Board to keep cricket on air

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to go ahead with its plan to ensure coverage of forthcoming cricket series against Australia, South Africa and Pakistan.

BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya said at a press meet in Kolkata yesterday that four options were floated by the board before the Bombay High Court, but neither ESPN-Star Sports nor Zee Telefilms paid any attention to it.

The BCCI had offered to split the four-year contract into two parts, with the next three series being treated separately and fresh contracts given for them.

"We offered that the three series could be taken out from the purview of the TV rights contract and be treated separately. The four-year TV rights contract could commence from May 2005 to April 2009. Or else both parties could bid for the rights of these three series before the court and adjustments in the payment could be allowed," he explained.

"Since the commercial interest was placed at a higher pedestal by the tendering parties than the game of cricket and public interest, BCCI decided to abort the tendering process. BCCI would now decide upon the future course of action with regard to the coverage of the cricket series," Dalmiya said.

Meanwhile, the information and broadcasting ministry has indicated that it is not in favour of the Prasar Bharati opting to telecast the upcoming India-Australia cricket series as the fees quoted by BCCI for the series are too high.

According to senior information and broadcasting ministry officials, BCCI wanted the state-owned broadcaster to pay as much as $2 million a day for telecasting all the four Test matches. This would have meant Prasar Bharati would have had to pay $40 million for the telecast rights.

Also, as the matter is currently sub-judice, the government is not looking at the telecast rights and wants a directive from the court before taking any further steps.

"We think the offer is very high and such payment is not economically viable. Besides, we will wait for some sort of a directive from the court before taking any step," said a senior information and broadcasting ministry official.