Star TV to share select IPL matches with Doordarshan
Star TV has agreed to share with Prasar Bharati select IPL matches on a one hour deferred live basis with 50-50 revenue sharing
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New Delhi: In what may be a bonanza for viewers of Doordarshan (DD), some of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches will now be available on the state-owned channel. “To bring Vivo IPL 2018 to a wider audience Star TV has agreed to share with Prasar Bharati select matches on a one hour deferred live basis with 50-50 revenue sharing," tweeted Prasar Bharati, the state-owned broadcaster that runs Doordarshan and All India Radio.
According to Prasar Bharati chief executive officer Shashi Shekhar Vempati, “This content is not being shared under the mandatory sharing act for sports of national importance but is outside its ambit. We negotiated with Star for this feed on a 50-50 advertising revenue sharing basis."
Under the current arrangement, what Star will share with DD are the opening and closing ceremonies of IPL as well as one match every Sunday including the final.
Both Star India and the ministry of information and broadcasting held discussions to arrive at the current content sharing formula. Although the ministry had asked for all the matches with a 15 minutes deferred live telecast, Star finally agreed to a few matches deferred live by one hour. Star has also agreed to package daily highlights of the matches for the benefit of the DD viewers.
Prasar Bharati will showcase the matches on DD Sports which is available on its free-to-air direct-to-home platform DD Free Dish with a reach of 22 million households.
“DD Sports is a platform for sports development from a public service stand point as well as for commercial sports. All additional content is welcome," Vempati said, adding that “the channel will allow IPL to reach a wider audience in remote corners of the country."
The television and digital broadcasting rights to IPL, which kicks off on 7 April, were bagged by Star India Private Ltd last September for Rs16,347.5 crore for five seasons beginning 2018. The broadcaster outbid rivals such as Sony Pictures Networks India, Facebook Inc. and Bharti Airtel Ltd to win IPL.
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