I REFER to Yusoff Hanifah’s complaint about TV coverage of the ATP tennis masters finals in Madrid (”Top tennis match totally ignored” — NST, May 22).

On May 17, three big global sports events took place simultaneously: the ATP World Tour: Mutua Madrilena Madrid Finals, a Italian Serie A football match and a Spanish Primera Liga match.

Astro SuperSport (Channel 811) was unable to broadcast all the events live at the same time.

It was a tough decision for the channel to determine which match to broadcast.

Ultimately, we made the decision to broadcast the two football matches live, taking into consideration that the events would appeal to a larger viewership base.

Likewise, on Astro SuperSport+ (Channel 816), the extended temporary channel broadcast the BWF Sudirman Cup World Badminton Championship Finals as it is a sports event that appeals to Malaysians in general. Nevertheless, Astro remained committed and telecast the ATP World Tour Mutua Madrilena Madrid Finals during prime time on May 18.

Astro is committed to continuously provide premium coverage of major local and international sports events.

We are pleased to inform tennis fans that we’re bringing live coverage of the French Open 2009 until June 7 on Astro SuperSport+, which will be temporarily available to all Astro Sports customers until June 9.

LEE CHOONG KHAY, Head, Sports Business, Content Management Group, Astro

Source: NST – May 29, 2009