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JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

I am putting this up as a separate thread in order to focus on the problem at hand... And that is, convincing Skyperfect to air their games live. They are already airing tape delays, and the time blocks during the recording of the live games are still "undecided content" so I encourage EVERYONE, including all your family and friends and co-workers who subcribe to Skyperfect to lodge a complaint!

If each one of us send a letter or email or makes a phone call, we can make a difference! WE are the ones paying THEM. WE are the customers here -- and we should get to see what we want to see.

Here is a copy of the letter I am sending to Skyperfect (and a few other places). Please fell free to copy it, change it, add your own information, and fire it off to the suits at Sky.

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Dear Sirs:

I am a SkyperfecTV subscriber. Generally speaking, I've had good service with your company, however some information has recently come to light that upsets me deeply and is causing me to reconsider my subscription to your services.

I am very disappointed and very angry to hear that Skyperfect will NOT be airing any FIFA World Cup soccer games live, but only on tape delay. As a soccer fan, this is unacceptable to me, as it is to thousands of others living in Japan who have been looking forward to see their favourite teams play live for the past four years, only to find out that Skyperfect will not be offering this service. Does Skyperfect not realize that this is the largest, single-most viewed sports event in the world? Over a billion people will be watching soccer LIVE all around the globe, except for those unlucky people who chose SkyperfecTV service! If I had known that this would be the case before I subscribed to Skyperfect, I never would have done so in the first place.

To resolve the problem I request that Skyperfect find a way to broadcast the World Cup games live. If it does not, I guarantee that Skyperfect stands to lose millions of yen in lost revenue, both from English-speaking AND Japanese-speaking soccer fans and viewers. It would not bother me if I had to pay extra for a pay-per-view service, but the fact that this isn't even an option is extremely disappointing to me. SkyperfecTV should be deeply ashamed at this gross oversight.

I look forward to hearing from you and to a resolution of this problem. In the mean time, until this complaint has been addressed, I will be looking for other alternatives and service providers that will be able to satisfy my desire to watch World Cup soccer live. If I do find a viable alternative, I will certainly pursue it and make sure all my friends (all of whom are also SkyperfecTV subscribers) will know about it as well. Please retain your loyal customer base and allow the fans to watch what they are requesting.

Yours sincerely

Jim Dunlop
(contact info deleted)

c.c. The Daily Yomiuri
Mainichi Daily News
The Japan Times
Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (TV/New Media department)
Infront Sports & Media (official FIFA broadcast rights re-seller)

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

Just because it would be really weird to send the above letter as an unexplained carbon copy to all the places that I listed in my c.c. list, this is the preface that I'm including with each letter.

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In less than two weeks, the entire world will be watching World Cup soccer, live from Germany. That is, the entire world except those who subcribe to SkyperfecTV, Japan's only satellite TV service provider.

For many residents of Japan who do not have access to NHK's BS-1 channel, Skyperfect offers the only alternative to quality broadcasting. (NHK will only be airing select games). Skyperfect has informed its customers that it will not be airing a single game live, making its fans wait for almost an entire day before allowing them to see the games they wish to watch. This is unacceptable!

I have written the following letter to Skyperfect to protest their oversight, and am encouraging all other Skyperfect subscribers to make their voices heard. We want live soccer!

Please assist us in convincing Skyperfect that they are losing millions of yen in revenue by neglecting the thousands of soccer fans across Japan, who will be looking to alternative media to watch live World Cup soccer. Contact Skyperfect and tell them how important this is to its subscribers. Help us fix this oversight.

Sincerely,

Jim Dunlop

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Good job, Jim. I agree with you 100%.

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Jim I thought you said that we would be watching soccer on channel 181,
free?

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

Sweetsee: Yes... BUT I made a gross error in my original schedule posting... If you read the Japanese match schedule, all the time blocks for live game broadcasting are marked as: "(生）データスタジオ" and at the bottom of each block it says: "放送内容未定" which, roughly translated, means: "live" "data studio" and "program contents still undetermined," respectively.

Likewise, a followup call to Skyperfect confirmed my suspicions and what others have been saying on some of the threads. Indeed, at this time, Sky is airing NO live games.

SO, YES you can view soccer on ch. 181 (Sky) but EVERYTHING is at least 24hours tape-delayed. NO live games -- not even the finals.

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

I see Jim, thanks. And will there be many games on 181?

