NBC wrongly selling adverts for World Cup

* DENVER ISAACS ONE Africa Television has taken issue with the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) offering advertising packages for the live broadcast of the 2006 soccer World Cup, which starts next month.

The independent television station announced last month that it had bought the exclusive rights from FIFA to broadcast the games live in Namibia. One Africa had acquired the rights with financial assistance from Telecom Namibia and Nedbank.One Africa said this week that the NBC had approached them to obtain the broadcast, but nothing had been settled yet and negotiations were still underway.”As of this date, no agreement regarding the live broadcast of the FIFA World Cup 2006 Germany on the NBC has been reached or agreed upon between One Africa Television and the NBC,” the station announced in a statement on Tuesday.”We trust that our position is clear and we apologise for any confusion caused by the NBC advertising proposal,” it continued.Approached for comment on Wednesday, Hileni Fillemon of the NBC’s Public Relations Department said that the State-funded broadcaster would issue a written statement to answer to the complaint.By yesterday, however, the NBC had failed to deliver on this promise.One Africa’s Director for Operations, Waldheim Shiluwa, on Wednesday declined to elaborate on the details surrounding the negotiations between One Africa and the NBC, saying only that the station was prepared to work in co-operation with its competitor.One Africa had acquired the rights with financial assistance from Telecom Namibia and Nedbank.One Africa said this week that the NBC had approached them to obtain the broadcast, but nothing had been settled yet and negotiations were still underway.”As of this date, no agreement regarding the live broadcast of the FIFA World Cup 2006 Germany on the NBC has been reached or agreed upon between One Africa Television and the NBC,” the station announced in a statement on Tuesday.”We trust that our position is clear and we apologise for any confusion caused by the NBC advertising proposal,” it continued.Approached for comment on Wednesday, Hileni Fillemon of the NBC’s Public Relations Department said that the State-funded broadcaster would issue a written statement to answer to the complaint.By yesterday, however, the NBC had failed to deliver on this promise.One Africa’s Director for Operations, Waldheim Shiluwa, on Wednesday declined to elaborate on the details surrounding the negotiations between One Africa and the NBC, saying only that the station was prepared to work in co-operation with its competitor.