IPL: Reliance Big TV pulls out of DTH sponsorship
Ashish Khurana - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
Reliance Big TV, the direct-to-home (DTH) venture of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), has finally decided that it will not go ahead with the on-ground sponsorship deal with the BCCI.
The decision was taken as the broadcast rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL) are given to Big TV's competitor, Airtel Digital TV, by Multi Screen Media (MSM) India (earlier SET India).
Big TV bagged the DTH partnership for the T20 cricket IPL with a bid of $ 31.16 million for four years. SET MAX, the Hindi entertainment channel owned by MSM India, is the exclusive broadcast partner for IPL cricket matches.
Big TV has informed its decision to Sundar Raman, CEO, IPL, alleging that MSM India has decided to offer the contract to Airtel DTH, though it quoted a lower price for on-air partnership.
In August 2008, Big TV outbid the other contender Airtel Digital TV, which had put in a bid of $ 30.28 million for the same number of years. The tender for the DTH partner was held on August 08 and only Big TV and Airtel Digital TV bid for it.
It maybe noted that Sony was not offering exclusive on-air rights to advertisers for this IPL season. This meant that any DTH company could pick up on-air sponsorship during the IPL matches. As per the government norms, exclusivity of content is not allowed on the DTH platform and a channel is bound to provide its feed to all the DTH operators.
Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner, IPL, could not be contacted for his comments, at the time of filing of this report. Rohit Gupta, president, MSM India, declined to comment on Big TV's withdrawal and said this should be addressed to the BCCI and IPL.
A similar controversy had broken out last year when beverages company PepsiCo India signed up with IPL for on-ground sponsorship while its rival Coca-Cola India Inc. had signed up with MSM India as the on-air sponsor.
Pepsi argued that while it had paid IPL more than what Coca-Cola paid MSM India, the latter got more viewers because its ads were on air. This year, Pepsi terminated the contract with IPL, whereas Coca Cola will be the on-air sponsor with SET Max once again.
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Reliance Big TV may cancel IPL DTH deal | 27, January, 2009
Reliance Big TV, the direct-to-home (DTH) venture of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), has finally decided that it will not go ahead with the on-ground sponsorship deal with the BCCI.
The decision was taken as the broadcast rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL) are given to Big TV's competitor, Airtel Digital TV, by Multi Screen Media (MSM) India (earlier SET India).
Big TV bagged the DTH partnership for the T20 cricket IPL with a bid of $ 31.16 million for four years. SET MAX, the Hindi entertainment channel owned by MSM India, is the exclusive broadcast partner for IPL cricket matches.
Big TV has informed its decision to Sundar Raman, CEO, IPL, alleging that MSM India has decided to offer the contract to Airtel DTH, though it quoted a lower price for on-air partnership.
In August 2008, Big TV outbid the other contender Airtel Digital TV, which had put in a bid of $ 30.28 million for the same number of years. The tender for the DTH partner was held on August 08 and only Big TV and Airtel Digital TV bid for it.
It maybe noted that Sony was not offering exclusive on-air rights to advertisers for this IPL season. This meant that any DTH company could pick up on-air sponsorship during the IPL matches. As per the government norms, exclusivity of content is not allowed on the DTH platform and a channel is bound to provide its feed to all the DTH operators.
Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner, IPL, could not be contacted for his comments, at the time of filing of this report. Rohit Gupta, president, MSM India, declined to comment on Big TV's withdrawal and said this should be addressed to the BCCI and IPL.
A similar controversy had broken out last year when beverages company PepsiCo India signed up with IPL for on-ground sponsorship while its rival Coca-Cola India Inc. had signed up with MSM India as the on-air sponsor.
Pepsi argued that while it had paid IPL more than what Coca-Cola paid MSM India, the latter got more viewers because its ads were on air. This year, Pepsi terminated the contract with IPL, whereas Coca Cola will be the on-air sponsor with SET Max once again.
Read Also
Reliance Big TV may cancel IPL DTH deal | 27, January, 2009
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