DD BAGS SEVERAL CRICKET TOURNAMENT RIGHTS

DD has beaten the combo of ESPN and Star Sports by bagging telecast rights for several cricket events. The state-owned broadcaster is reported to have paid $20 million for telecasting cricket events from Sharjah (in the Gulf) for the next three years. It has also pocketed the rights to the mini-World Cup to be held in Dhaka later this month. Finally, it is also expected to get the rights to the World Cup to be held in England in 1999.

DD has been giving private channels ESPN and Star Sports a run for its money ever since it appointed a consortium of private producers, headed by former Star TV general manager Siddharth Ray, to acquire international and domestic sports telecast rights. The consortium also markets air-time during the telecast of the events on DD.