(11 April 2006 6:00 am)

MUMBAI: In a rare business move, Prasar Bharati has signed a deal with Zee Telefilms to co-market the two One Day International (ODI) matches to be played in Abu Dhabi between India and Pakistan on 18 and 19 April.

According to the deal, Prasar Bharati and Zee Sports will jointly market the live telecast/broadcast of the two matches. The live telecast will be carried on DD National Network, Zee Sports, and a live ball by ball running commentary on All India Radio Network.

The matches are part of the 25 ODIs that will feature India playing in neutral venues over the next five years. Zee Telefilms had secured the rights to the series for a whopping $219.15 million.

"Prasar Bharati and Zee Sports have already sent a joint rate card to the advertisers. We will be talking to the clients together and the deals will be done jointly," says Prasar Bharati deputy director general Vijayalaxmi Chhabra.

Speaking on the association, Zee Sports VP Marketing Gaurav Seth said the initiative would broaden the market for both the players. "By jointly marketing the event, we will be able to put our maximum efforts behind the project. This will bring us better deals and an expanded TG," says Seth.

When queried, if the deal would be extended to the rest of the matches, Seth said it would depend on the success of the current initiative.

For the Out of Live period (pre and post match and during lunch break), the main sponsor will be charged Rs 20,000 and Rs 15,000 each per match by Zee and DD respectively. The FCT per day for this segment is 90 seconds per channel. Same is the rate and duration for the Highlights package. For repeat telecast, Zee is charging the main sponsor Rs 5,000 per match for a ten second slot, for a total of 450 seconds.

According to the package which also includes the AIR rates, both Zee and DD combined is targeting a total gross outlay of Rs 38.2 million from the main sponsor. This includes compulsory package on DD News Boundary Paar and the Zee Sports cricket special, which costs Rs 2 million each.

For associate sponsorships, Zee is charging Rs 225,000 and DD Rs 200,000 for a 10 second slot for Inside Live. The total FCT available is 300 seconds per match. The total gross outlay DD and Zee combined is targeting through associate sponsorships -- this also include Out of Live, Highlights, Repeat and the All India Radio rates -- stands at Rs 28.86 million.

The spot buy rates for live matches on Zee is fixed at Rs 300,000 per 10 seconds, while DD charges Rs.250,000 for the same.

The rate card insists that, Presenting/Associate Sponsors have to compulsorily take both the DD, Zee Sports & AIR packages. No split packages will be entertained. All Presenting/Associate Sponsors will have to compulsorily buy the presenting/associate package of the live broadcast of the matches on All India Radio respectively.

All Presenting/Associate Sponsors will have to compulsorily invest a package of Rs 1 million on DD News & Zee Sports channel's special cricket/sports news related programmes. The effective rate per 10 seconds in this package will be Rs 10,000 on DD-News. There will be no restriction on offer of FCT/Properties to competitive products in any category across channels on the cricket matches.

Highlights of the matches will be carried on the next day after the match at 8 am on DD-National Network. On DD-News, Boundary Paar will be scheduled for 11 pm for the Day-Night matches. On Zee Sport, highlights will be mounted on the next day between 7 am to 9 am.

As decreed in the downlinking policy guidelines issued by the government, the revenue share for this series is 75:25 in favour of Zee, the rights holder.