ZEE promises a bounty for Indian cricket

An ecstatic ZEE Telefilms, soon after clinching the coveted four year cricket broadcasting deal of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said it was committed to its earlier offer of developing the domestic and international cricket along with the Indian board.

In its final presentation to BCCI, ZEE also said that it would ensure that the best standards and international production values were maintained for the telecast of these matches.

International Cricket

ZEE said it was serious in developing its programming around the core subject of cricket and enhance sponsored cricket based offerings. ZEE also spoke of ensuring a global reach for Indian cricket to Indians across the globe. In addition, there would be television exposure for BCCI's partners as well and the channel would pitch in marketing BCCI's hospitality rights, licensing and merchandising using ZEE's tele-shopping network.

For international cricket, there would be pre-match build up shows with the best global experts, to be followed by lunch review shows and special interviews with players/cricket administrators during tea break. Post lunch, there would be a complete review of the day's play with statistical presentation.

ZEE said it would hire the best commentators from the cricket world for both Hindi and English language commentary. While selecting commentators to the exclusive panel, priority will be given to experts representing the playing countries.

Along with cricket coverage on its national network, ZEE said it would provide regional language commentary for broadcast on the ZEE Alpha channels. In addition, there would be licensing and merchandising programmes along with a centralised media and marketing programme.

In addition, ZEE said it would produce and broadcast live all India A matches. India A is essentially a second-string cricket team comprising former international players and budding domestic talents. Such coverage, ZEE said, potentially provided up to 30 days of live coverage.

Domestic Cricket

For domestic cricket, ZEE promises over 72 days of cricket coverage - possibly extending to over 90 days each year. It also assures production and telecast of international quality live coverage of matches of the Ranji trophy (both one day and first class), Irani trophy, N.K.P. Salve Challenger trophy, D.B. Deodhar trophy and Duleep Trophy. That's not all, ZEE says it will also produce and telecast live coverage of select matches from universities cricket and U-19 cricket.

ZEE plans extensive promotion of the sports on its network and build up viewership interest. It also pledges to bring in more star players and attract greater sponsorship interest. ZEE says there's a potential for exciting new formats; colour clothing, day/night one-day fixtures, and also a host of innovative, interactive promotions to keep the viewers glued on.

ZEE also sought to create awareness of tournament traditions, its history and its significance in the growth of Indian cricket. There will be weekly review shows, highlight packages, daily news flashes on the ZEE network as well.

ZEE, it was learnt, is keen to nurture domestic talent, who would eventually represent India at the international level.

Zee says it will partner BCCI and state cricket associations by advising and helping in implementing permanent solutions for TV production coverage at local stadiums. It will also help in developing state associations and teams as brands, and assist in creation of affinity-based fan following representing city/ state. The network will also maximise exposure for local partners and sponsors.

Hi-tech Coverage

Regarding the quality of coverage, ZEE declared that it will use up to 30 cameras for certain cricket tournaments instead of 19 cameras generally used in these cases.

ZEE has also promised to introduce LBW Mat vision deploying ‘half key' technique with fixed cameras to guide viewers on LBW appeals. Apart from this, ZEE is also planning to introduce snick analyzer to guide viewers on caught behind or bat pad decisions (if permitted by the umpires).

To enhance the telecast quality, ZEE has also announced to introduce services like ‘replay zoomer' for enhanced close up of the action, ‘run out ruler' to map the distance from the popping crease, ‘reaction time analyzer' for analysis of quick reactions, latest super slow motion cameras and virtual vision for graphical denotation on placement of fielders, catching positions, distance from the batsmen etc. Apart from these, for the first time in India, ZEE Telefilms will introduce pan-stump vision cameras.

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