Zee challenges BCCI's decision in Supreme Court

The confusion over the telecast rights for the India-Australia Test series shows no signs of ending. Just a day after the Indian board announced that Sony would telecast the series live, Zee Telefilms moved the Supreme Court and asked it to stop this from happening, reported NDTV. To complicate matters further, Prasar Bharati, the national broadcaster, stated that it would go to court as well to challenge the decision.

"Prasar Bharati had bid higher than Sony in the initial bids invited by the BCCI for telecast rights," KS Sarma, the chief executive of Prasar Bharati, told Press Trust of India. "However, the BCCI favoured Sony. We will challenge the issue in [the] Supreme Court." Prasar Bharati's bid amount was Rs704crore (approx US$153million), compared to Sony's Rs600crore (US$130million).

Another reason why Prasar Bharati, the parent company of Doordarshan, decided to take the board to court, Sarma said, was because the BCCI had earlier suggested that Doordarshan would telecast the feed, which would be produced by the board itself. "And now what we hear is a totally different thing."

If Zee does manage to get a stay from the Supreme Court, it will seriously jeopardise the chances of a live telecast of the first Test, which starts on Wednesday, October 6.