Category: Sports

Provision for penalty for defaulting channels in new telecast ordinance

NEW DELHI: Television channels that fail to comply by the ordinance promulgated late last week for compulsory sharing of live feeds with the national broadcaster Prasar Bharati would have to pay a penalty up to Rs 10 million and also face possible revocation or suspension of license.

The Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Ordinance 2007 promulgated on February three has retrospective affect from 11 November, 2005 when the government had issued its guidelines for downlinking of TV channels. The Uplinking Guidelines had been issued on December 12, 2005. It has also been stipulated that no action no action of the government would be challenged in any court of law.
With the Guidelines coming in the ambit of the Ordinance which is expected to be replaced by an Act of Parliament in the ensuing Budget session, the government has taken upon itself the powers to enforce them with retrospective effect. The guidelines are already the subject matter of the petition in the Delhi High Court by Nimbus Communications on the Indo-West Indies series telecast. Nimbus, which owns Neo Sports channel, had expressed apprehensions that the government may resort to coercive methods for share their exclusive.

The ordinance also provides for a revenue sharing formula between private and public broadcasters. Advertisement sharing between private and the public broadcasters would be in the ratio of 75:25 in case of TV coverage in favour of the rights holder and 50:50 in case of radio coverage.

Meanwhile, Neo Sports yesterday announced live telecast of the India-Sri Lanka one-day international cricket series for the Hero Honda Cup starting in Kolkata tomorrow with the Hindi feed on Neo Sports Plus. Neo Sports also announced a cricket show called Extra Cover, a pacy pre, mid and post the live match on Neo Sports plus, featuring some of the games’ stalwarts like Javagal Srinath, Dean Jones and Arjuna Ranatunga.

Of the four match series, the first tie at Kolkata will be telecast from 1 pm to 11:30 pm, while the three other matches at Rajkot on 11 February, at Margao on 14 February and in Vishakhapatnam on 17 February will be telecast live from 7:30 am to 6 pm.

Neo sports holds the rights to all the international and domestic matches played in India . This is in addition to 67 per cent rights of all confirmed international cricket series featuring the Indian team till March 2010.

All India Radio will also broadcast live commentary of all the matches alternatively in Hindi and English. The commentary can be heard between 1400 and 2230 hrs for the first ODI in Kolkata, while it would be broadscast between 0830 to 1730 hrs for all the other three matches.

Earlier this week, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi indicated it was also contemplating action to ensure that private broadcasters gave good quality feed to Doordarshan. When asked what kind of action was contemplated, the Minister said on the sidelines of the Editors Conference on Social Sectors: ”When you do something, do not reveal what you are doing.”

He denied the charge that private broadcasters were losing in business by sharing sports feed with the Doordarshan.

The Ordinance was resorted to as Nimbus refused to share live footage of the just concluded India-West Indies cricket series with public broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio. However, Doordarshan was permitted to show a seven-minute deferred telecast and All India Radio was allowed running live commentary following an order by the Delhi High Court.

After promulgation of the ordinance, Nimbus which holds exclusive rights to broadcast all international matches to be held in India until 2010 will have to share live feeds of all cricket matches to be played in the country with Prasar Bharati, besides sharing advertisement revenue from joint feeds.

Furthermore, the ordinance will help millions of viewers across the country having the facility of only terrestrial or free-to-air channels to enjoy live sports events of national and international importance.

Talks between Nimbus, which holds the rights given by the Board for Control of Cricket in India and Prasar Bharati broke down just a day before the India-West Indies cricket series was to begin on January 21. Nimbus had refused to permit the signals to be shown on any DTH platform and said the signals would have to be encrypted.

Meanwhile, Prasar Bharati has already filed an appeal against the order of the single bench of the High Court, and it is expected to come up for hearing late next week.

The issue of sharing feed with Doordarshan and All India Radio has been controversial from the beginning, with private sports broadcasters arguing that it was unfair to them as it would affect their revenue. They contend that telecast rights are obtained at the expense of large amounts and sharing their signals with DD and AIR would make the business less remunerative.

February 8, 2007
HC questions government reasoning in promulgating ordinance

NEW DELHI: Even as the government today said it would challenge any court order favouring Nimbus on deferred telecast, the Delhi High Court questioned the Centre’s reasoning in promulgating the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Ordinance.

(Meanwhile, Prasar Bharati sources confirmed that talks held yesterday between Nimbus and Prasar Bharati over the issue had failed again. Thus, uncertainty prevailed over whether Doordarshan will get live sports feed of the India-Sri Lanka series despite the Ordinance being in force.)

When the additional solicitor general PP Malhotra informed the court that the government had notified an ordinance making it mandatory for private channels to share the ‘live feed’ of cricket and other international sports events in India with public broadcasters Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR), Justice BD Ahmed sought to know why the government was so swift in bringing an ordinance.

