The Hindu : Front Page : Nimbus steps in after Zee pullout

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Friday, Jun 01, 2007
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Nimbus steps in after Zee pullout

Special Correspondent

MUMBAI: Nimbus Communications has stepped in to telecast the India vs South Africa one-day series in Ireland, named the Future Cup, followed by an Indo-Pak charity game at Scotland, pulling the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) out of a tight spot after the Zee Group withdrew. The latter had to pay the advance amount on May 28, 2007 as per the agreement with the Board. The BCCI and Zee had signed a four-year deal valued at Rs. 2,724 crores.

The Board announced a discount of Rs. 257 crores to Nimbus for the four matches, whether Doordardshan encrypts the signals or not. The Information & Broadcasting Ministry's directive to private telecasters regarding sharing of telecast feed with Doordarshan of India's home and away cricket matches, besides DD's encrypting of the feed on DTH were two issues affecting the viability of television channels after having paid huge amounts to buy telecast rights from BCCI.

Amicable settlement

"We reached an amicable settlement with Nimbus," said Board vice-president Lalit Modi, at a media briefing on Thursday at the BCCI headquarters. He emphasised that apart from the discount to Nimbus, whether DD encrypts the signals or not, the contract amount will remain the same.

According to him, Zee had contracted to pay Rs. 6.05 million per match per day, after which the latter pulled out, leading to a termination letter from BCCI.

Mr. Modi clarified that, as per working committee decision which is on record, the same offer was made to both Nimbus and Zee Sports, including the discount. "Zee was not happy with that and intimated us about their decision to pull out. After that we sent them a termination letter ending the contract," he said, adding: "Zee's assertion, as reported in the media, about absence of advance information regarding India's schedule, is not true. We had given them advance notice, in January about the forthcoming matches. About the future programme, we are required to intimate them six months in advance."

Nimbus's CMD Harish Thawani announced that the Ireland and Scotland matches telecast would be shared with various channels, without naming specific channels at this point.

"The certainty allows us to do what you want to do. It is the same for BCCI," he said.

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