In a deal brokered by the Infront agency, the Indonesian media group, Emtek has announced that they have acquired the media rights for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The tournament will be broadcast on terrestrial free-to-air channels SCTV, Indosiar, O Channel, and Mentari TV, as well as its Champions TV sports pay-television channels and its streaming platform, Vidio.
SCTV will broadcast live and run highlight coverage of all 56 matches. From the round of 16, Indosiar will broadcast live and re-run highlights of the matches. All 64 matches will be live-streamed on Vidio. Simulcasts of live group stage matches will also be available on O Channel and Mentari TV.
Champions TV coverage will ensure that matches are broadcast to rural and remote areas of Indonesia via platforms such as Emtek’s Nex Parabola satellite platform.
Emtek Group, Managing Director, Sutanto Hartono, said, “We do hope viewers are satisfied with the reach and the varieties of platforms available in the ecosystem. We are also thrilled to welcome upcoming partners for multiple collaborative initiatives.”
Infront is handling the distribution of the 2022 World Cup rights in Indonesia and 25 other Asian countries. The rights were acquired by the agency in late 2011, in a deal that covered all FIFA events from 2015 to 2022, including the men’s World Cups in 2018 and 2022.
Infront sold the 2018 FIFA World Cup rights in Indonesia to the Futbal Momentum Asia agency, which then sold them to the media conglomerate, MNC.
The kick-off time of this year’s World Cup matches is mostly favourable for Indonesian audiences, with 40 matches beginning at 5 pm, 8 pm, 10 pm, or 11 pm Indonesian Western Time (WIB). However, 24 matches will begin at 2 am (WIB), including the two semi-finals and two of the four quarter-finals. The World Cup final will kick off at 10 pm (WIB).
In a deal with the Mediapro agency last month, the Spanish public broadcaster, RTVE secured free-to-air rights to the 2022 tournament. According to reports, RTVE outbid commercial rivals to secure the rights for €35 million ($38.5 million).