By Lamin Cham
State broadcaster GRTS, the only station with rights to show the World Cup starting this month, has said due to Fifa regulations, the global football showpiece will not be aired on satellite but will be shown live on its terrestrial networks.
“The GRTS management regrets to inform its viewers that the World Cup matches will not be available through satellite receivers and management therefore advises viewers to acquire the traditional outdoor or internal television antennas to watch the matches,” a statement from the broadcaster obtained by The Standard stated yesterday. It also apologises viewers for any inconvenience.
The Standard called up an expert for more details. He said: ”What is happening is that Fifa is not allowing GRTS to air the matches on satellite because the rights the national broadcaster bought are only for the Gambian audience. So, the only avenue GRTS has to make use of this deal is to air it on terrestrial network which means people who used to tune GTRS on satellite, example through the receiver boxes, will not be able to watch the matches on that receiver but will now have to use the old fashion inbuilt antenna on the their TV or connect the TV to an outside antenna, just as it used to be before the advent of satellite viewing”.
Our expert added that with most Gambians already used to satellite viewing, they will have to adjust back to the old ways of TV viewing at least for the duration of the World Cup.
