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Tag: news channels

  • TDSAT to accept news broadcasters’ appeal on ad cap

    TDSAT to accept news broadcasters’ appeal on ad cap

    MUMBAI: Is there some relief in store for India’s TV broadcast sector in terms of advertising allowed to be telecast per hour? A slight glimmer of hope appears to have emerged yesterday.

     

    Media reports are that the Telecom Disputes Settlement Apellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has given directions to the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) to submit its appeal against the 12 minute per hour Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI’s) mandate. It also gave TRAI two weeks to file its responses to news broadcasters’ concerns. And the NBA has been given a further two weeks to file a rejoinder after that, say media reports. A new chairman Justice Aftab Alam was appointed to the TRAI last month.

     

    TRAI’s order has forced news channels to reduce their advertising commercial time per clock hour down to 20 minutes and general entertainment channels to 16 minutes per hour from 1 July 2013. This is slated to go down further to 12 minutes per hour from 1 October during the peak season of spending by most brands on TV.

     

    News channels have for the past decade or so operated by having an advertising inventory of between 25 and 30 minutes per hour of telecast, is what the TRAI had observed. This dragged down the quality of viewing experience of TV viewers and it had hence under the quality of service rules for consumers mandated that the advertising air time be brought down almost immediately mid-last year.

        
    Broadcasters had yelped and protested and even challenged TRAI’s locus standi on this decision last year with the TDSAT. But with no chairperson in place, the appeal had been kept in abeyance. The TRAI then came up with the quality of service regulations for advertising on TV on 22 March which have since then been enforced on the industry.

     

    ”It is true that broadcasters were going overboard in carrying too much advertising per hour,” says a media observer. ”But the business model of high carriage fees, low distribution revenues and relatively low ad rates has forced this upon news broadcasters. At least, general entertainment channels can charge higher rates. The government could have waited till digitisation was completed and the benefits of higher subscription-lower-carriage fees kicked in.”

     

    In fact most news broadcasters have pleaded that their survival is at stake. Estimates are that news channels in India account for an approximate six per cent genre viewership share.

     

    Advertising revenues for the almost 150 plus news channels operating in India in various language tot up to about Rs 2,200 crore. Broadcasters have claimed that the reduction in air time will not concomitantly be compensated by a hike in ad rates as advertisers and their agencies have only been eroding those over the past few years. They have also said that a large group of small advertisers who have been the main revenue source for TV news channels will not be in a position to absorb sharp hikes in ad rates. 10 second TV commercial rates for news channels vary between Rs 200 to Rs 2,500.

  • News channels urge government to keep Trai’s ad regulation in abeyance

    News channels urge government to keep Trai’s ad regulation in abeyance

    NEW DELHI: Fearing a huge impact on their revenue models, TV news broadcasters have urged the government not to implement the ad time regulation notified by the Telecom ReguIatory Authority of India (Trai) till digitisation is implemented across the country.

     

    News channels feel that high carriage fees and low subscription revenues due to constraint of bandwidth on analogue cable networks are issues that need to be sorted out first. Any current regulation that would harm their advertising revenue, which amounts to more than 90 per cent of their total income, can only be “ill-timed”. Advertising has been “slow” and the economic slowdown of 2008 “has not been corrected yet”.

     

    According to the Trai notification, news and current affairs channels will have to limit their commercial time to 12 minutes per clock hour.

        
    Expressing “deep shock” over the new notification, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) today said it was “appalled that by way of advertisement regulations, the Trai has issued the most sweeping and intrusive controls, and not just regulations, in relation to advertising that may be carried on TV channels.”

     

    NBA urged the government to keep the notification in abeyance till such time digitisation is fully implemented in the country (with consequential benefits of no or low carriage fees and credible subscription revenue) and DAVP recommences advertising on news channels at rates which are fair and acceptable.

     

    Despite Phase-1 of digitisation being implemented from 1 November last year, the benefits have not yet accrued to broadcasters, particularly news broadcasters. Carriage fees continue to be high and most news broadcasters do not get subscription revenues. Over the last year or so, news organisations have not received any advertising from DAVP, which has cut rates to levels 75 per cent lower than they were even five years ago. All of these factors have ensured that most news channel companies face losses on an annual basis.

     

    The NBA said it believed that in the garb of “regulation of advertisements”, Trai has imposed severe restrictions which amount to “control of content” which is “anathema to our constitutional scheme”. The ad regulations are in violation of Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution, which entitles a citizen to carry-on any trade or business, NBA stated.