”The Rule of Law should not have been subverted,” he said. ”It leaves a bad taste in the mouth, when there is a subversion of judicial process,” the Justice observed, while adjourning the matter till tomorrow for further hearing.

However, the ordinance notified yesterday was not challenged before the court.

Malhotra said the petition of Nimbus Communications, which owns Neo Sports, should be dismissed as it had challenged the circular of the government to share the live feed under Article 19 of the Constitution as its Fundamental Right.

Citing judgments of the Supreme Court, Malhotra said it was the fundamental rights of every citizen to view and listen the cricket match or sports events held in the country.

After submitting copies of the ordinance, Malhotra read out the relevant portions, saying the private channel would have to share live feed with DD and AIR.

On 23 January, the High Court had in an interim order allowed Prasar Bharati to download the feed of Nimbus Communications and telecast the India-West Indies ODI series in a delayed transmission of seven minutes on Doordarshan (DD) and permitted live commentary on AIR.

Senior Counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Nimbus Communications, argued the government could not force any private channel to share its live feed as it was against the fundamental rights enumerated in the Constitution.

Speaking to newspersons early in the morning before the matter came up before the High Court, I&B joint secretary Baijendranath said, ”If such an order comes from court, we will challenge it in the light of the Ordinance which has been promulgated making it mandatory for private broadcasters to share live feeds of important sports events with the public broadcaster Prasar Bharati.”

He said there was a law of the land in force and if any broadcaster violates that it can be punished by various means including a ban.

Nobody has challenged the ordinance and no court has passed any order in this respect, so its provisions are binding for all, he said.

The Ordinance that was cleared by the Union Cabinet on 1 February and given Presidential assent late on 2 February has been promulgated from retrospective effect dating back to 11 November, 2005 when the downlinking guidelines had been issued. These guidelines, along with the uplinking guidelines, have now been given statutory status.

February 8, 2007
Savitha Goud is Essel Karnatakas best sportsperson

MUMBAI: Ms Savitha Goud, National-level Cycling Champion has won the “Essel Karnataka’s Best Sportsperson” Award. The award was presented to her by the Chairman of the Essel Group and Zee Network, Mr. Subhash Chandra at a ceremony in Bangalore on February 22, 2007. The other winners are Mr. Arvind Savur (Cue Sports), Mr. Madiah (Golf), Ms. Malathi Holla (Wheelchair Athlete) and Mr. Pankaj Advani (Billiards and Snooker).

The process of selecting Karnataka’s Best Sportsperson began in January. Nearly 150 nominations were received from the sportspersons and their well-wishers. A committee comprising senior journalists short-listed 15 sportspersons from among the nominations received. The list of the short-listed candidates was in-turn placed before an eminent Jury headed by Justice M. Ramakrishna, which selected five finalists.

The public was invited to choose one among the top five finalists as the “Essel Karnataka’s Best Sportsperson” through SMS and tele-voting. Ms. Savitha Goud secured the highest number of votes and emerged as the winner.

At the award ceremony held on February 22, 2007, sportspersons who have rendered yeoman service were also felicitated. They included: Ms. Ashwini Nachappa (Athletics), Mr. Ahmed Khan (Football), Mr. T.R. Swamy (Wrestling), Mr. Brijesh Patel (Cricket) and Mr. Prakash Padukone (Badminton).

This is the second in the series of awards instituted by the Essel Group in Karnataka. The first award ceremony held in January was dedicated to Karnataka’s Best Legislator. “Our’s is a Group fired by the spirit of nationalism and patriotism. Through these awards, we hope to inspire the youth and instill in them a pride for India’s rich heritage. The awards represent the group’s strong resolve to empower the people and thereby build a vibrant and resurgent India” said Mr. Subhash Chandra, Chairman of the Group.

“Our effort is to identify unsung heroes and celebrate their achievements. So that it serves as an inspiration to the youth,” said Mr. M. Gautham Machaiah, Vice-President, Corporate and Public Affairs, Essel Group.

February 7, 2007
Gianni Infantino is interim Uefa CEO

MUMBAI: European soccer body Uefa has announced the appointment of Gianni Infantino as its CEO ad interim following the resignation of Lars-Christer Olsson.

The 36-year old Italian national has been director of Uefa’s legal affairs and club licensing division since January 2004 and has been working at Uefa since August 2000 on a range of legal, commercial and professional football matters.

Prior to joining Uefa Gianni Infantino worked as the Secretary General of CIES at the University of Neuchâtel, and previously as an adviser to a variety of football bodies, including the Italian, Spanish and Swiss Football Leagues.

In his position, Infantino has been dealing with all legal disputes submitted to Uefa or in which Uefa is involved, as well as the drawing up of Uefa’s policy on legal matters and Statutes.

He will hold the position until a permanent replacement has been appointed.

