DD viewers may miss Twenty20 action

Much to the disappointment of DD viewers in non-cable homes, Prasar Bharti’s negotiating skills have fallen short just one day ahead of India’s first Twenty20 match. With last-minute talks between broadcaster rights holder ESPN Star Sports (ESS) and Prasar Bharti falling through, viewers in non-cable homes will miss the action of the highly-publicised tournament — at least that’s the verdict till now. Prasar Bharti was confident of getting the shared feed till 10 days back, but ESS has managed to keep the event exclusive with the backing of the I&B Ministry. Sources close to the development told ET that Prasar Bharti officials were trying to sort out the matter till last night.

A senior official of Prasar Bharti confirmed to ET that DD will not telecast the Twenty20 event. “As of now, Doordarshan is not telecasting the Twenty20 tournament,” he said. Asked if there was still a chance of DD getting a feed from ESS for the semi-finals and finals, the official said: “One never knows. Talks could be reopened.” ESS Software MD RC Venkateish declined to comment on the issue.

Interestingly, earlier this month, a top DD official had told ET that ESS would share a clean feed without ads with Prasar Bharati for all India matches, the semi-finals and the final, irrespective of whether India reaches the final stages. “We have been given to understand that ESS has agreed to share the feed with us. A formal communication from ESS is awaited,” the official had said. It had even been decided that ESS would market the Twenty20 event on the condition that the private broadcaster would have to meet the reserve price per match fixed by DD, failing which Prasar Bharti was to market the event on its own. It has been agreed that both broadcasters would follow a 75:25 revenue sharing arrangement ratio in favour of the private broadcaster as is mandatory by law.

This is not the first time a private broadcaster has not shared its feed with Doordsarshan. Last year in May, Ten Sports did not share the India-West Indies series with DD, with the Supreme Court barring Prasar Bharti from showing coverage of the series. The series involved five ODIs and four Tests. Later in the year, Zee Sports also did not share the telecast of the DLF Cup, held in Malaysia, with the state broadcaster. The tri-series between India, Australia and West Indies included seven-day and night ODIs.