NPB on TV - an idea requiring feedback/assistance
- I suspect the costs will be daunting, and wonder if an event in Brisbane alone will be sufficient to recoup your costs. I understand there are also sizeable Japanese communities in Sydney and on the Gold Coast. Perhaps some simultaneous events might be required.
- Given that NPB apparently doesn't even get regular air time in the US, the Japanese TV networks might be loathe to get involved in something like this. Not because it's Australia they'd be dealing with, but because it's unprecedented, and some facets of Japan are conservative when it comes to making bold new ideas. However if, right from the get-go you can make a reasoned, researched (give them hard numbers), professional, worthwhile proposal, I don't think they'll slam the door in your face.
- If it's a Giants game you want, you might be better off contacting Yomiuri TV [aka Nihon Television], who televises all Giants' home games (but whose free-to-air channel commences broadcasts an hour after playball and often cuts off before the end; not their cable channel [G+], though) rather than NHK.
NPB is quality baseball and it deserves some kind of exposure overseas. I wish you good luck in your venture.
Gambatte!
I actually have already contacted Kiku TV (about 30 mins after I put my post here - great minds think alike
, and they've given me some info, so I have a start.ADAM COLEMAN
This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
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Anyway, the simple question is:
If I would like to organise (for 2005) screenings of NPB games in Brisbane, Australia by the means of a satellite broadcast (i.e. private screening, not on any TV network in Brisbane or Australia) from Japan live (in Japanese) for members of the Japanese community here in Brisbane, whom do I chat to? NHK? The teams? And any idea how much the rights to one game (regular season, doesn't matter which team) on a Wednesday night would cost?
Now, the long bits:
In May of this year, I was fortunate enough to be in Tokyo at the end of my world holiday, and caught a Giants-Tigers game at The Big Egg. Tigers won 7-6 in an almost four hour marathon. It was thanks to this site, actually, that I found out about it.
Just a few weeks after I returned, a Brisbane businessman David Lewis (and supporter of the English football club West Ham United) managed to buy the Australian exclusive TV rights to one football game - the West Ham/Crystal Palace Div 1 final from UK network BskyB. He held events (on satellite TV only) in one bar in each of Australia's 5 major cities (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth). In Brisbane, he got a full house of 400 people paying AUD$25/$US18 a pop (to cover the rights) to a local sports bar. Closed function I should point out.
In Brisbane, we have a very large Japanese community, either through studies, tourism, or even living here. It is one of the most taught second languages in high school.
I would like to, in 2005, organise an event with a sports bar in Brisbane to have a monthly screening of a live NPB game in Japanese (if first pitch is 6pm in Japan, that's 7pm in Brisbane), straight off the feed from Japan.
Now, I know NHK covers the Giants from my pocket guide, but when I checked the NHK site, I got info on their international programming suitable for hotels, etc., which doesn't include Pro-Yakyu. So, if anyone has any ideas, please let me know. It might just be that the costs for setting it up would make it too difficult to recoup without charging high prices for patrons. AUD$20/US$14 would be the most I'd want to charge them.
ADAM COLEMAN
Brisbane, Australia
Takahashi #24 Giants Fan!