February 5, 2007
Neo Sports to telecast Ranji Trophy finals live

MUMBAI: Neo Sports has announced that it will air the live telecast of the Super League for the Ranji Trophy finals from 2 to 6 February 2007.

The finals between Mumbai and West Bengal, will be played by a host of top players like Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan.

The company claims that the telecast of the Ranji Trophy finals is an extension of the commitment of Neo Sports to bring domestic cricket closer to cricket lovers and with the seasoned players playing the series, it will definitely be an even more exciting game to watch.

February 1, 2007
ICC pilots Media Notes publication in build up to the World Cup

MUMBAI: With less than six weeks to go to the start of the cricket World Cup the International Cricket Council (ICC) has launched the first pilot edition of a new publication aimed at the world’s cricket media.

Media Notes will be available to download from icc-cricket.com and will be produced on a regular basis in the build up to world cricket’s showcase event.

The publication will promote major tournaments and ICC events, highlight the women’s game and also look at matches of significance involving the ICC’s Associate and Affiliate Members.

And it will also keep readers up to date with the latest movements in the LG ICC Rankings, both for teams – the Test and ODI Championship tables – and individual players. The LG ICC Rankings are the only officially endorsed ratings for international teams and players.

February 1, 2007
WWE opens 2007 with strong ratings in US

MUMBAI: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has announced that its TV ratings in the US started off this year in a positive manner. It achieved its highest household deliveries of the current season on both Monday Night Raw on USA Network and Friday Night SmackDown on The CW.

On 1 January, Raw’s feature of John Cena versus Kevin Federline delivered 3,564,000 TV households, its highest performance of the season, and the largest household delivery since August 21, 2006. Raw it says was the number one primetime cable programme during the first week of the year among households, total viewers, Male Teens (M12-17) and Men 18-34. Raw also posted season high ratings among Males 6-11, Persons 6-11, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54.

SmackDown on 5 January, 2007, delivered 3,371,000 TV households, its highest performance in nearly a year and the highest since joining the CW network. SmackDown WWE says was the number one primetime program on television Friday night among Male Teens (M12-17) and Total Teens (P12-17), and the top rated broadcast program among Males 6-11. SmackDown made CW the number one broadcast network among Males 6-11, Males 12-17, Males 12-34, Males 18-24, Males 18-34, Persons 6-11, Persons 12-17 and Persons 12-34.

SmackDown posted its highest rating among total teens (persons 12-17) since June 23, 2005 and highest among female teens (females 12-17) since November 13, 2003. SmackDown also achieved its highest delivery of the season among Persons 12-34.

January 23, 2007
No cricket on DD as Nimbus refuses to buckle

MUMBAI: In what is a first on Indian Television, a home cricket series kicked off today without the telecast being available on national broadcaster Doordarshan and All India Radio.

India’s victorious start to the four-match Pepsi series One-Day International series against the West Indies at Nagpur was not available on terrestrial television as well as on cable homes that did not carry the Nimbus owned Neo Sports channel.

With talks breaking down yesterday between Prasar Bharati and Nimbus Sports on sharing the live feed, the industry was waiting to see whether the government would push through an ordinance to implement the Downlinking/Uplinking Guidelines issued by the information & broadcasting ministry in November 2005.

The guidelines make it compulsory for sports telecast rights holder channels to share the live feed of important sporting events with Doordarshan and AIR by entering into a commercial agreement. The terms provide for revenue sharing of 75:25 in favour of the rights holders.
Nimbus Sports, the rights holders for the BCCI organized cricket events in India, had offered to give the feed to the pubcaster, but only under certain specific conditions, and these were not acceptable to the Prasar Bharati.

Nimbus suggested a 15 minute deferred telecast on Doordarshan’s terrestrial channel referred ‘as live’. Thus, people having cable TV would get live feed on Neo Sports and those watching DD would see it 15 minutes later.

Nimbus also did not agree to DD showing the matches on its DTH platform DD Direct Plus.

NIMBUS READY TO GIVE FEED IF PRASAR BHARATI GIVES COMMITMENT TO ENCRYPT TERRESTRIAL SIGNALS

Nimbus has said if at all it shares the feed, the signals have to be encrypted so that it reaches houses only on the terrestrial network and not those that get DD signals through cable TV.

Nimbus today offered a way out of the impasse by declaring it was ready to provide the live feed if Prasar Bharati agreed to encrypt its signals in the next two to three weeks.

“Till such time as DD puts encryption into place, about 2-3 weeks, Nimbus has offered to provide the live coverage TV signal to DD,” Nimbus chief Harish Thawani has been quoted by Zee News as saying from Mumbai.

“We are highly committed and want to provide the cricket telecasts on DD also. The ball is in DD`s court,” he said.

Thawani said Nimbus was insisting on encryption as the satellites used by DD have significant signal dispersion into many neighbouring countries, often as far as the Middle East and Singapore.

