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MUMBAI:
Australia’s Ten Network has secured a five-year deal
to air the BCCI’s upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL).
For
Ten Network, the big rub is that greats like Shane Warne,
Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist will be seen
in action. The IPL has eight teams competing in Twenty20 matches.
Ten will exclusively broadcast all 59 matches over 44 days
from 18 April – 1 June.
World
Sport Group owns the global media rights to the IPL. The company’s
CEO, South East Asia Venu Nair says, "We are delighted
with the agreement we have reached with TEN to broadcast the
IPL. A long-term commitment from a commercial free-to-air
broadcaster in Australia highlights the value and excitement
surrounding the launch of this new sporting property."
Ten
GM sport David White said, "Securing the exclusive five-year
Australian broadcast rights to the IPL is another major coup
for TEN. It builds on our impressive and expanding sport portfolio,
which includes AFL, Formula 1, MotoGP, Nascar, golf, NFL and
the recently announced 2010 Commonwealth Games. The IPL will
deliver over 180-hours of premium sporting content, much of
which will be broadcast in and around primetime.
"As
always, Ten has carefully assessed this acquisition and we're
very confident it will deliver significant value to the network
from audience, revenue and margin perspectives. "This
is the way cricket should be – great players, high intensity,
big hitting, simply put – the best of the best."
Later
this month, the IPL will hold its player auction in which
each of the eight team owners will bid for the players they
wish to represent their team. This will ensure a mix of the
world's best players across each team. Ten will also broadcast
the player auction.
In
India, Max will air a capsule following the Player Auction.
At least one match will be played on each day of the tournament,
with two matches scheduled back-to-back on certain weekdays
and every Saturday and Sunday.
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