     

    The NBA notes that the recent regulations reveal a clear lack of understanding of the actual problems on the ground and the environment that the industry operates in. “The regulations, if implemented, will force many news organisations to shut down, taking away our democratic right to inform and educate and to do it independent of Government. With the general elections looming ahead, it would appear that this is an attempt to muzzle the media by taking away its ability to operate independently,” NBA said.

  • Real estate firm Sahana Group to launch two news channels

    Real estate firm Sahana Group to launch two news channels

    MUMBAI: Sudhakar Shetty-promoted real estate company Sahana Group is set to foray into television broadcast business with two news channels.

     

    The Marathi news channel, Jai Maharashtra, will launch on 1 May, which is also the Maharashtra Day. Sahana News, a Hindi news channel, is planned for launch by the end of the year.

     

    The test signal for Jai Maharashtra will start by first week of April.

     

    The television business is housed under Sahana Films, a subsidiary of Sahana Group. Waahiid Ali Khan, who is the Consultant Editorial Director for Sahana Films, will oversee the operations of the Group’s television business.

     

    “We have received licence for two news channels. The Marathi news channel will launch on 1 May while the Hindi one will be available by the year-end,” Khan tells Indiantelevision.com.

     

    Undeterred by the presence of channels like Zee 24 Taas, ABP Majha, IBN Lokmat and TV9 Maharashtra, Khan feels that there is still space for a new Marathi news channel.

     

    He is also confident about Sahana News despite the fragmented nature of the Hindi news genre.
        

    Mandar Phanse is the editor of Jai Maharashtra while Tulsidas Bhoite and Ravi Ambekar are the executive editors of the channel. The news gathering for the channel has already begun with an active YouTube channel and an online portal, which will also web stream the channel.

     

    The company is in talks with Aidem Ventures to handle ad sales. While Yezdi Sodabottlewala, who was earlier with Sri Adhikari Brothers, will head the distribution of the channel.

     

    The hunt for putting in place the editorial team at Sahana News is also in progress.

     

    The launch of Jai Maharashtra couldn’t have come at a better time, feels Khan, as the country is moving towards digitisation with three metros Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata already going digital.

     

    With Mumbai fully digitised, Khan reckons that the carriage cost for the news channel has halved. “The distribution cost of Marathi news channels has become 50 per cent because of digitisation in Mumbai. In the second phase a lot of cities in Maharashtra are going digital,” he adds.

     

    A typical Hindi news channel requires a capital expenditure of Rs 700 million to Rs 1 billion while the cost for running a regional news channel is less than half of that, says Khan.

     

    Khan also revealed about the company’s ambition to become a national network by launching region-specific channels in future. “Sahana Films has applied to the government for six more licences to launch regional channels,” he reveals.

     

    Jai Maharashtra Editor Mandar Phanse said that youth of Maharashtra will remain the focus of the channel. The existing Marathi news channels, he said, mostly cater to 45 plus age group.

     

    The channel also aims to give equal coverage to urban and rural issues besides focusing on youth related issues like jobs and education. Phanse also bemoaned the fact that Marathi news channels focus too much on political issues.

     

    “We want to represent the aspirations of the youth of Maharashtra with our news coverage. Sadly, what we see today on Marathi news channels is too much of political news which although required should be backed by focus on issues that impact common man,” avers Phanse.

  • TV18 Broadcast returns to profitability in Q3

    TV18 Broadcast returns to profitability in Q3

    MUMBAI: TV18 Broadcast turned profitable in the third quarter ended 31 December on fall in operating expenditure and a small rise in operational income from a year earlier.

     

    TV18 Broadcast, which owns news channels CNBC TV18, CNB Awaaz, CNN IBN and IBN7, reported a net profit of Rs 223 million in the third quarter against a loss of Rs 138 million a year earlier. In the second quarter of this financial year, it had reported a loss of Rs 252 million.

     

    The company’s operating revenue rose 5 per cent to Rs 1.47 billion in the third quarter from Rs 1.40 billion a year earlier.

     

    The news broadcaster was able to report a profit in the third quarter as its operating expenses fell 16 per cent to Rs 1.09 billion from Rs 1.30 billion a year earlier, on lower staff costs, marketing and distribution expenses and flat production expenses.

     

    The company’s interest cost in the third quarter was Rs 216 million, flat compared to a year earlier but down by a sharp 51 per cent from a quarter earlier (Rs 365 million).

