Prasar Bharati to let ESPN market T20 World Cup for Doordarshan

Prasar Bharati will let ESPN-Star Sports (ESS) undertake the marketing of the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup cricket matches telecast on Doordarshan. The catch is that ESS will have to meet the reserve price per match fixed by DD for the World Cup matches.

As reported first by ET, ESS will share live and clean feed (without ads) with Prasar Bharati for all the matches India plays, the semi-finals and the final, irrespective of whether India reaches the final stages.

The marketing model will be on the lines of the arrangement between DD and private broadcaster Nimbus for the India-West Indies series earlier this year. During the one-day series, DD had said it would be able to generate Rs 4.26 crore for the series, while Nimbus (which held the rights for these matches) had said it would generate Rs 22 crore if it were to undertake the marketing for DD.

Nimbus was allowed to market the entire commercial airtime for the series exclusively through its ad sales arm — Nimbus Media Solutions — on a 70:30 revenue share basis in its favour.

For the Twenty20 World Cup, Prasar Bharati and ESS will follow a 75:25 revenue share ratio in favour of the private broadcaster as specified by law. When contacted, ESS executives refused to comment.

DD sources said Prasar Bharati officials would meet their ESS counterparts over the next couple of days to discuss the issue of marketing rights, among other matters. “If they do not agree to the base price set by us, we will market the advertisements slots on our own,” DD officials said. The Twenty20 World Cup begins in South Africa on September 11.

“The revenue share is applicable on the entire amount they raise, and not just the base price. At the same time, if the deal goes through, there will be another clause which stipulates that ESS must pay 25% of the base price even if the revenues raised by the private broadcaster are lower than this amount,” DD sources added.

The sources also said ESS would be able to command higher ad rates as the private broadcaster would be able to offer combo slots on both the channels simultaneously to its advertisers. Besides, ESS will also be able to charge single rates for ads and other promotional material across the different channels.

As reported earlier by ET, ESS has already sold the series at rates about 100% higher than even the 2007 World Cup, with rates averaging Rs 2.75-3 lakh per 10 seconds.