Broadcasters to share feed for 24 sports events

The information and broadcasting ministry has notified 24 sports events for which broadcast rights holders must share the feed with public broadcaster Prasar Bharati.

Doordarshan will pass on 75 per cent of the revenue it earns from these events, termed as "events of national importance", to the rights holders.

The much-awaited list covers tennis, football, hockey, chess and Olympics, and comes into effect immediately. It has been prepared after consultations with the ministry of sports & youth affairs, Prasar Bharati, sports channels and broadcast rights holders.

Among the international events listed are summer and winter Olympics, Commonwealth, Asian and Afro-Asian games.

In tennis, the feed for all matches featuring India and semi-final/final matches of the Davis Cup, Grand Slams and WTA championships would have to be shared.

The semi-finals and finals of football tournaments like the World Cup, European Cup, Asia Cup and local events like Durand Cup and Federation Cup will be beamed on Doordarshan.

Similarly, in hockey, the final matches of the World Cup, Champions Trophy, Beighton Cup and Indira Gandhi Gold Cup for Women will be telecast simultaneously on Doordarshan and a private broadcaster. The finals of the World Chess Championship, Chess Olympiad and World Championships in billiards and snooker have also made their way onto the list.

In the past, only cricket match feed had to be compulsorily shared with Prasar Bharati and had been a cause of major heartburn for private broadcasters.

However, the recent past has seen instances where voluntary agreements have been sealed with Prasar Bharati for co-marketing and simultaneous broadcast. ESPN STAR Sports and ZEE Sports had entered into such deals for the Fifa World Cup and the Indo-Pak ODIs in Abu Dhabi respectively.