Prasar Bharati entitled to advt free live feed of matches: SC

In a jolt to Star Sports India Private Ltd, the Supreme Court today rejected its appeal challenging the Delhi High Court verdict asking it to share clean live feed without any commercial with public broadcaster Prasar Bharati or share revenue if signals have advertisements.
"From our ... Discussion, it becomes clear that the sharing of the signals has to be without any advertisements and if the advertisements are also to be included in the signals, there has to be sharing of the revenue," a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Prafulla C Pant said while dismissing the appeal of Star Sports India Private Ltd.

The Delhi High Court had in 2013 held whosoever airs a live broadcast of sporting events of national importance must share the same with Prasar Bharati without any commercials.
The private broadcaster has been seeking a direction to Prasar Bharati not to insist on live signal of international cricket matches of India without any commercial.
Referring to provisions of the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, the apex court concurred with the findings of the High Court and said that the contents are to be "mandatorily shared" by the private broadcaster with Prasar Bharati and they have to be "without its advertisements".

The apex court listed out the pursposes of some provisons and said that they aimed to achieve goals like providing "access to largest number of listeners and viewers on a free- to-air basis".

"The principle of purposive interpretation, in this context, meant that Prasar Bharati was supposed to telecast these matches for the benefit of general masses spread throughout India, who otherwise do not receive signals of private channels like the appellant or are not having financial capacity to pay for these channels.
(Reopen LGD31)
The apex court rejected the contention of the private broadcaster that logos and commercials are inserted at the end of content-holder like ICC and it cannot be asked to ensure supply of commercial-free live feed to Prasar Bharati.

"...It is made crystal clear by providing the definition of 'content rights owner' or 'holder' in Rule 2(b) of the Rules, 2007. Rule 3(3) takes the issue beyond any pale of doubt when it mentions that the signals to be shared with Prasar Bharati by the content rights owner or holder are to be the best feed that is provided to broadcast service provider in India and has to be 'free from commercial advertisements'.
"Thus, even if it is ICC which has included those advertisements/logos, the feeds have to be without those logos/advertisements inasmuch as nobody can dispute that the content rights owner are content holder, ie, ICC in the instant case has included those logos /advertisements from purely commercial angle. Thus, the arrangement between the ICC and the appellant (Star Sports), is totally inconsequential," the verdict said.

It referred to a provision and said it "very expressly" puts an embargo on "content rights owner, contents holder as well as television or radio broadcasting service provider" not to have television broadcast unless live broadcasting signal is shared simultaneously with Prasar Bharati.
It also said that if commercials are there in the live feed, shared with Prasar Bharati, then the advertisements get wider publicity and hence, the public broadcaster should get a share in the revenue earned from those commercials.
"However, when the signals are shared with Prasar Bharati enabling it to simultaneously retransmit the same on its terrestrial networks or DTH networks, the viewership/audience gets multiplied as the reach is to much larger section of citizenry through Prasar Bharati.

"Therefore, Section 3(1), in the first instance, mandates that the sharing of live broadcasting signals with Prasar Bharati has to be 'without its advertisements'" or if the advertisements are also to be included in the signals, then there has to be sharing of the revenue, the verdict said.