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SaharaOne strikes gold; gets broadcasting rights for India-England cricket series
The India-England cricket series, which includes 3 Test matches and 7 ODI matches will begin March 1
SaharaOne Media and Entertainment on Saturday signed a deal for exclusive telecast rights of the India-England international cricket series starting March 1, with Nimbus Communications, the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) global media rights partner for Indian cricket till March 2010.
As per the deal, SaharaOne Television will cover the 7 ODI's (One day internationals) and 3 Test matches. However, Nimbus will continue to produce the wrap-around programming, during the breaks and pre and post-match sessions. The world feed to SaharaOne will be provided by Nimbus Sport, the BCCI's appointed producer.
According to an official communiqué, Shailendra Singh, head, Sahara One Media And Entertainment Limited, says, “This strategic deal between Sahara Group and Nimbus will take the Indian cricket to a new level. Our reach in cable homes can get the record-breaking ratings for the series.”
In the press release, Akash Khurana, MD and CEO, Nimbus, says, “Our choice of going ahead with SaharaOne as the platform was dictated by the fact that the channel has near 100 per cent reach in cable homes compared to sports channels that barely reach 50 per cent of cable homes."
He adds, “The choice also became easier because of the commitment and vision for cricket of the Sahara India Pariwar.” Nimbus will exclusively market the commercial airtime during the series on SaharaOne. The arrangement between Nimbus and Sahara contemplates a win-win upside sharing beyond specified revenue thresholds.
In addition to SaharaOne’s live broadcast and wrap-around programming, the SaharaOne Network will produce unilaterals to be aired exclusively on Sahara Filmy and Sahara News. These will focus on the glamour events and behind-the-scenes action respectively around this series. However, Nimbus shall exclusively market the commercial airtime during the series on SaharaOne.
Nimbus Communications, on February 18, had bagged global media rights for all international and domestic cricket organised by the BCCI, to be played in the country over the next four years, for approximately Rs 2,730 crore.
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