- There is some disappointment that once again there was not an idea in which Ukrainian football would have found clear forms of a single product that would be of interest to local and foreign broadcasters. The idea has again drowned in arguments, discussions, scandals, and in principle we have a repetition of a sad story that has been all the previous years.
If we talk about the TV channels Football 1 / Football 2, we stood in a constructive position. If the Premier League and clubs come to a single decision, we will help them in this. In no case do not pull out the clubs one or two, and take the concept they choose. We basically participated in the development of the project with two broadcasters, when the ULP had a variant with UA:.
In the end, to date, my disappointment is that in a boat called "Ukrainian football", in fact there are all - the Premier League, clubs, broadcasters and including fans. I'm not currently looking for extreme, or those who were wrong. Each club wants to get better conditions for themselves, get more from TV broadcasters, get more from club sponsors. It is clear that in this struggle the clubs win bigger, and the smaller ones suffer from this. But the situation can become a dead-end - this is when large clubs simply do not have someone to play with. In turn, then the broadcasters have nothing to show, and fans have nothing to watch.
Pooling into a single pool is the situation in which some clubs could earn less, but in the future a single product would bring all significantly larger amounts. This has not taken place to date.
Why are we interested in a single product? If, incidentally, the Premier League came today and said that it is ready to offer us a product for a 3-year period with clear time slots, with a clear number of clubs and this would be a certain amount, then we understand for ourselves which product we buy , How we plan to develop it and how to monetize it.
- Who now owns the rights to broadcast matches?.
- Each club separately! Due to the fact that the idea with a single pool did not work out, we had to negotiate with the clubs ourselves and conclude contracts. In fact, we were in contact with the part of the clubs that we got in the configuration with UA. First - With whom did you contract?.
- To date, we have signed contracts with seven clubs. What clubs? They are Shakhtar, Alexandria, Mariupol, Olimpik, Zirka, Steel and Vorskla! Other clubs? I can not speak for my colleagues, I know that the "pluses" will be shown by four clubs: Dynamo, Karpaty, Zarya and Chernomorets. So, without the broadcaster there is only Veres. Due to the fact that it was not possible to create a single pool, we could not save all. Last season we broadcast six clubs, this year - seven. We simply do not have the opportunity to take more.
- What should happen to have a single pool in our football?.
- The Premier League was created in order for Ukrainian football to be commercialized. Now investors of clubs have other financial opportunities. Of course, much today depends on the management of clubs. Clubs can not live only due to the receipt of TV rights. Management of clubs should work with sponsors, with the filling of stadiums and other commercial areas. But as long as there is no unification of all 12 clubs under one roof, and they, in turn, will not agree with each other until it becomes a product, it will be an extremely unprofitable story for all.
Due to the fact that it was not possible to create a single pool, we could not save all.
While TV will not have the right to this product, it will not be able to effectively monetize it, accordingly, Ukrainian clubs will receive significantly less money.
The simplest example, when Ukrainian football demonstrates that it is out of business. This matches the first round of Shakhtar and Dynamo. It is impossible to let the championship leaders play at one time. Both matches in one day and at one time! This breaks the audience. Thus, each of the clubs will receive a smaller audience than they could, and hence the sponsors of the clubs will receive less contact with the target audience.
- How do you agree with the clubs on the acquisition of TV rights? Perhaps you are using a kind of "fork". For example, the higher the place the club takes, the greater the premium.
- We made a "fork". I will not disclose details. There is a clear understanding that our clubs receive a fixed amount for participation. In addition, they are interested in completing the second round of the championship in the top six. Moreover, there is a financial gradation if the club occupies a certain place in the top six. We, as a broadcaster, benefit from the fact that clubs from our pool were represented in the first six, as it will be watched more.
- Last season you selectively showed the matches of the First League. Do you plan to broadcast this tournament this season?.
- So far, to date, the issue has not been resolved. The championship has already started, and we are still settling all the technical details with the clubs, we did not get our hands before the First League, because we did not understand what the purchase of rights would end in order to see by what means we still operate. The first league, to a greater extent, we regard as a kind of social function of football TV channels - to give some matches from the lower league, because there is no commerce, only losses. To date, I can not say how the First League will be presented on our channel this season.
We, as a broadcaster, benefit from the fact that clubs from our pool were represented in the first six, as it will be watched more.
- We see a trend of the outflow of fans from the stadiums. Characteristic was the last season. Is there such a trend on TV channels?.
- Naturally, what we see is a question of how club management works with fans. This is another minus of the TV product called the Ukrainian Premier League. Yes, we have a crisis in professional football, but why go to Shakhtar in Kharkov, which is not the club's hometown. And why do not they go to Dynamo, who plays and lives in his native city. This is a matter of management. While football in Ukraine is still loved. Direct evidence that we saw the filled stands in Alexandria, saw how many people came to the first round in Mariupol.
