Sahara One to telecast England series

Sahara One has bagged the satellite rights for the upcoming series against England. It will telecast all three Tests and seven one-day internationals. This follows the signing of an agreement with Nimbus which owns the global media rights for cricket matches to be played in India till 2010.

The agreement was signed late last night, Sahara spokesman Abhijeet Sarkar told PTI. Sarkar said that Sahara was continuing talks with Nimbus to acquire the rights for a four-year period. He, however, refused to divulge the financial details of the deal.

Announcing the deal, Shailendra Singh, head of Sahara One Media And Entertainment Limited, said, "We are delighted to partner with Nimbus and Indian cricket in this new strategic initiative to take Indian cricket to the next level. Sahara India Pariwar has deep commitment to cricket and we are sure that our massive reach in cable homes will ensure that this exciting series achieves record-breaking ratings."

Incidentally, Sahara One is free-to-air channel. Commenting on the deal, Akash Khurana, MD & CEO, Nimbus, said "Our choice of the Sahara One platform was dictated by the fact that the channel has near 100% distribution in cable homes compared to sports channels that barely reach 50% of cable homes; and by the amazing commitment and vision for cricket of the Sahara India Pariwar."