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Jakarta - The price of television antennas has surged in the Indonesian capital as football fans rush to ensure the best possible reception of the World Cup starting on Friday in SA, retailers said.
Jakarta antenna sales person Rizki said prices of some units had more than doubled ahead of the biggest sports event in the world, despite Indonesia's 137th-ranked team not even making it to the finals.
"There's a significant increase in antenna buyers, up about 60% since last week," he said from his shop in West Jakarta where receivers sell for between 70 000 rupiah ($7.50) and 400 000 rupiah.
"We can't get good television images without TV antennas as we're surrounded by high-rise buildings here," he explained.
Some pay-TV subscribers are also worried about being denied access to World Cup broadcasts on free-to-air channels RCTI and Global TV unless they have antennas, he said.
PT Electronic City Entertainment bought the Indonesian rights to the 2010 World Cup three years ago and re-sold them to national broadcasters RCTI and Global TV in a deal that left local cable networks out in the cold.
"It's so expensive. It's difficult to make a profit from it," said a representative with pay-TV network Indovision Arya Sinulingga which has about 700 000 subscribers nationwide, half of them in Jakarta.
Jakarta antenna sales person Rizki said prices of some units had more than doubled ahead of the biggest sports event in the world, despite Indonesia's 137th-ranked team not even making it to the finals.
"There's a significant increase in antenna buyers, up about 60% since last week," he said from his shop in West Jakarta where receivers sell for between 70 000 rupiah ($7.50) and 400 000 rupiah.
"We can't get good television images without TV antennas as we're surrounded by high-rise buildings here," he explained.
Some pay-TV subscribers are also worried about being denied access to World Cup broadcasts on free-to-air channels RCTI and Global TV unless they have antennas, he said.
PT Electronic City Entertainment bought the Indonesian rights to the 2010 World Cup three years ago and re-sold them to national broadcasters RCTI and Global TV in a deal that left local cable networks out in the cold.
"It's so expensive. It's difficult to make a profit from it," said a representative with pay-TV network Indovision Arya Sinulingga which has about 700 000 subscribers nationwide, half of them in Jakarta.
