By ASHWIN PINTO
Indiantelevision.com Team

(21 August 2006 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The cancellation of the one-day cricket series between Sri Lanka and India (which originally had South Africa playing as well) is likely to cost telecast rights holder Ten Sports dear.

In addition, companies who associate with cricket regularly like Pepsi, Hutch were also looking to get good visibility from the event. Of course, if a tri series involving India is rescheduled for next year, which is what Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is hoping to do, then all is well. An option SLC is said to be looking at is playing the series after the 2007 cricket World Cup which is to be held in March-April in the West Indies.

However, that looks a highly unlikely scenario at this stage. As BCCI VP and marketing committee chairman Lalit Modi tells Indiantelevision.com, "There are no plans as of now to have the series rescheduled. We will look at our calendar and then take a decision." A Ten Sports official says that it has an agreement with the SLC that the cancelled tri series will be replaced by another one involving India. "We are fully protected regardless of the exact dates," asserts the official.

It is not just in advertising that the channel has lost out though. Information indicates that on the distribution front too The One Alliance was looking to use the fact that the series was exclusive to Ten Sports to increase the declared subscription base. That of course has not happened.

The question that remains is what happens next year when there is no India cricket on the channel. The only possibility is besides the rescheduled tri series should it happen is Sharjah if plans to have a twenty20 event there fructify and the Indian team is involved. A One Alliance official, putting on a brave face, notes that Ten Sports has an advantage in that unlike ESPN Star Sports (which had encountered a problem of no serious India cricket back in 2004-2005) it is part of a bouquet that has a variety of channels. If Ten Sports was on its own the situation would have been very different, adds the official.