The final of the men's 100m at the 2019 Pacific Games Photo: Roland Setu/Games News Service
Broadcasting rights for the 2023 Pacific Games in Solomon Islands will focus on member countries rather than an individual company.
Pacific Games Council Chief Executive Officer Andrew Minogue told RNZ Pacific the Pacific Games Organising Committee would produce the programmes and have the selected broadcasters share that in their respective countries.
"We have basically settled on a model that is like the traditional model that we've employed in previous Games where the Organising Committee will sort of put it all together in-house and then contract with different regional broadcasters, for example, Fiji TV in Fiji or France Television for the French territories," Minogue revealed.
"So, what will happen is they will all pull their resources, bring them all together and then create post broadcast.
"They're not going to outsource it to another company, they're going to do it themselves with the expertise they've gotten. They've got some very good people internally who have done this sort of work before.
"But they'll lean very heavily, like all other previous Games have done, on contributions from regional broadcasters, from the TV and radio stations from participating countries who can bring some personnel, some equipment down to help put it all together."
Ownership
Meanwhile, Minogue clarified that the decision on the broadcasting right is for the Council to make.
They work with the organising committees who put together a broadcast plan and organise the tender process.
"The broadcast right is ultimately owned by the Pacific Games Council. Just like we own the Games, we own the rights to the broadcasts as well," he said.
"The Organising Committee puts together a host broadcast plan in terms of how they would like to deliver the host broadcast services and they would do that effectively with our blessings. They will issue the contracts to the host broadcast organisation, to the other regional broadcasters that might contribute to the production.
"But that has to be approved by the Pacific Games Council. That's the process that we've gone through with Solomon Islands. There's been the tender process, the evaluation of tender because there have been different bidders."
Papua New Guinea’s Dika Toua, third from left, poses with, from left, Pacific Games Council CEO Andrew Minogue, CNMI acting governor Jude Hofschneider, Pacific Games Council President Vidya Lakhan, Mini Games Organizing Committee Chair Marco Peter, and Northern Marianas Sports Association President Jerry Tan. Photo: RNZ Pacific/Mark Rabago
Minogue said Solomon Islands Broadcasting will also have a role in the Games.
"There will be a role for them. There's certainly been a big part of the discussions that we've had with the Organising Committee. And no agreements have been signed yet but our expectation is that SIBC will have the domestic rights in Solomon Islands to broadcast the games internally.
"But they're not the organisation that will be the host broadcaster of the entire Games. We always try and keep that separate from a local broadcaster," Minogue added.
The Council hopes that the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Channel will assist in boosting the reach worldwide, through their online platform.
Crime prevention
The Royal Solomon Island Police Force has been giving talks on crime prevention ahead of the Pacific Games.
Honiara City Operations Manager Inspector Tex Tafoa said they have responded to requests from businesses on crime prevention awareness talks for their staff.
Inspector Tafoa said the talk is based on the functions of Honiara City Police Station, common crimes, hot spots and precaution measures one should consider on how best not to fall victim to these crimes.
He also advised attendees to be careful with valuables during the Pacific Games, because theft and pickpocketing is on the rise.
Meanwhile, the authorities have already confiscated dozens of fake and illegal T-shirts from two shops in Honiara.
A total 50 T-shirts that featured Solo, the official Games Mascot, were pulled off the shelves - with both shops believed to have breached the Pacific Games Act.
