Pubcaster
Prasar Bharati's board these days is seized with matters mostly
related to telecast rights. If it is not football, then it
must be cricket. A recent meeting of the board just did that
- discuss the issue relating to the terrestrial rights of
the ICC-organised cricket matches.
"Even the board meeting slated for early next month will discuss
the cricket telecast issue as DD cannot simply afford to ignore
the cricket matches in a cricket-crazy nation like ours,"
a senior Prasar Bharati official told indiantelevision.com
on Thursday.
The telecast rights of the ICC-organised cricket matches for
the next six years is held by World Sports Nimbus combine,
a joint venture between World Sports and Mumbai-based Nimbus
Communications, which sold the satellite rights for the India
region to Sony Entertainment Television India for a reported
sum of $255 million.
Admitting that DD, despite being the national broadcaster,
is slowly getting edged out of the sports telecast scene in
India in recent times, the official said: "Private channels
can push through some decisions fast, but being remote-controlled
by the government still, Prasar Bharati Corporation cannot
take quick decisions where huge amounts of money are involved.
We have to take into consideration not only economic factors,
but political ones too."
DD has been in negotiations with World Sport Nimbus for the
sale of terrestrial rights of the cricket matches, including
the next two World Cups. But talks reportedly broke down as
DD's offer did not find much favour with World Sport Nimbus
negotiators, which included the joint venture's co-chairman
and managing director of Nimbus Communication Harish Thawani.
When contacted, Thawani refused to either confirm or deny
the report other than to say: "We do not discuss commercial
negotiations that are in progress."
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