Indian board to combine tenders for TV rights

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that it would combine the tenders for terrestrial and global satellite rights after they withdrew the Revenue Management Company tender issued earlier in the week.

The new tender will have a minimum guarantee of US$450 million, combining the minimum guarantees (US$350 million and US$100 million) for the two tenders proposed earlier.

"The recent ruling of the Supreme Court regarding broadcasting rights on Doordarshan has changed the dynamics of the situation and as a result BCCI felt to do away with a separate tender for Doordarshan marketing only," said Lalit Modi, the chairman of board's marketing sub-committee. "With this move, BCCI aims to pre-empt any likely issues that may arise over signal sharing between satellite rights and terrestrial rights players. With both rights under one banner, as per the new format, this issue will not arise."

The tender winner will then sort out details regarding sharing of India rights with Prasar Bharti according to the downlinking guidelines of the Indian government. "The BCCI will deal only with one party, which is appropriate, for this way we will be able to retain transparency while providing a level playing field for all prospective bidders."

The tender is expected to be finalised on February 17.