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Our Bureau

New Delhi , Dec. 12

PRASAR Bharati, on Monday, wrote to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) stating that the radio rights would have to remain with All India Radio (AIR) as the existing private FM radio policy does not permit broadcast of live commentary.

In a letter written to Mr Sharad Pawar, President of the BCCI, Mr K.S. Sarma, CEO, Prasar Bharati, said, "I take this opportunity to thank you for your decision to continue to give All India Radio rights free-of-cost. At this juncture it may be pertinent to inform you that no private FM channel in the country, as per their licence condition issued by the Government, is permitted to do any commentary on their radio stations."

BCCI's Marketing Committee had, last week, said that AIR would be allowed to broadcast the cricket match live on its national channel. Bids would be invited from private FM radio channels for different cities to air commentary in different regional languages. Separate bids would also be called for satellite radio.

The CEO further said that Prasar Bharati is extremely happy about the decision to unbundle the terrestrial rights just as the Internet, mobile telephony and SMS rights are separated.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court today asked the Board to place on record its decision to invite fresh tenders for grant of cricket telecast/broadcast rights in India for the next five years.

The BCCI today issued a notice inviting bids for corporate sponsors interested in associating with the Indian cricket team for the next four years as well as official kit suppliers.

Sharing of rights

Private sports broadcasters on Monday met officials in the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry on the issue of mandatory sharing rights with the national broadcaster, Prasar Bharati.

While the meeting was "exploratory" in nature, sources said that there has been no decision on the events that would have to be shared with the national broadcaster. Broadcasters have been raising various issues related to intellectual property rights (IPR) violations due to the new guidelines as the clause of sharing rights with the national broadcaster has not been built into old contracts. Besides this, sports broadcasters are also keen that the Government gives them a reasonable window of exclusivity.

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