A PROPOSAL by TV5 to broadcast PBA games in a much later time slot and on separate channels has been rejected by the league board, multiple sources told Spin.ph.
New Sports5 head Chot Reyes met with the board on Thursday afternoon to present their broadcast plan after MediaQuest, the company which owns the broadcast rights of the pro league, decided not to renew its block-time agreement with IBC-13 where AKTV has been showing free sports programs since 2011.
According to sources, Sports5, TV5's sports arm, offered to air the first game of regular league doubleheaders on Aksyon TV channel 41 - TV5's channel on the UHF band - and the second game on TV5 at 8:30 p.m. beginning with the Governors Cup in August.
The board, however, was not amenable on two things: the airing of the games on separate channels and the late tip-off of the second game.
“Masyado nang late yung 8:30 p.m. Anong oras na makakauwi yung mga tao noon?” a league insider said. “Tsaka, baka magkaroon ng kalituhan sa fans kasi magka-iba ang channel na lalabasan.”
The board, however, has insisted that the coverage of the league games be on TV5, since the last broadcast of a league game on the channel - Game Three of the last Commissioner's Cup Finals between Ginebra and Alaska - netted a high rating of 22.4 percent.
At posting time, Commissioner Chito Salud was still in a meeting with league chairman Robert Non and other PBA officials and cannot be reached for comment.
No date has been set for Sports5 officials to present their revised proposal, but the board usually convenes every third Thursday of the month.
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