     

    The fall in interest cost was a result of part repayment of debt from the large flow of funds into the company through a rights issue in the previous quarter.

     

    Raghav Bahl, managing director, Network18, the holding company of TV18, said, “I am delighted …. that TV18 has returned to profitability this quarter. Our recast balance sheet has helped us rationalise our interest payouts.”

     

    “We are now entering an exciting phase in our journey as we strengthen our existing operations and consolidate our regional acquisition,” Bahl added.

     

    The rights issue was largely meant for the acquisition of ETV non-Telugu news and entertainment channels from Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

        
    B Saikumar, Group CEO at Network18, said, “We are extremely pleased that all our broadcast operations grew their margins despite softness in the advertising environment. The News Network will further consolidate its leadership position with the addition of ETV News to the stable.”

     

    Business News operations had a strong quarter with margins expanding almost three-fold from a year earlier.

     

    In the third quarter, revenues from business news channels were up nearly 10 per cent at Rs 780 million. Operating profit from business news was Rs 307 million, nearly three times a year earlier and two times a quarter earlier.

     

    The significant improvement in margins in business news operations came on the back of expansion of net distribution income, the company said.

     

    TV18’s general news operations broke into positive territory with 10 per cent margins. In the third quarter, revenues from general news operations were Rs 723 million, nearly flat compared with a year earlier. Operating profit from general news was Rs 69 million in the third quarter against a loss of Rs 16 million a year earlier and loss of Rs 33 million a year earlier.

  • Let’s differentiate ‘News Channels’ from ‘Views Channels’ to save real journalism: TV9 Karnataka & News9 director Mahendra Mishra

    Let’s differentiate ‘News Channels’ from ‘Views Channels’ to save real journalism: TV9 Karnataka & News9 director Mahendra Mishra

    That there is a political-promoter-news channel nexus in the South of India is something that we have been aware for quite sometime. In all the four states-Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala – hardly a day goes by without the politician promoters using her/his media vehicle as a mouthpiece. After money and muscle, it’s media’s turn across South for politicos who seem to have gained mastery over the game. For them, the news channel appears to be the strongest weapon to run the political business.

    Now the big question is what happens to the sanctity of news if politicians convert the newsroom into their party office as we come across quite often…

    The words that define news are – independent, unbiased and factual. Clearly these words don’t reflect the character of these ‘news channels’.

    As a news channel, we are supposed to be the ‘conscience-keeper’ of the society. Also, we are the pillar on which the democracy rests. Aren’t we going to do just the opposite by adulterating ‘news’ with our personal agenda?

    We tend to believe that aam aadmi is intelligent enough to understand the design behind such attempts, but what we forget is that it’s the same aam aadmi that is spending time to consume (if not digest) the ‘adulterated’ news content being put out by these channels.

    It eventually leads to the dilution of the ‘real’ news consumption which sounds demoralising for the journalistically-driven news channels. It’s surely not a healthy sign for the growth of Indian news television, especially in the regional space.

    Secondly, these ‘adulterated’ news channels spoil the fearless, uncompromising and unyielding breed of journalists who are out there to make a real difference. Once you have worked with one of these news channels, it’s highly unlikely that your journalistic fire will still be alive.

    Essentially, these ‘views’ channels thrive on the propaganda, leading to a nearly deoxygenated journalistic environment. How do we expect fearless journalism to flourish in such a debilitating ambience? It’s a serious challenge we are going to face in the years to come.

    To top that, since these channels hardly command ‘sizeable’ viewership in their respective markets, they resort to underselling the channel. It means that real ‘news’ channels are also under pressure to sell the ‘air-time’ at comparable rates. This is the reason why most of the regional ‘views’ channels are bleeding badly across south today, but in the process, they have ensured that the real ‘news’ channels also suffer.

    Another important point is that the national television content regulators like News Broadcasters Association can’t really monitor the newscasts of these channels as most of them have deliberately stay away from being part of any such regulator. It poses serious risk for the audiences who may easily fall prey to their ‘luring’ tactics.

    Generally speaking, south India has around 20 news channels-directly/indirectly promoted by politicians, mostly in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka while there are just a few which can be classified under the non-political and unbiased category.

    As TAM data suggests, the viewership share of regional news channels has grown by 15-20 per cent in south India in 2011, unlike other genres, as compared to the previous year and interestingly, this trend looks to continue in the years to come. The striking point here is that most of the growth has come from the political news channels being launched/or running across all languages in south.

