Tonga's television competition [1]
Friday, June 23, 2006 - 18:39. Updated on Monday, October 6, 2014 - 14:12.
Tonga's estimated 60,000 television viewers have never had so many channels to choose from.
A battle is raging between local and foreign television providers for a lion's share of the market mainly on the island of Tongatapu. Sky TV and its Tongan agent, the Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC) and Tonfön Television, a privately owned local company are the main players with both companies offering a Pay to View service with multiple channels.
The popularity of rugby, and recently soccer in Tonga has fuelled the competition, particularly during the current Soccer World Cup competition in Germany, and the tour of the Southern Hemisphere by the rugby nations of the Northern Hemisphere, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Italy; and the Pacific Five Nations Rugby Cup tournament between Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, the Junior All Blacks and Japan.
Sky TV entered the Tongan Pay TV market in November last year when it took the Super 14 rugby games away from Tonfön and gave the broadcasting rights to its local agent, TBC. Sky offered 16 channels compared to Tonfön's six channels.
Initially, Sky offered two subscription alternatives, and although its offers were attractive, but Tonfön since its establishment in 2003 had a strong hold of the pay television viewers market with its six channels and 24 hour service.
The competition between SkyTV and Tonfön has continued with both offering the same soccer and rugby programs, during the Soccer World Cup, and the new Pacific Five Nations Rugby Cup.
Lilika Mafi from Tonfön said that their latest offer is a reduction in the monthly subscription for up to Seven Channels, which include the BBC World, ABC Asia Pacific, Fox News, and entertainment. Lilika said they would show all the 64 matches of the Soccer World Cup, "including the Grand Final on July 10." She said that the first ever Pacific Five Nations Rugby Cup could also be viewed live on their fifth channel ABC Asia Pacific.
Tonfön has 3,000 subscribers, with an estimated 30,000 viewers. Sky on the other hand is not releasing their figures.
Meanwhile, another local television station, the Oceania Broadcasting Network, is now running programmes from China television.