| In the capital meanwhile, Ten Sports CEO Chris McDonald
met regulator chief Pradip Baijal today afternoon. The Indian government,
which has taken on the role of "facilitator" in the imbroglio,
is scheduled to meet with Ten Sports executives later this evening
in an attempt to hammer out a solution to the vexed cricket telecast
issue.
One of the options, according to government officials, that Ten
Sports would be offered is simulcast on the satellite sports channel
and on Doordarshan's national terrestrial network. The hook being
that Ten gets to keep whatever ad revenues DD manages to garner
out of the telecast (or it let Ten sell the event?).
Under this formula, DD won't pay Ten any money but offer the platform
and also allow Ten's logo to go during the broadcast.
The other option is to make available to DD the feeds of the cricket
matches on a deferred basis. But, here, the time of deferment would
be crucial as in one-dayers even six overs makes a lot of difference.
Under this formula, DD would have to pay some money based on mutually
arrived at agreements.
Though Ten Sports officials could not be immediately reached for
their reactions, it is also learnt that the government has advised
DD to be flexible if Ten agrees, in the first place, to consider
a compromise formula.
The government feels that non-telecast of the matches on DD of
a series, which has been "largely facilitated by the government",
may lead to law and order problems. However, the government also
acknowledges Ten's contention that DD signals would be stolen or
pirated by those cable ops that have not signed up with the Dubai-based
broadcaster.
Meanwhile, Ten conveyed to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(Trai) its apprehensions on cable operators stealing signals if
DD is provided a feed and also dwelt on other issues during a visit
that was termed a "courtesy call" by Baijal's office.
Keep tuned in for more on the cricket soap opera.
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