National broadcaster Vietnam Television, or VTV, said it will directly contact and buy the telecast rights of the English Premier League (EPL) for the 2013 – 2016 seasons from the organizers, and will not cooperate with any other local broadcasting units in the deal. “VTV will directly sign the contract with the EPL organizing board, and the telecast prices will revolve around the rates of the recent purchases,” deputy general director Nguyen Thanh Luong said in the statement. The document was released as a response to the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism’s document which called for cooperation between local TV rights companies in order to be able to acquire the EPL TV rights at reasonable prices. But VTV said the rights solution was agreed upon by its subunits who are operating in the paid TV sector, and has assigned a reputable telecast rights company to implement the plan since June. “It’s too late to put the issue of cooperating to enjoy a better price on the table now,” it said. Local TV stations have had to pay eight-figure sums to acquire the rights to broadcast the EPL in the country during the previous football seasons, due to the disunity among the broadcasters. In late September, the problem attracted public attention again when the Premier League organizers began to launch auctions for the EPL telecast rights for three seasons starting from 2013. With local TV stations expected not to work together, insiders predict that they will have to earmark at least $30 million for the deal. VTV also stated in the document that other broadcasters, such as VCTV, VSTV and SCTV, can still negotiate with the EPL organizers at their wish.

The companies are advised to ask the Association of Paid TV to be its representative in the negotiation, it said.