Grace Fu sings a different tune now that Mediacorp signs ‘live’ telecast deal of Rio Olympics

By: S Karthigesu

Now that Singaporeans will get to watch the Rio Olympic Games live, Sports Minister Grace Fu is singing a different tune.

The Independent Singapore (TISG) reported on 2 Aug about the delayed telecast of the Olympics (https://theindependent.sg.sg/despite-sports-ministrys-hypocrisy-singapore-cant-wait-for-schooling-vs-phelps-battle) and said:

“Sports Minister Grace Fu in reiterating the Government’s position that the non-telecast of of “live” action from Rio is a “commercial one” acknowledged that the whole country is very excited about the Games, especially because many of our athletes have been training very hard.

But she justified the delayed telecast saying that “it’s 30 hours away and the time zone is a bit different”, so many Singaporeans “will try to catch up and watch the Games at a later time.””

And now since Mediacorp announced an eleventh-hour deal with rights holder Dentsu to broadcast the Olympic Games live in Singapore, she is saying that she is “happy to hear that Singaporeans will be able to catch our athletes “live” in action at Rio on Mediacorp, now that the commercial partners have reached a deal.”

She also said: “Our contingent of athletes are in Rio, ready to give their best for Singapore. I hope Singaporeans will cheer on our Olympians as One Team Singapore!”

Ms Fu’s note would not have sounded so hypocritical if she had just stopped her earlier statement at saying that the non-telecast of of “live” action from Rio is a “commercial one”, without going on to justify the “commercial decision” by saying that because it is happening at a different time zone, the delayed telecasts will enable Singaporeans to “to catch up and watch the Games at a later time.”

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Editor’s note:

Channel NewsAsia reported that: “Mediacorp re-entered negotiations with the Olympics broadcast rights holder on Thursday. With the new deal, Mediacorp will now broadcast the Rio 2016 Olympic Games live, every day from Saturday (Aug 6) to Aug 22 (Singapore time) on:

• okto, its designated TV channel for sports content. The channel will also feature Today at the Olympic Games, a nightly show highlighting Singaporean athletes

• Four Toggle channels, its over-the-top service. These are available for free, as long as the user has a broadband connection. No set top box is needed.

With okto and Toggle, Singapore viewers have a choice of watching, at any one time, any of five live Olympic events taking place in Rio.”

(source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/mediacorp-adds-live/3016114.html?cid=FBCNA)