Indo-Pak Cricket Telecast: Prasar Bharati gets marketing rights

New Delhi, Nov 3 (UNI) Public Broadcaster Prasar Bharati has obatained the rights for marketing of the commercial airtime during the broadcast of the coming India-Pakistan Cricket series.

The series will open with One Day International at Guwahati on November 5.

The rights for the telecast of five ODIs and three test matches are with Nimbus Communications.

A senior Doordarshan official told UNI that the bids were thrown last night and finalised early today.

As per the rules under the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007, the party getting the marketing rights will give the guarantee to the other party for an amount equal to the other party's share of guaranteed revenue which will be valid for a period of six months from the first day of the month succeeding the month in which the sporting event comes to an end.

The rules notified this week provide that it is the Prasar Bharati which will take steps to determine who out of the two--the content rights owner or the Prasar Bharati-- shall undertake the marketing rights generated by the retransmission on the public broadcaster's channel, and either of the party, which offers to maximise the revenue will get the rights.

According to rules, sealed bids would be invited and they would be opened in the presence of representatives of both the parties and the one bidding higher shall get the marketing right.

Prasar Bharati shall have all the rights to generate, pre, post and intermission programming, and it will not be under any obligation to carry the logo of any channel.

The public broadcaster has the right to retransmit the signals on its terrestrial and Direct-to-Home networks, including the AM and FM channels of All India Radio, say the rules.

The Mandatory Sharing of Sports Signals Act replaced an ordinance which had to be brought in following the refusal of the Neo Sports to share its live feed with the Prasar Bharati in the cricket series before the West Indies World Cup.

As per the Act, content right holder will have to share with the Prasar Bharati the live feeds of any sports event of national and international importance, a list of which will be determined and notified by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in consultation with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Prasar Bharati.

Meanwhile, the BCCI and Nimbus Communication have approached the Delhi High Court seeking direction for encryption of DD signals to prevent illegal transmission of live feed by private operators.

The court has issued notices to the Centre and Prasar Bharati on the petition.

UNI