News Broadcasting
Lanka Tests telecast: DD ire at BCCI
NEW DELHI: It seems that the Indian cricket board remains unfazed by a recently-announced law that pubcaster’s should get all sports of national importance — primarily cricket— irrespective of the fact who holds the telecast rights.
Expressing his irritation at the Board of Control for India in India (BCCI)’s attitude, Prasar Bharati CEO, KS Sarma, told Indiantelevision.com that he’d write to the cricket authorities again on Test matches against Sri Lanka beginning, January 2006.
Pointing out that BCCI hasn’t reverted to a request by Prasar Bharati, which manages Doordarshan, to clarify its stand on the Test matches, Sarma said, “We would write to the BCCI again during the first ODI against South Africa to be played at Hyderabad soon. We want some clarity on the Tests as we have to make some arrangements for their telecast.”
According to Sarma, every day’s delay by BCCI on formally awarding telecast rights of the three Test matches against Sri Lanka is reducing the pubcaster’s scope for marketing cricket “more effectively” to advertisers and sponsors.
Though DD has the telecast rights for the one-day matches against Sri Lanka (already concluded) and the forthcoming series against South Africa, a pending court case on the telecast issue has made BCCI watchful against awarding rights to anybody arbitrarily, a senior Board official said.
The official was evasive when asked whether BCCI is now bound by a new guideline relating to sports telecast in the country as part of a downlinking law.Sarma pointed out that DD hopes to mop up over Rs 1.5 billion in advertising revenue from the ODI series against Lanka and South Africa.
Meanwhile, Sarma added that no decision has been taken on the telecast of the Commonwealth Games to be held in Australia next year. “We haven’t heard anything from the Games’ organizers yet,” he added.
DD had earlier given up its claims on having omnibus rights — satellite, terrestrial and DTH — for the Commonwealth Games 2006 after protracted negotiation with organizers, seeking only terrestrial rights.
But ,with the enactment of downlink laws, which stipulates sports feeds of national importance to be shared with the pubcaster on a mandatory basis, things might change.
News Broadcasting
India Today Group sweeps top honours at Ramnath Goenka Awards
Journalists recognised for fearless investigative and civic reporting.
MUMBAI: India Today Group just turned the Ramnath Goenka Awards into its own trophy cabinet because when your reporters dig this deep, even the judges have to award a clean sweep. India Today Group journalists have secured multiple top honours at the latest edition of the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, reinforcing the network’s legacy as the gold standard of Indian journalism. The awards were conferred by vice president C. P. Radhakrishnan at a ceremony held on 27 March 2026.
Sreya Chatterjee won in the ‘Investigative Reporting – Broadcast’ category for her powerful India Today TV report ‘Operation Illegals: The Alarming Rise in Bangladeshi Infiltration Across India’s Fragile Eastern Frontier’. The investigation stood out for its depth, on-ground rigour and national relevance.
In the ‘Civic Journalism – Print/Digital’ category, Sreya Chatterjee along with Arvind Ojha were honoured for their indiatoday.in report on unregulated water extraction and the ‘Tanker Mafia’ in Delhi’s Bawana Industrial Area. The story exposed critical systemic gaps and environmental challenges affecting daily life.
Additionally, aajtak.in was recognised in the ‘Investigative Reporting – Print/Digital’ category for its hard-hitting exposé ‘The Surrogate Mother Market’, which highlighted the human, legal and ethical dimensions of the surrogacy ecosystem.
India Today Group emerged as the only network honoured in Investigative Journalism across both Print/Digital and Broadcast categories. The wins reflect the strength of its multi-platform newsroom and its unwavering commitment to credible, high-impact reporting that informs public discourse and drives accountability.
In an era when speed often trumps substance, these awards remind us that the most powerful stories are still the ones dug out with courage, told with clarity, and delivered with conscience, one fearless byline at a time.
