Archives

BOMBAY, Friday (Reuters) - All major international cricket tournaments in the Indian subcontinent until 2007 will be screened by Sony Entertainment Television (SET), the commercial broadcaster said on Thursday.

SET's chief executive Kunal Dasgupta told a news conference on Thursday that the broadcaster had been granted the rights to the Cricket World Cups in 2003 and 2007, the ICC Champions Trophy tournaments in 2002, 2004 and 2006, and three youth World Cups.

He said this was the "biggest deal in Indian television history and the single biggest broadcast licensing deal in cricket history", but did not divulge how much it was worth.

But company officials who declined to be named, said a report last month in India's leading financial daily, The Economic Times, had come close to the correct figure at $375 million.

India's state-owned Doordarshan network will have rights to select games in the 2003 World Cup, including the semi-finals and finals and all matches involving India.

Between 2002 and 2007, SET will beam live more than 315 one-day cricket games across India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Singapore and Malaysia, Dasgupta said.

Sony reaches 29 million viewers in India with its broadcasts, and its channels include MAX, which shows Hindi movies and sports programmes, and CNBC, a business channel.

Earlier this month, it announced a programming distribution alliance with Discovery Networks International. 

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager