DD WORLD CUP RIGHTS ROW REACHES COURT

The battle over the rights to the World Cup Cricket telecast between the Prasar Bharati and private airtime marketing consortium member Stracon has reached the courts. The latter has informed the Delhi high court that the Prasar Bharati is breaching its contract and that it, not DD, has the rights to telecast the Wordl Cup cricket tournament terrestrially.

Stracon has petitioned the court not to allow the Prasar Bharati to call for fresh bids for marketing of airtime during the World Cup telecast on DD next month. It has pleaded with the court that it direct DD to start airing curtain-raising programs to the World Cup Cricket tournament, and commercials featuring Indian star Sachin Tendulkar. Stracon has finally requested the court to settle the matter through arbitration. The court admitted the petition but did not give Stracon any interim relief. The Prasar Bharati was scheduled to post its reply today with a hearing coming up on 15 April.

The Prasar Bharati had earlier appointed Stracon and its consortium members UTV and Creative Eye to market commercial time during the World Cup on a minimum revenue guarantee of Rs 260 million for DD. But breakaway consortium member Nimbus chief Harish Thawani has alleged that things were not above board with the deal and that should have got the contract as he had bid Rs 350 million earlier. The Prasar Bharati then demanded that Stracon should match Thawani's price, which it says it has.

The telecast of 11 matches during the World Cup Cricket tournament on DD is expected to fetch Rs 600 million in advertising revenues.