[HCDX] BCCI floats tender for FM, govt says cricket is news

[sakthi vel <ardicdxclub@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) has floated a four-year tender for media rights
to international cricket matches in India. The tender
includes bids for private FM radio, even as news and
current affairs is not allowed in this segment.

A senior official in the information and broadcasting
(I&B) ministry told DNA: ?Cricket coverage certainly
comes under news and current affairs.? And private FM
radio stations are not permitted to broadcast news and
current affairs programmes, he added, reiterating the
government norms for radio. BCCI vice-chairman Lalit
Modi had earlier argued that cricket is entertainment
and not news. 

Radio is part of the tender for global media rights to
cricket matches between April 2006 and March 2010.
Cable TV, direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting,
broadband, radio and mobile are among the various
segments under the tender. The four-year tender is for
162 days of live cricket, it is learnt. 

While TV and DTH players are gearing up to bid for the
cricket rights, FM radio companies are in a wait and
watch mode. CEO of Music Broadcast Private Ltd (MBPL)
Apurva Purohit said: ?We will have to look at the
conditions of the tender first.? MBPL holds 18 FM
radio stations across the country. 

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group is also learnt to be
looking for some clarity on whether FM players can bid
for cricket rights or not. Anil Ambani group-backed
Adlabs has won 49 FM stations already. Another FM
player, Bennett Coleman group which runs Radio Mirchi,
however, may not be too gung-ho about cricket radio
rights. 

At a recent press conference, Bennett Coleman managing
director Vineet Jain said, ?Cricket coverage will be
treated as news and that?s not allowed in private FM.?


While Modi maintained that cricket is entertainment
and therefore it can be aired on FM radio, Prasar
Bharati CEO KS Sarma had written a letter to Board
president Sharad Pawar that current government norms
don?t permit private FM radio channels to broadcast
news and current affairs.

http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1010393&CatID=6
+++++++++++++++

Jaisakthivel,
www.dxersguide.blogspot.com


		
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