New Delhi, Sept 29: Prasar Bharati, which signed a multi-crore five-year telecast rights deal with the Indian cricket board on Wednesday, has opted to play down the controversy over award of production contract by inviting bids only for the series against New Zealand starting October 10.Prasar Bharati, which floated a tender with strict pre-qualification conditions, has opted out of awarding the contract and marketing rights for the entire period -- 1999 to 2004 -- for which it signed the Rs 228.50-crore deal with the cricket board.
Signing of the deal has come under considerable pressure due to the ongoing row between the board and Doordarshan over the dispute on payment of $7 million to private production company WorldTel in connection with the 1996 World Cup.
Prasar Bharati CEO Rajeeva Ratna Shah announced that DD would not withdraw its case, a major issue over which the signing of the deal was reportedly delayed despite the board's working committee giving the go ahead on August 20.
Amidst thewrangling, WorldTel has shot a letter to DD complaining against the "discriminatory" bid conditions saying it "will limit competition for the contract and remove the companies most likely to pay DD the highest amount for the international rights and produce the best signal thereby reducing DD's potential to make profits on the telecast".
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.