The Hindu Business Line : Cover drive

Cricket today has moved much beyond the playing grounds to become a popular television sport. With millions of dollars doled out for telecast rights, television production has indeed come a long way. It all started in 1977, when Australian media mogul Kerry Packer lined up 50 cricketers to play his own tournament after the Australian Cricket Board refused to accept his bid for the telecast rights. Coloured clothing, floodlights, white balls and uncommonly high salaries were all pejoratively referred to as Packer's Cricketing Circus. Today, this is the driving force behind international cricket.

From just four cameras on either end of the wicket in 1987, these went up to 8-10 cameras and, later, production house TransWorld International (TWI) used about 14 cameras in 1995. Currently, the production of a cricket match involves as many as 25 cameras. These include unmanned cameras at various points to track the run-out decisions for the third umpire; stump cameras and radio frequency cameras placed en route to the dressing room to catch a player's expression.

An old hand in television cricket production said special cameras are used to track the trajectory of the ball. "There are recording machines that enable us to capture images and replay them in quick succession when a player scores 50 runs or a hat-trick," he said.

So, a day before the game, thousands of metres of cable, high-end online editing equipment and recording machines are put in place to help viewers literally get a feel of the action. There is also emphasis on commentary that is both entertaining and knowledgeable. This too began with Kerry Packer's Channel Nine, which insisted on lively commentary to keep the viewers engaged. Eventually it graduated to pre-, mid- and post-match discussions, pitch reports and even weather updates. No wonder commentators such as Harsha Bhogle, Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Manjrekar have become stars in their own right.

And, importantly, Indian production technicians are in great demand. During the last World Cup in South Africa, the production team from the host country comprised Indian cameramen, online editors and so on. For the next World Cup too, to be played in West Indies, our technicians are in demand.

Batting for Sahara One

Not just sports channels but even entertainment channels seem eager to hitch on to the cricket bandwagon. Recently, after sports marketing company Nimbus bagged the four-year telecast rights to matches organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), it decided to give the signals of the India-England clash to Sahara One.

This channel, with its staple of soaps, game shows and Bollywood flicks, now expects cricket to help improve its revenues.

Sources indicate that Nimbus plans to sell the rights to the highest bidder from any channel. "It could be almost like an auction. So who knows the next time a regional or a music channel might acquire the telecast rights," they said.

But if this happens, the dedicated sports channels would suffer the most. Cricket in India brings the moolah for them and without these rights sustenance could prove difficult. Nevertheless, channels like ESPN-Star Sports and Zee Sports are pushing other games like hockey and football through smart packaging and innovative formats.

Will these games be able to score over cricket's overriding popularity? Let's wait... and watch!

Picture by N. Sridharan

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