Broadcast rights tangle hits Zee Telefilms

DALAL STREET SPIKES

The Zee Telefilms stock plunged four per cent in intra-day trades on Monday ahead of the company's decision on its fresh bidding to avoid a legal battle over the rights to broadcast the Indian cricket team's international matches played in India.

The company board on Monday deferred the announcement on the broadcast to Tuesday. The stock ended 3.95 per cent lower at Rs 143.55 on back of huge volumes of 17.34 lakh shares on the BSE.

It was the third straight day of fall in the stock after the Mumbai High Court last week gave Zee an option for a fresh bidding process with ESPN-Star Sports to avoid a legal battle.

The stock had plunged over nine per cent since the court ruling on Thursday. The stock's performance in the last few days has reflected the developments regarding the cricket rights. The scrip had jumped 22.9 per cent to Rs 161.60 on September 6, before the sharp correction in the last three days.