CricketViewer.com

India’s highest court barred the state-run broadcaster on Tuesday from showing free-to-air live coverage of the national cricket team’s tour of West Indies.

India will play five one-day matches and four tests starting on May 18, and state-owned Prasar Bharti had demanded live coverage from Dubai-based private broadcaster Taj Television, whose Ten Sports unit holds telecast rights for cricket in the Caribbean.

Taj had requested a fee for the feed which the government said it could not pay.

The Supreme Court upheld a petition by Taj barring Prasar Bharti from downlinking the matches.

Last October, the government passed a controversial order making it mandatory for private broadcasters to share coverage of major live sports events, particularly cricket, with Prasar.

During India’s tour of Pakistan in January and February, the two broadcasters ended up in court on the issue.

They eventually reached a settlement under which Ten Sports provided free highlight packages to Prasar Bharti for tests, and the state firm bought the live feed for one-day games.

The government said it had made an exception and decided to pay for the games due to the huge interest in the Pakistan series. Legal battles precede almost every major series involving India, world cricket’s commercial hub. The government has said it wants all matches on its free-to-air terrestrial channel because millions of fans in the cricket-mad country cannot afford cable.

Private broadcasters argue they stand to lose advertising revenue if forced to share rights for which they have paid large sums of money.

Source:The News