Nimbus issues notice to BCCI threatening to pull out of telecast deal. BCCI convenes emergency meeting after Nimbus notice to pull out of telecast deal.
NEW DELHI: Handicapped by an ordinance biting into their revenues, Nimbus on Tuesday threatened to pull out of its whopping Rs 2714 crore telecast deal with the Cricket Board which has now been left with the onus of sorting out the vexed telecast issue with the government.
Barely a year after acquiring the telecast rights for a record amount, Nimbus sent shock waves in the BCCI corridors by issuing a letter in which it threatened to pull out of the deal if an amicable solution was not found.
The sudden development prompted the top brass of the BCCI to hold an emergency meeting at president Sharad Pawar's residence and discuss the issue.
Nimbus' decision to withdraw from the deal, covering matches in India till March 2010, comes after the Government issued an ordinance last month making it mandatory for private broadcasters to share with Prasar Bharti the live feed of sports events of national importance.
Sharad Pawar, however, sought to downplay the development saying Nimbus had only issued a letter expressing resentment on certain issues and it was not a threat to pull out.
"There is no problem with the Ordinance for us and the licencee. We completely agree with that. But there are certain technicalities, the signals are going out of India to Gulf and other places, which is affecting the revenue of Nimbus and us," Pawar told reporters before the meeting.
"Parliament is supreme. But we are trying to find a way out so that the effect on us is reduced", he said.
Pawar said that the government has set up a committee with representatives of Prasar Bharti, BCCI and Nimbus and it was trying to resolve the technicalities.
Pawar also denied that it was an emergency meeting.
"It is a regular meeting, because I'm a Parliamentarian it happens like this," he said.
Nimbus apparently has told the BCCI in its letter to sort out the 'encryption' issue with Prasar Bharti.
The encryption of live match feed has emerged as a bone of contention with the private broadcaster insisting that PB should take initiatives to encrypt the signals.
The recent cricket tournaments featuring India have invariably led to long-drawn court room battles on the telecast issue.
The series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka had also suffered a similar fate before the Delhi High Court first ordered Nimbus to share the feed with a seven-minute delay and then a simultaneous telecast with Doordarshan.
The government then came up with an ordinance making it mandatory for private broadcasters to share the live feed with DD of all sporting events of national importance.
The Mumbai-based Nimbus acquired the Cricket Board's telecast rights pipping ESPN-Star Sports and Zee Sports when the rights were awarded in February 2006 for a four-year period.
Nimbus, which did not have a channel of its own, then launched 'Neo Sports' in the middle of last year and the Challenger Series domestic limited overs tournament in August was the first tournament it beamed.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}