All India Radio wins radio rights for India-Pakistan series

Rahul Sharma - Televisionpoint.com
The All India Radio has won the radio rights for the India-Pakistan series. The Radio commentary will resume from January 21, when the second Test match begins at Faisalabad. According to reliable sources, Prasar Bharati has paid approx. $1.32 lakh for the entire series.

Earlier, ARY has demanded $2.5 lakh for the entire series, but Prasar Bharati refused the same and has sent a fresh proposal on Jan 13, which was approved on Jan 19. ARY has previously said that AIR earned $5 lakh in a previous series and, therefore, the amount they're quoting is reasonable. AIR, on the other hand, has refused to go any higher, justifying its quotation by saying it will have to bear the entire production cost and that the hype this time isn't as high, as first reported by Televisionpoint.com

Last year, Ten Sports sold the rights to the Dubai-based company, ARY broadcasters, a company with 11 channels that has rights for cricket matches in Pakistan and the Middle East. With AIR bagging the rights, more than 40 crores of the listeners would be benefited.

Also, from this year separate tenders will be floated for the radio broadcasters as efforts are being made maximise the revenue generation by the BCCI, the potential by harnessing radio, mobile and broadband rights, as the board plans to generate $350 million.