The Hindu Business Line : `Report on mandatory sharing of sports telecast feed next week'

WITH the recent notification making it mandatory for sports broadcasters to share rights of certain events with Prasar Bharati becoming a contentious issue, the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry is trying to balance the interests of the public and the industry. The Secretary of the Ministry is expected to submit a report on the same afterdiscussions with sports broadcasters, the I&B Minister, Mr P.R. Dasmunsi, said.

Speaking to newspersons, Mr Dasmunsi said, "I am trying to reach a balance between the interests of the public and that of broadcasters. The report will be in by Monday." He said a large number of people might not be interested in watching polo, golf or tennis, unlike cricket and hockey that are extremely popular. "At the same time, we do not want DD National to become a sports channel," he added.

The I&B Ministry is trying to draw up a list of events of national importance, but no consensus between the Government and the private sports broadcasters could be reached. The private channels have been seeking a window of exclusivity and want the rules to be applicable to future contracts only.

Meanwhile, Zee Sports today said it is willing to share the feed to sporting events with the public broadcaster Prasar Bharati. Other players like ESPN-Star Sports and Ten Sports have gone to court against this. Even the International Cricket Council has written to the Government on the mandatory sharing clause.

"We are a sovereign nation. We are not dictated by what the ICC says," Mr Dasmunsi said adding that foreign broadcasters would have to follow Indian norms, just as our companies do when they want to expand abroad.

Mr Himanshu Modi, Business Head, Zee Sports, said the Government is only legislating something that has been in practice, referring to the past instances when many sports broadcasters shared feed with Doordarshan for telecast on terrestrial network. He also felt that the `must provide' clause would not devalue the rights.

Till the cricket rights for matches played in India are finalised, Zee Sports will be focusing on football.