- In the course of the season, the channel to the games of the ULP released the program "Football Live", then "Tour Online", but they differed little from each other. In the new season, which program will you save and in what format?.
- In fact, we did not pursue the goal of extremely radical approach to program change. The very name Football Live appeared even in the period of the formation of the channel Football. It was a universal name - where we will think up a studio, we put it there, it was not tied to a specific tournament. So she migrated on weekends in our net, but when it became obvious that the program about the Ukrainian tour, why it is called Football Live - it's unclear. The changes coincided with the fact that the Premier League provided a package of good graphics, which implied not only the design of matches, but also enabled the integration of elements of new graphics into the studio. Therefore, we re-designed the studio, changed the design and called it the Tour Online. That is, the program is a certain companion of every match and illuminates hotly everything that happens.
- Will there be something separately for the championships? Not a football Weekend in its format, where about everything. The championship of Ukraine is with its own program, and the other championships?.
- The Championship of Ukraine is the Tour Online and Great Football, and the English Premier League and Spain we sewed up in the European Weekend, which comes out on Monday and is called to tell about everything that happens in European football.
- Last season you showed the matches of the championships of England and Spain. This season, the expansion of the championships will be?.
- To date, we believe that the net is fully balanced, we have the best European football. Yes, the Serie A is starting to revive, perhaps we will look more closely towards Italy, there came investors from China. It seems that life begins to boil, perhaps Italy and will return. From Italy we refused at the same time for two reasons. The first is the economic one - we did not have the opportunity to show everything, and the second one is the decline of Seria A, a crisis that lasts a long time.
Yes, the Serie A is starting to revive, perhaps we will look more closely towards Italy, there came investors from China. It seems that life begins to boil, perhaps Italy and will return.
- Can the German championship return to the grid?.
- The Bundesliga was not suitable to us initially, because its time slots match began with England and Ukraine, so we, at best, gave the Bundesliga matches on Fridays, and everything else was put in the record. There is no efficiency from this purchase if the content does not go live.
- Looking at the TV program of the channel, we see a lot of matches and transfers in the record. Is the production of new gear planned for the new season?.
We, for a long time wanted and, at last, have started to develop and launch the program, which we have not yet spoken about anywhere, your resource will be the first.
- Weekly grid is built in this way: on Monday, the European Weekend, devoted to the review of European championships, is published; Tuesday-Wednesday - our production "Night of the Champions League", this is an exit studio or studio broadcasts from a TV channel; Thursday is a program dedicated to the European League - "Shlyah to Lyon", depending on which city takes. It's already four days of the week - a full grid, add here another 25-minute editions of football news. Weekends are again football news, which are the heart rate monitor of the European Championship, Tour Online and "Great Football". There is also the author's program of Alla Bubly, where there are conversations with football players for life, the "Head Team" program, which accompanies the matches of the national team. Thus, permanently we have on the air 9 projects of our own production. Another important direction is the creation of own documentary, the volumes of which have grown very much in recent years, when large ambitious projects were filmed - "The Phenomenon of Lucescu" and "The President: From Dream to Achievement". Now the film "Euro-2012: Ukrainian pride" was released, dedicated to the five-year anniversary of the Euro in Ukraine.
We, for a long time wanted and, at last, have started to develop and launch the program, which we have not yet spoken about anywhere, your resource will be the first. This is the morning program, which will be released on weekends and is designed to make an easy, entertaining and, at the same time, informationally saturated broadcast, to give the viewer some non-standard view of football. As a reference, I can tell you that there is something similar on Sky Sports, a program called Soccer AM. It will not be an analogue, the program will be different. The start is scheduled for September.
- You will continue to show the matches of the Champions League and the League of Europe? Last season, you shared some games with Ukraine, then with UFOs. This season it will continue?.
- Not only our concept does not change, but in general the concept of Media Group Ukraine is to show the top viewer to the viewer. Therefore, of course, we intend to participate in tenders for the Champions League, the League of Europe.
- In a year the world championship will pass. Theoretically, if our team will reach the finals of the 2018 World Cup, should it go to Russia, and show your games to your channels?.
- The general decision on whether to show or not show matches, no.
The issue was not considered in detail. It's July to the end of the qualifying cycle for another four months. In any case, when we watch the matches of the national team of Ukraine, we are in favor of it. We want her to win and win the qualification. Let us wish Andrei Nikolayevich Shevchenko success in his work and that he put us all in an uncomfortable position, put before the choice - that we all continue to do. When this moment comes - then it's worth talking.
Football. Ua.