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

All of them. (With a disclaimer -- plz see my original thread on the subject regarding 3 vs. 4 games/day changeover).

johanne · Joined: 18 Apr 2003 Posts: 189

Jim, I hope your plan works, but it's possible SkyPerfect doesn't have the broadcasting rights to show it live. You pay a lot more for the right to show "live" stuff than to show "re-broadcast". There are always a limited number of authorized broadcasters for an event like the world cup and SkyPerfect may not be one of them. But, just in case that's not it I'll send the letter too.

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

johanne: I can appreciate that... Broadcast rights are probably the issue here. But couldn't they offer something like this as pay-per-view when they know that people will pay it?

Case in point: I just came home tonight from having some beers with a friend who's been in Japan for about 7 years. He bought his Skyperfect dish 4 years ago, ONLY and EXPRESSLY for the purpose of watching World Cup soccer... When you're dealing with soccer fanatics, I believe you stand to lose a lot more money by skimping and not buying the live broadcast rights, versus satisfying the die-hard fans..... That's the reason why my letter is going to places beyond just Skyperfect. Maybe if I can get FIFA's broadcast license affliate to talk some sense into Sky they will change their minds...

(Not likely, but I have to hope...) Smile

Worst case scenario: I can always watch 1 live game a day on BS-1.... Even if it's not the game I want to watch. Confused

Chris21 · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Posts: 366 Location: Japan

SkyPerfect had the broadcast rights last time around, and they lost a boatload of money. You can check out the article in the November 2002 issue of Japan Monitor Weekly (it's a pay site though). The abstract is below...

angrysoba · Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 446 Location: Kansai, Japan

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

markle · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 1316 Location: Out of Japan

also Jim you're not going to get a lot of sympathy from those who over the years have lost the opportunity to watch their favourite sport free to air because pay TV operators have bought exclusive rights to most of the games so they are forced to pay for the privelege.

Speed · Joined: 04 Jul 2003 Posts: 152 Location: Shikoku Land

Don`t mean to ruffle anyone`s feathers but ...

..if the games aren`t shown live on SkyPerfect, why don`t you guys just change the channel and watch them live there?

Speed · Joined: 04 Jul 2003 Posts: 152 Location: Shikoku Land

Here`s a list another poster posted earlier of the live schedule and the networks that are showing them:

6/9 Germany vs. Costa Rica (1am) TBS

6/10 England vs. Paraguay (10pm) Fuji
Trinidad&Tobago vs. Sweden (1am) NHK

6/11 Serbia Montenegro vs. Netherlands (10pm) NHK
Mexico vs. Iran (1am) Asahi

6/12 Japan vs. Australia (10pm) NHK
USA vs. Czech Republic (1am) NHK

6/13 S.Korea vs. Turkey (10pm) NHK
France vs. Swiss (1am) TV Tokyo***
Brazil vs. Croatia (4am) TV Tokyo***

6/14 Spain vs. Ukraine (10pm) NHK

6/16 Argentina vs. Serbia Montenegro (10pm) NTV
Netherlands vs. Cote D�Ivorie (1am) NTV

6/15 Ecuador vs. Costa Rica (10pm) NHK
England vs. Trinidad&Tobago (1am) NHK

6/17 Portugal vs. Iran (10pm) Fuji
Czech Republic vs. Ghana (1am) NHK

6/18 Japan vs. Croatia (10pm) Asahi
Brazil vs. Australia (1am) Fuji

6/19 Turkey vs. Switzerland (10pm) TBS
Saudi Arabi vs. Ukraine (1am) NHK*** (not listed on the NHK site)

6/20 Ecuador vs. Germany (11pm) NHK

6/21 Portugal vs. Mexico (11pm) NHK

6/22 Japan vs. Brazil (4am) NHK
Czech Republic vs. Italy (11pm) Fuji

6/23 Saudi Arabia vs. Spain (11pm) NTV
Switzerland vs. Korea (4am) NHK

Second Round

6/24 1A vs. 2B (12am) M49 NTV
1C vs. 2D (4am) M50 NHK

6/25 1B vs. 2A (12am) M51 NHK

6/26 1E vs. 2F (12am) M53 TBS
1G vs. 2H (4am) M54 NHK

6/27 1F vs. 2E (12am) M55 TBS

Quarter Finals

6/30 W49 vs. W50 (12am) M57 NHK

7/1 W55 vs. W56 (4am) M60 NHK

Semi Finals

7/4 W57 vs. W58 (4am) M61 NHK

7/5 W59 vs. W60 (4am) M62 TV Tokyo***

Third Place Playoff

7/8 (4am) NHK

Final

7/9 (3am) Fuji

Here's a site in Japanese with the full TV listings.
http://www.euronavi.net/wm2006/g12.htm