Viasat 1 And Other TV Stations Fight Over Foreign Content    04-Mar-2013         Richard Offei-Addo

Charlotte Gustavsson-Viasat 1     There seems to be some undercurrents ensuing between Viasat 1 and other local TV stations over who has the right to show some foreign movies in Ghana. A release issued by Viasat 1 yesterday stated that other TV stations had been preempting its content by illegally showing movies it had acquired rights to show and had advertised on its channel and website. “Viasat1 will, effective from Wednesday, February 27, publish only daily schedules on the schedule page of our website www.viasat1.com.gh. This action comes on the heels of several complaints filed by our viewers that other TV stations illegally show movies we have the exclusive rights to the day before we have publicly announced on our website. The most recent incident occurred on Thursday, February 21, 2013 when we received comments on our facebook social media page to the effect that our ‘Movie @ 10’, Anaconda, had been shown by another television channel the previous night.” “It is for this reason that we have decided to run only daily schedules online, to prevent other TV stations for preempting our content.” The incident has forced CEO of Viasat1, Charlotte Gustavsson to say, “TV stations always have to pay for foreign content, and when Viasat1 buys the right to ‘Jurassic Park’, a ‘James Bond’ movie or ‘Anaconda’, we buy the exclusive rights. That means that no other TV station is allowed to show these movies. So when you see ‘Anaconda’ on another TV station, that TV station is committing an illegally act. We also see these cases as deliberate actions to steal our viewers and make us look bad. It is sad that some TV stations are not brave enough to play by the rules.” This is how movie rights work; when a movie is released, it hits the cinema, then DVD sales. Pay TV operators like DSTV can earliest obtain the rights to show a movie 1 year after it has been released. Free-to-air channels like Viasat1 and all other free channels in Ghana, can earliest buy the rights 2.5 years after release. So if you see a TV station showing a brand new movie from 2012, it is an illegal act and the studios who own the movies can, and will, take action against these culprits. “Viasat1 is assuring the public that we purchase all our movies from authentic sources without copyright infringement. We do not pirate any movies or programmes, and therefore will continue to promote transparency and authenticity in the industry. “We apologize to all our dear viewers that we are being forced to take these actions, but we encourage you to continue visiting us online for our daily schedules going forward.”