Soon a Doordarshan bonanza for cricket fans in India

There is good news round the corner for cricket lovers in India. The Narendra Modi government is planning to bring in a regulation which would allow mandatory telecast of Indian cricket matches on Doordarshan channels available to DTH subscribers.

The proposal is currently being studied by officials of the Union Information and Broadcasting ministry. This would help DTH viewers watch Indian cricket matches and also avoid subscribing to expensive sports channel bouquets sources in the law ministry told OneIndia.

At present Doordarshan channels that telecast matches are blacked out by DTH operators. The free telecast of cricket matches on Doordarshan is available only to those viewers who use its terrestrial network.

The proposal would be placed before the Union Law Ministry for opinion. It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had last year said that Prasar Bharti can air the feed from private broadcasters only on terrestrial network and free dish, but not on Doordarshan channels carried by cable operators and private DTH platforms.

Once the change comes into force, cable operators can get access to the broadcast of a sporting event through private channels by paying subscription fees and also through the Doordarshan channels.

Section 8 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act makes it mandatory for all cable operators to carry two Doordarshan channels. However there is no binding as of now that the DD channel showing cricket matches has to be shown.

OneIndia News