“The growth of sports in any country is substantially dependent on the revenues it gets from sports channels and those revenues would be substantially destroyed if the rights of sports channels are not protected, having a terrible impact on sport itself,” Thawani argued.

Till now though, Prasar Bharati officials, citing previous government orders and court rulings that they claim have gone in their favour, have been adamant that they should get live feed of the cricket series, without any conditions, and that it also be shared on DD’s DTH platform.

Following the breakdown of talks DD officials have gone back to taking the cover of the Uplink-Downlink Guidelines that perforce allow DD to get the telecast feed.

The ball is now really in the government’s court on what its next move will be.

January 22, 2007

Pakistan-South Africa ODI series live on ESPN STAR Sports from 4 Feb 2007

MUMBAI: ESPN STAR Sports, Asia’s number one broadcaster, will telecast live and exclusive, the one day international series between South Africa and Pakistan starting February 4, 2007. The two cricketing giants will kick off the series with a Twenty20 international on February 2. The Asian powerhouse will play the Proteas in a five ODI series in the African continent.

After a close fought and absorbing duel during the three test series the two countries will be looking to prepare for the upcoming World Cup and hoping for team camaraderie during the five ODIs scheduled till mid February. Pakistan will look to reverse the results of the last two ODI series between the two teams in South Africa, where the Afrikaans beat them 4-1 in 2002-03 and 3-2 in 2003-04. Overall the two teams have met 42 times with South Africa enjoying a 69 percent win record. The South African nation was also unbeaten for a 14 straight matches against Pakistan from 1995 to 1999.

South Africa has named seven black players in their 15 man squad and these will be the likely 15 the Proteas will go with for the World Cup in the Carribean. Coach Micky Arthur had revealed earlier that the ODI series against Pakistan will be South Africa’s dress rehearsal for the World Cup. Pakistan on the other hand will want to put behind the disappointment of losing the Test series and embark on their preparations for the bouncy pitches in West Indies. The Asian team will be bolstered by the return of Shabbir Ahmed but their top order batting is still a worry for Coach Bob Woolmer.

Catch the action live and exclusive on ESPN STAR Sports

Date	Time	Event
Feb 2, 2007	17:58	South Africa Vs Pakistan, Twenty20 Int, Johannesburg
Feb 4, 2007	13:28	South Africa Vs Pakistan, First ODI, Centurion
Feb 7, 2007	17:58	South Africa Vs Pakistan, Second ODI, Durban
Feb 9, 2007	17:58	South Africa Vs Pakistan, Third ODI, Port Elizabeth
Feb 11, 2007	13:28	South Africa Vs Pakistan, Fourth ODI, Cape Town
Feb 14, 2007	17:58	South Africa Vs Pakistan, Fifth ODI, Johannesburg

January 18, 2007

Neo Sports challenges Trai decision on price cut for its sports channels

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal today asked Trai to explain by 7 February the basis of its decision to slash the bouquet prices of Neo Sports and Neo Sports Plus channels’ from Rs 58.50 to Rs 37.25, on which the channels had filed an appeal.

The channels’ contentions were on several grounds, especially that “sports” cannot be treated as a “genre” for fixing of price.

The counsel for the channels argued at TDSAT today, that “sports” cannot be treated as a genre as a method of fixing a channel’s price because there are sports channels and sports channels.

The channels said that there were huge differentials between the pricing of various sports channels, and that these differentials stem from the rights to cricket properties. Neo Sports channels presented its case saying that it had rights of almost two-third of the assured cricketing properties involving India, till 2010. These properties have a tremendous revenue generating potential and also have to be bought at massive prices, hence the higher prices, the channels argued.

Trai had argued earlier that fixing of prices for channels of the same “genre”, which is one of the key factors as per the Trai principal Tariff Order’s clause 3, does not allow Neo Sports and Neo Sports Plus to fix their prices higher than those fixed for channels of the same genre of sports, like Star Sports and ESPN.

Based on these arguments Trai last week had ordered a slashing of the prices of the two Nimbus channels to the levels of Star Sports and ESPN, that is, Rs 5 in Cas areas in the three metros, and Rs 37.25 otherwise.

While Nimbus has questioned the authority of Trai to fix the price, it has also pointed out to the tribunal that the price of sports channels range from Rs 10 for Zee Sports, to Rs 42.50 for ESPN, with Ten Sports at Rs 14 falling in between.

This shows a 400 per cent difference in pricing for channels of the same genre: sports, which, Nimbus has contended, goes against Trai’s own argument, which is the basis of the decision to slash Nimbus’ pricing.

MSOs and cable operators refused comment, since the matter has become sub-judice. Roop Sharma, president of Cable Operators Federation of India, which had in the first instance filed the case against Nimbus originally, said they would respond to the notice when the time comes.

January 16, 2007