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Four in fray for cricket telecast rights

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will begin deliberations on different issues concerning forthcoming cricket tours, including telecast rights, from tomorrow, August 18, culminating in the working committee meeting on August 20.

The programmes and fixtures committee, which is scheduled to meet in Bombay tomorrow, will finalise the itineraries of the forthcoming home tours of New Zealand and South Africa.

The marketing committee, which will meet on August 19, will discuss the awarding of telecast rights. Four television channels, including Doordarshan, are said to be in the fray. The others are ESPN-STAR, Zee and Sony. However, it is believed that Nimbus has made a sensational bid of Rs 500 crore.

When contacted, Nimbus managing director Harish Thawani, neither denied nor confirmed the amount. He only said that their bid is almost twice than that of the others. However, BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele pointed out that the board had only asked for proposals from the above mentioned four companies (Doordarshan, ESPN-StarSports, Zee and Sony).

''We have not given any tender notice,'' he said. "We will give the rights to one of these four channels. That particular channel is then free to decide on its producers.''

Thawani later went on to say that his company did not receive any official communication from the BCCI to this effect. "Nor has it reacted to our offer," he said. ''I agree the BCCI did not ask us for our proposal. But our position is very simple. On the basis of information that the current telecast contract has ended, we sent the board an offer."

So what's the criteria for selection?
Said Lele: ''Apart from the offered price, the reach of the channel will also be considered.''

"In that case Doordarshan has the edge," said a senior officer in Doordarshan. ''Prasar Bharati has requested the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to release some funds for the bidding,'' he added.

Another important item on the agenda of the programmes and fixtures committee is finalisation of itineraries for the home tours of New Zealand and South Africa. The Kiwis are set to arrive in India on September 30 to play three Tests and five limited-overs matches. South Africa will play three Tests in February-March. Ahmedabad, Bombay, Nagpur, Bangalore, Kanpur and Mohali are the likely venues for the six Tests, as per the rotation formula.

The board's finance committee will also meet on August 19, while the working committee will meet on August 20. The working committee, among other important things, is to decide on the dates and venues of the annual general meeting.

All the meetings will be held at the Cricket Club of India premises.

Meanwhile, Lele denied any move by the BCCI to shift its head office from its present site at the north stand of the Brabourne Stadium to the Wankhede Stadium.

UNI

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