A DD official says that efforts are on to re-negotiate with the Lausanne-based International Olympic Committee (IOC) to continue with Olympics coverage on DD Sports after January 15 also, even if it's for at least two hours a day. However, the IOC, which is responsible for granting rights to broadcasters for covering the Olympic Games, is clear that DD's exclusive telecast rights end on January 15. Thereafter, DD will have a non-exclusive right to broadcast recorded footage of the event, that too with plenty of limitations.

Says an IOC media relations official: ``Until January 15, 2001, the Indian member of Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (Doordarshan) has an exclusive right to broadcast the Sydney Games in India. However, after that date and for 10 years thereafter, DD shall have a non-exclusive right to broadcast recorded footage of the Sydney Games throughout India provided that the conditions specified in the contract between ABU and IOC are respected.''The official elaborates on the conditions: ``Such recorded footage shall be restricted to a maximum of four, five-minute excerpts within any particular programme.'' Also, the IOC official adds: ``Such recorded footage must be separated by intervals of at least five minutes.'' There's another tag attached to these conditions. ``Such non-exclusive right to broadcast recorded footage may not be licensed to third parties by the ABU members and may be exercised only by ABU members to broadcast in their respective territories over their own broadcast facilities.''

Another catch in the IOC condition is that ``such broadcast of recorded footage of the Sydney Games shall not be used by ABU members or others as programming or incorporated into any programming that is promoted, positioned as or is in substance a programme on the Olympic Games (as opposed to a sports programme).'' That is, DD will not be allowed to telecast chunks of Sydney Olympic footage, unless these are used in sports programmes, separate from programmes on Olympic Games.

According to a DD official, it was 500 hours of precious footage of Olympics that DD Sports was making good use of by showing the footage much after the Games. Since DD had spent Rs 15 crore on getting the exclusive rights for telecasting the Olympic Games live and had made only about Rs 1.5 crore from the event, it wanted to capitalise on the ``high quality programming'' as far as possible.