    Is it clean, pure journalism that is driving this growth in South India? The answer is a straight ‘NO’. Then, can we call it a positive trend?

    Take Karnataka for instance. The state saw three major launches of political news channels-Janashri (Janardhan Reddy), Samaya 24/7(Karnataka’s Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani with Ex-CM B S Yeddyurappa’s backing) and Kasthuri Newz 24(H D Kumaraswamy).These channels put together have grown to occupy around 20 per cent of the total news viewership in Karnataka in 2011.

    I don’t see any reason why these channels shouldn’t exist or grow.These channels have as much right to telecast or show what they want as anyone else. But I believe that it’s unfair to call them a ‘news channel.’ My contention is why should a ‘views channel’ be allowed to run in the garb of a ‘news channel’.

    Let’s create another category for such channels and spare people getting confused with ‘news channels’. Let there be a different mechanism to handle this category. The idea is to ensure that people must not be fed ‘views’ in the form of ‘news’. Let’s not fake things. Let’s grow up and accept the facts as they are.

    I think 2011 will be seen as a year when these ‘views’ channels threatened to adulterate ‘news’ beyond recognition. And it went almost unnoticed. It’s high time that the country, especially south wakes up to the underlying risks of ‘adulterated’ journalism. This is going to be the biggest test for the ‘real’ news channels in the years to come. If the sancity of the news has to be restored, this battle has to be won. That’s the only way out…

  • News channels to exercise restraint in coverage of birth of Abhi-Aish child

    News channels to exercise restraint in coverage of birth of Abhi-Aish child

    NEW DELHI: Television news channels have made a special case for coverage of Big B‘s family matters. In a rare show of concern for protecting privacy, the Broadcast Editors Association (BEA) has called for restraint among the media for coverage of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai‘s first child.

    Rai, 38, is due to give birth to her first child this month.

    When contacted by indiantelevision.com, BEA VP Pankaj Pachauri denied that this had been done at the behest of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry or Amitabh Bachchan.
       
    He said the aim of the guidelines issued by BEA is to ensure that there is no meaningless sensationalism around the story.

    The guidelines say that there will be no pre-coverage of the event and the story of birth of the baby is to be run only after, and on basis of, an official announcement. The story will not run on breaking news band.

    It has been stated that no camera or OB vans will be stationed at the hospital or any other location related to the story, and will go for photo opportunity or press conference only if invited.

    The media will not carry any MMS, or photo of the child, or do any astrology show on this issue. The duration of any story should be around a minute/ninety seconds and there should be no astrology show associated with the dates 11.11.11. Media will not be permitted unauthorised entry into the hospital.

    Meanwhile, Sr Bachchan yesterday denied in a tweet having requested the Ministry to issue guidelines to television channels for the coverage of his daughter-in-law‘s delivery.

    The tweet in reply to a query by a mediaperson said: “I&B and media matter! Firstly I have no such intention ever; secondly do you really think I&B would listen to me? No way baby! But more interesting stuff coming in on this topic! Apparently media has been told by I&B to not have OB Vans outside hospitals! But wait! Yesterday a journalist from electronic sent me SMS, which indicated that this decision was from the electronic media. That news came to me via a journalist … so someone put two and two together and made it Bachchan … Ha ha ha !!!”

  • Contesting a monthly ratings system for news channels

    Contesting a monthly ratings system for news channels

    MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Television news broadcasters are pressuring for a monthly ratings system that will free their content from being weighed on a weekly basis, but advertising agencies do not seem to be in agreement.

    News Broadcasters Association (NBA), an umbrella body of TV news channels, has decided that the weekly ratings for all national news and business channels in Hindi and English should be done on a monthly basis from next month.

    The NBA board feels that this will improve news broadcasting standards as “coverage and reportage of news and programmes cannot always be linked to popularity or audience measurement”.

    India’s ratings agency TAM, however, has not yielded yet. Though in dialogue with the NBA, TAM wants consensus from the other stakeholders like the IBF, AAAI and ISA who are also users of the same central TAM database.

    Said TAM Media Research CEO LV Krishnan, “It is imperative for NBA to first discuss their proposal with other industry bodies. Only after this should one arrive at an overall industry consensus on the frequency of TAM data reporting. TAM will require written approvals from each of the member’s industry bodies on the decision taken with respect to the change in frequency of data reporting. Till the time we receive a formal overall approval from all stakeholders of the TAM database, no decisions on the change in current frequency of reporting will be taken.”

