBS or Citizen are not showing the games not because they don’t want to but because they know rights exist,” he said, adding that Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) secured a court injunction blocking all other would-be broadcasters after securing broadcasting rights at a cost of $800,000 while Uganda Broadcasting Corporation parted with $600,000.

“Our people here are just being stubborn and, in doing so, they are killing people’s businesses, which is totally unacceptable,” Mr Asiimwe added. “We need to set standards and respect intellectual property and copyright.

“What they are doing is criminal.”

However, private broadcasters remain defiant. The proprietor of TV1 and Radio 1, Charles Kakooza Nkuriza, said RBA could not prove that the agreement it has gives it the authority to stop other broadcasters from relaying the World Cup from whatever sources.

“First of all, we did not agree with the idea of paying RBA to show the games because they don’t have the right to sub-licence the rights,” Mr Nkuriza said. “That is illegal in the first place.

“We have not infringed on any law. We are not doing this for commercial purposes; it is just to ensure that Rwandans don’t miss out on the global spectacle.”

Mr Kakooza added that he was ready to face off with RBA in court or with AUB, saying they cannot stop broadcasters from airing a Fifa event yet Rwanda is a member of the global body. He said it is a conflict of interest.

But Mr Asiimwe said the rights are acquired on the premise that those who buy them have to recoup the investment; hence those who show the games without authorisation make it difficult for those who legally obtained them to recover their money.