According to industry sources, Reliance Entertainment is exploring the idea of buying media rights to major sports events, including cricket.
NEW DELHI: Competition is likely to intensify even further in the sports rights acquisition space.
The Anil Ambani group’s Reliance Entertainment is exploring the idea of buying media rights to major sports events, including cricket, according to industry sources — a gambit that will see the group moving to become a complete convergence and entertainment player.
Rajesh Sawhney, president of Reliance Entertainment, refused to comment when queried by DNA Money on the issue.
When queried whether Reliance Entertainment would bid for the forthcoming cricket telecast and broadcast rights when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) floats the four-year tender this month, Sawhney said, “I can’t comment on it. We’ll examine it once the tender is floated.”
However, it is learnt that the Anil Ambani group is keen on acquiring significant sports rights, including cricket, for multiple media platforms.
The group is already planning a foray into direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting. Reliance’s application for DTH licence is currently with the government. The group also has ambitious plans in radio.
Adlabs Films, (where Anil Ambani group has major stake) has bagged 26 radio stations in the first two rounds of bidding in the second phase of FM privatisation, and another three rounds of bidding are still to go.
Although news and current affairs is not allowed in private FM radio stations, sports programmes can be permitted, BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi has said.
Broadband is another area the Anil Ambani group is active in. It may also like to cash in on premium content, like sports, for its mobile telephony service.
Mobisodes, or TV serials on mobile phones, are catching up in India, and beaming sports footage could be the next step. In other parts of the world, it’s already quite popular.
Content will be the only differentiator as competition hots up, a media analyst pointed out. And, getting exclusive rights to sports events will certainly help media companies in staying ahead in the race.
BCCI’s last tender, floated in September 2004, was cancelled subsequently as the issue of telecast rights ended up in courts. The highest bid for the four-year cricket telecast rights was close to Rs 1,400 crore. The Supreme Court asked the BCCI to issue a fresh tender thereafter.
In the past, BCCI tender allowed TV channels and production houses to bid for and acquire telecast rights to international cricket matches played in India.
This time, the board is likely to issue separate tenders for television, radio, DTH, broadbandinternet and mobile telephony.
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