    Building a consensus will not be easy. Leo Burnett Chairman of India Sub-Continent Arvind Sharma said, “Advertising agencies will oppose such a move. To make a more informed decision, an advertiser needs transparent, frequent and current data. Moving to a monthly ratings system will not allow us to read patterns. It is not a progressive move.”

    News broadcasters argue that their content is distinct from other genres as they have a responsibility to inform and empower their viewers with quality programming and dissemination of news rather than providing content merely for garnering viewership. News broadcasting standards can only improve with time spent on strategic planning and research rather than knee jerk reactions taken on a weekly basis.

    NBA wants TAM to introduce the monthly ratings system initially for a period of two years. Regional news channels could be brought under this system on a later date.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, several senior executives said on condition of anonymity that agencies look at 4-13 week data when they make advertising deals for their clients. “There is no revision in rates done after a deal is inked. So there is no reason for them to be upset,” a top official said.

    The NBA also clarified in an official statement that the initiative taken by it would not in any way hamper the decision making of advertisers and advertising agencies.

    “In the new monthly dispensation, advertisers would continue to get access to data broken down to a minute or a day-part or a specific programme in a manner similar to how data points are currently accessed in the weekly format,” it said.

    Sharma, however, disagrees. “News channels are indirectly saying that more frequent information (weekly ratings data) makes their content worse. This seems to be built on an unsound premise,” he said.

    Added Madison Media Group CEO Punitha Arumugam, “The same data getting reported on a monthly basis instead only delays the decision making process.”

    Will a monthly ratings system clean up content? “This will certainly reduce pressure on the editors,” said Pankaj Pachauri, NDTV Managing Editor – Special Projects and VP of the Broadcast Editors Association. “Editors were often constrained to make last minute changes in the fixed point charts or the content of the various news programmes on the basis of weekly TAM reports.”

  • News channels lobby to get ICC nod for World Cup coverage

    News channels lobby to get ICC nod for World Cup coverage

    NEW DELHI: Even as television news channels heaved a sigh of relief over the decision of the International Cricket Council to allow coverage of the Cricket World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka in Mumbai tomorrow, it was felt that the cricket body was not justified in threatening legal action against what it termed offending channels.

    ICC President Sharad Pawar had this evening agreed to lift the bar on news coverage of the World Cup bowing to national outrage, but ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat said legal action would be considered against offending Indian news channels which have repeatedly breached the News Access Guidelines for Broadcasters for the World Cup.       
     
    It is learnt that Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni’s plea to her cabinet colleague and ICC President Sharad Pawar also played a role in the final decision.

    A news channel executive on condition of anonymity said the tangle on which talks broke down between the ICC on the one hand and the News Broadcasters Association and the Broadcast Editors Association on the other was a very minor issue which was not in the hands of the news channels since the score boards were not put up at the instance of the news channels.

    Earlier, the news channels were allowed to cover the world cup semi-final between India and Pakistan after ICC lifted the ban on accredited journalists from the news channels for a day following intervention by Soni.

    The BEA had said earlier today that the decision of ICC to withdraw the accreditation of journalists covering Cricket World Cup matches is not only against this interest but also in contravention of the rights of the citizens to be informed. “We tried our best to make the ICC understand this but the recalcitrant attitude of the latter rendered our efforts sterile in the past three days,” BEA said.

    Meanwhile, it is learnt that the I&B Ministry feels that the dispute – which centres around display of scoreboards with sponsor logos by the news channels – is a very minor issue and should not hold up coverage of the final tomorrow as both President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Sri Lankan President Mahindra Rajapaksa are expected to be present.

    Ministry sources say that the “the ball is in Sharad Pawar’s court” and he has to take a decision.

  • Distressed, news channels seek rescue in digitisation

    Distressed, news channels seek rescue in digitisation

    NEW DELHI: Stung by high carriage costs and a slump in advertising rates, television news channels are looking at tapping subscription revenues to drive growth.

    The subscription income of news channels is pegged at around Rs 2 billion, but is restricted to only a few players like CNBC TV18, NDTV, TV Today Network and Zee News.

    “We have to open up subscription revenues. There is a future there,” said TV Today Network CEO and executive director G Krishnan, while speaking at the 4th News Television Summit organised by Indiantelevision.com.

    News channels are struggling, as they depend heavily on advertising revenues, and media buying agencies do not give them a fair ad price commensurate to their reach.

