ESPN to give Commercial Free ICC feed to DD- Delhi HC

NEW DELHI: Going by the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing) Act 2007, Delhi High Court directed ESPN to provide a ‘clean feed’ (without any advertisements) to Doordarshan for telecast on DD National.

Thus the viewers watched an ad free telecast of the India Vs South Africa match as part of the ICC Champions Trophy without any breaks.

Unlike any other sports channel, it has decided to telecast the entire ICC Champions Trophy without any ad breaks whatsoever, thus providing the viewers the first-ever experience of this kind in living memory.

Delhi High Court gave the judgment on a petition by ESPN on the ground that Doordarshan can only show the series mentioned above with advertisements that were ‘embedded’ into the telecast by the ICC.

However, the pubcaster insisted that according to the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing) Act 2007, it can only telecast a ‘clean feed’ (that is, without any advertisements).

According to Prasar Bharti CEO, Jawahar Sircar only matches that featured India would be telecast, apart from the semi-finals and the finals.

DD had told the Court that it can telecast advertisements during appropriate breaks, to sustain the economics of the telecast, but ESPN insisted that under ICC's new system, its ads would have to be carried. Prasar Bharati/DD insisted that it only wanted a clean feed.

The matter had been taken to the Delhi High Court by ESPN which claimed that it was not responsible for the commercials added by the ICC since it was receiving the feed and then re-transmitting it.

It therefore wanted the Court to stay an appeal by Prasar Bharati on 6 April in this regard. While listing the matter for 12 July, Vacation Judges Justice Manmohan Singh and R V Easwar directed ESPN to ‘provide live clean signal without any commercial whatsoever, whether those of the petitioner, ICC or any other country, to Doordarshan’ so that the public broadcaster can telecast the series which commenced today as mandated by the Sports Act.

The order was givenon 5th June but ESPN approached the Court on 6th June seeking certain clarifications. According to ESPN it was not clear as to whether the direction to provide feed without commercials related to their commercials or ICC commercials.

Prasar Bharati was represented by Additional Solicitor Generals A S Chandiok and Paras Kuhad, along with the standing counsel Rajeev Sharma and others, while ESPN was represented by Abhishek Manu Singhvi, etc.

Source:
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