| NEW
DELHI: Sony Entertainment Television India (now known as Multi Screen Media) and
the BCCI have finally smoked the peace pipe after sabre rattling in the media
and sparring in court. Sources indicate, at the time of writing, that the two
have reached an out of court settlement which means Sony retains the telecast
rights for IPL season 2. Sony
will, however, have to cough out more. How much is not clear at this stage, though
figures like Rs 1.5 billion are doing the rounds. Sources
point out the BCCI and Sony had little option but to settle. IPL commissioner
Lalit Modi has been battling with the government to be allowed to conduct the
tournament during the elections and has been working hard to find dates which
suited it. Seeking a new broadcast partner would have added to the woes. Though
the BCCI said it had signed a new agreement with the sports marketing agency World
Sports Group (WSG) Mauritius that would load the IPL property with more cash,
Modi had very little time to play around with the inaugural match of the second
edition kicking off on 10 April. The
legal process would have dragged on as the Bombay High Court reserved its order
while restraining the cricket board from parceling out the rights to any other
party. If the verdict would have gone against Sony, rest assured it would have
landed in the Supreme Court.
NDTV
and ESPN Star Sports have been touted as being in the race
for the rights. In a cash-tight market, it is uncertain how
NDTV would have managed to line up the funding even though
talks were of Malaysia-based Astro being a partner.
ESS
has hawked other cricketing rights at high rates but, perhaps,
would have lapped up the IPL to back its other properties
that include the ICC World Cup events. In fact, News Corp.
Chairman Rupert Murdoch had, in an interview to CNBC TV18,
stated that ESS "miscalculated in not getting the IPL."
But on the other side of the argument, analysts say News Corp.
is going through a tough patch amid the downturn in the global
economy.
Shifting
the IPL to another tournament window is also not feasible
in a crowded international cricketing calendar. "There
is simply no tournament window covering around 45 days available
to Modi, thanks to the busy cricket season ahead," says
an observer.
Net,
net: despite all the posturing and media specualtions, Sony
is probably best equipped to telecast the IPL as it has already
put in a lot of preparatory work into it.
Details
of the settlement may or may not be made public, and if they are, then it will
become clear who yielded and how much. For the viewer and the media fratentity,
the settlement means that the period of uncertainty is over. And that's indeed
good news. | 