    “We are not given a premium for the impact that we have. We are treated like commodities by the media buying agencies,” Krishnan said.

    Madison Media CEO Basab Datta Chowdhury, however, did not agree. “The news channels deliver a genre share of 7 per cent while they command a revenue share of 11 per cent. So there is a premium that is given to them. The problem is that there is a plethora of news channels and it is very difficult to differentiate. News is commoditised today,” she said.

    The rise in advertising revenue, though, has come from more inventory utilisation than an increase in ad rates.

    “The 10-second rates have come down. Ad revenue is growing because news channels have flooded the market with inventory. That’s a mistake we have done,” said Krishnan.
            
      News channels have as high as 20-22 minutes of commercial time per hour of telecast, a path they do not prefer to follow, but are led to by a softening of ad rates.

    MCCS (which owns and operates Star News, Star Ananda and Star Majha) CEO Ashok Venkatramani said the value of the content of news channels does not get realised by the agencies. “Media buyers do not look at the profile of audiences. On the cable TV front also, we do not have transparency. There is no proper mechanism at all,” he added.

    BAG Films & Media CMD Anurradha Prasad urged the news broadcasters to get together to fight against “unreasonable carriage fees” demanded by the multi-system operators (MSOs).

    “It is a rat race out there and broadcasters should collectively fight against high carriage fees. And on the advertising front, we are not paid for the reach that we have. We are not getting the kind of revenues that we had anticipated,” Prasad said.

    Media Network and Distribution (India) Ltd (a joint venture with Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd) Yogesh Radhakrishnan believed at the crux of the problem was the rapid growth of the media industry in a short span of time. “The Indian TV market had grown too fast too soon. But post digitisation, news channels can drive subscription revenues and up ad rates as they create differentiated content,” he said.

    Krishnan, however, is bullish about the TV news industry. “Currently the ability to grow is limited. But five years down the line, we will see strong growth. Digitisation will lower our carriage fees and we can fetch more pay-TV revenues,” he said.

    The challenge for the news broadcasting industry, thus, is to cap ad inventory, aggressively chase subscription revenues and create value for advertisers.

  • WC: ICC sticks to its footage guidelines for news channels

    WC: ICC sticks to its footage guidelines for news channels

    MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Indian television news broadcasters continue to be at loggerheads.

    The ICC has maintained that the footage guidelines that it issued for news coverage regarding the World Cup are fair, contrary to the common opinion running through news channels.

    Reacting to reports that Indian news channels have said that the terms of the footage made available for them are not acceptable, an ICC spokesperson told Indiantelevision.com that there was no reason to concede ground.

    “The guidelines we have put in place for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 are fair, reasonable and in line with the industry best practice. They are designed to allow non-rights-holders (NRH) the opportunity to offer quality news-access coverage for their viewers while also protecting the exclusive rights of our broadcast partner,” the spokesperson said.

    The spokesperson noted that in the past, some non-rights-holders (NRH) have flouted the rules and showed almost ball-by-ball coverage of events, in breach of the broadcast partner’s rights.
         
      “At a very early stage in this process (beginning in October 2010), we and our host broadcaster engaged the views and opinions of the News Broadcasters’ Association (NBA) and involved that organisation at every stage of this process. After lengthy discussions with the NBA, we sent the final version of the guidelines to the NBA to inform them that we were going to publish them on 19 January.”

    The spokesperson said that the cricket‘s governing body got no response from them. So the ICC extended the publication date and the guidelines were finally issued on 25 January.

    “To date we still haven‘t heard back from the NBA. We consider the guidelines to be very reasonable and lenient when it comes to the issue of news access rights. Through its purchase of the rights to televise our events, our broadcast partner, ESPN Star Sports, has poured a large amount of money into cricket while also providing a fantastic televisual experience to a billion viewers in more than 180 territories around the world,” the spokesperson said.

    The spokesperson said that this investment is used to develop the game in almost every corner of the globe and it is important that their investment is protected. “At the same time we also realise the importance of free news access to NRH and so these guidelines provide a workable balance between those two sides.”

    Meanwhile, the NBA today expressed confidence that it would be able to amicably sort out the issue relating to the news telecast of ICC Cricket World Cup footage.

    NBA president KVL Narayan Rao told Indiantelevision.com that the association had already written to the ICC that it wanted to discuss the issue and he expected that this dialogue would be held soon.

    The ICC, however, said that it has not received anything from the NBA.

    NBA sources said that the common expectation was that an early resolution would be found “as both needed each other”.