Local activists oppose Ten Sports, over Content Sharing

Rahul Sharma - Televisionpoint.com
Apart from the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry, two local activists have opposed a petition filed in court by Ten Sports challenging the downlinking guidelines that call for feed sharing with free-to-air public broadcasters.

The intervening parties have stated that the downlinking guidelines framed by the were formulated on an earlier Bombay High Court directive following public interest litigations (PIL) and should not be stayed.

Taj TV Limited, the owner of Ten Sports, had filed a petition in the Bomaby High Court last week challenging the I&B guidelines, which state that private channels having TV broadcasting rights to national and international sporting events held in India or abroad shall share their feed with Prasar Bharati.

One of those seeking intervention is advocate Ahmad Abdi on behalf of an NGO, Consumer Action Network (CAN), saying that the high court hear the NGO before passing any order. Abdi has stated that last year, the Bombay High Court had directed Ten Sports to share the feed with free-to-air Doordarshan (DD) during the India-Pakistan match in 2004. Ten Sports had challenged the directive in the Supreme Court, which too directed the sports channel to share the feed with DD at the time. The matter is still pending in the apex court.

Meanwhile, advocate M.M. Vashi also sought intervention in the matter stating that the division bench headed by the Chief Justice had directed the Union Government to frame the guidelines at the earliest on a PIL filed by a social activist seeking that downlinking be strictly monitored by the government.

The division bench of Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice A.S. Oka has kept the matter for hearing on December 19 while directing the Union Government to file its say. Both the interveners have also been asked to file an affidavit.

The I&B had issued the guidelines on November 11 for private sports channels. Ten Sports has objected to sharing with DD, stating that it has acquired the exclusive rights to broadcast various cricket tournaments and has entered into contracts with cricket boards of various countries by paying huge amounts.

Ten Sports has acquired telecast rights from Pakistan Cricket Board, Sri Lankan Cricket Board and British Sky Broadcasting Rights till 2007 by paying over $100.8 million, the channel said.

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