Pirating the game: The Walia Antelopes

As the hype surrounding the team’s participation subsides, raising some issues that were left as background noise are in order.

The other game

A day before the Walia’s first fixture, ETV reported that it may not broadcast the tournament due to unresolved licensing issues. It cited its disagreement with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) television broadcast license holder LC2 as the main reason. It was required to pay ETB 18 mil. (around a million dollar). It was not clear whether the fee was for the whole tournament or selected matches. ETV didn’t give much detail. The two-minute news concerning the issue mainly talked about the problem the Nigerians faced due to the high cost of the broadcast rights. It explained at length the reactions of the head of the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria. The West African nation was asked to pay ten times more than what Ethiopia had to. That may be attributed to the different media landscapes of the countries. Some posted their views on Ethiotube online video sharing site:

“18million birr is equivalent to 18 cobra cars for the cadres.
Just sell the cobras and pay for the football hungary people.”

“I am supporter of the goverment when it comes something postive
such as ABAY DAM. But I have no patience to hear such nonsense from ETV.’’

“ETV will broadcast for sure, they want a suspense!!!”

“18 million birr is very small for a country growing 11% every year!”

Things went out of control when the sole national TV station decided to air the match of the Walias against Zambia without prior permission. LC2 was quick to react. As the match was progressing it run tickers through the screen indicating that ETV was broadcasting the game without paying the fee and it took no time in labeling the move “an act of piracy.” The commentators picked the issue to spice up the monotonous football talk. An ETV news caster who doubles as head of sports and entertainment sections told the Amharic weekly Addis Admas that due to the high cost, the agency was still in the process of negotiation even while the second fixture was well underway. The official denied that ETV broadcasted the match without the consent of LC2.

Whatever the official had to say the tickers and some of the press releases sent to news media by the Benin based LC2 indicate a foul play. What is even more surprising, instead of finding common ground to resolve the issue, ETV launched an attack over the weekend. Half way into the tournament agreement has not been reached. The monopoly released a little more information saying that it is willing to offer ETB 8 mil. as opposed to the 18 mil it was asked to pay. While they are still open for negotiation ETV dubbed the rate as a “day light robbery.” Robbery or not, the national monopoly raked in millions from the hundreds of commercials it run without a competitor in the course of the tournament.

What goes around…?

It may be ironic that in 2010 ETV accused two of its long time journalists of copyright infringement. The journalists were first accused of selling video materials to Al Jazeera Television Network. In the words of government communication head Bereket Simon they were caught “red handed.” Then for some reasons prosecutors changed the charges and the two were found guilty of copyright infringement. In any event, the journalists languished in Kaliti prison for over a year before they were set free, eventually loosing their job. If ETV has such a tough stance on copyright infringements, it should have led by example.

Getting the picture

ETV is not new to using unauthorized footages in its broadcast. Sometimes they cover the labels on the screen and most of the time they don’t even bother. There are several instances of movies shown on Saturday night that were simply rented from DVD stores.

When ETV shops for various movies and TV series it usually finds it unaffordable to obtain latest releases. That is when it resorts to the less glorious moves.

The company’s financial muscle is a reflection of the country’s economic level. The station which merged with Ethiopian radio in 1995 to be called Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA) has a budget of around ETB 200 million (a little more than $10mil). That annual budget is sometimes less than a yearly salary of top western TV news anchors. As such, the station cannot be expected to compete with the Middle Eastern satellite channels who have since become the staples of many urbanite households in the country.

In all fairness, most of the time the agency acquires international footages legally. The country spends hundreds of thousands in foreign currency to pay for Reuters Television, Canal France International and scores of others for international news and weekly programmings. It gets both the scripts and the video of the day’s top international news: from hardcore politics to sports and light entertainment issues. Whether ETV uses these footages effectively is a completely different affair.

While piracy is rampant and manifests itself in a number of forms in the country, the fact that ETV is involved in such international scale is deplorable. With 50 years of experience under its belt, the latest introduction of its name to the outside world is no less than a disgrace to itself and the country at large.