Prasar Bharati is preparing to soon launch its over-the-top (OTT) platform and form a committee to bid for major sports events like hockey and cricket, despite the apprehension and concerns of private broadcasters that a move like this could significantly impact their ability to make money from sports rights.
In its recently released ‘Content Sourcing Policy’, Prasar Bharati revealed constituting a Sports Rights Negotiation Committee (SRNC) to negotiate and source the rights to sporting events such as Cricket, Hockey, Kabaddi, etc.
It will be constituted with officers from Sports Division, Finance Division, and Sales Division after the approval of CEO, Prasar Bharati. The officer in-charge of the Sports Division shall be Chairperson of the Committee.
Storyboard18 was the first to report on the pubcaster’s new ‘Content Sourcing Policy’.
Sports rights are often owned by the organisers, who only sell them through exclusive bidding and negotiating processes.
Read more: Exclusive: Prasar Bharati releases Content Sourcing Policy; reveals policies for upcoming OTT
The pubcaster is likely to now participate in such bidding or may approach organisers for sourcing the rights of sporting events through negotiation.
Through the Sports Act and Cable TV Network Regulation Act, Prasar Bharati gets one-time telecast rights for sports content of national interest from private broadcasters. Marquee properties like the Indian Premier League (IPL) is not part of the games of national importance.
“Major contribution of the sports content at present comes from the sporting events of national importance. Prasar Bharati has only one time telecast rights over these content. After the transmission of the content, it cannot be repeated. Prasar Bharati generally cannot telecast even the highlights of the events or use footage. Therefore, Prasar Bharati will endeavour to source the rights of the sports events such as Cricket, Hockey, Kabaddi etc. to retain the perpetual rights over the content,” it said.
The Committee will recommend the range of rights fee and negotiate with the rights owners for sourcing of rights after approval of the Empowered Committee on Sports Rights (ECSR) of Prasar Bharati Board.
The sports content will be sourced other than live sporting events under different sourcing modes like revenue share, sponsored or commissioning.
It is to be noted that the streaming rights for the International Cricket Council’s (ICC’s) tournaments with Disney Star, who committed $3 billion for four-year rights (2024-2027) while Viacom18 has media rights for the BCCI-run international and domestic matches for Rs 5,963 crore until 2028.
Despite the specific mentions of the content policies for both linear and OTT, Prasar Bharati hasn’t made any mention of when will it be launching the OTT.
It was earlier reported to be launched in July and then in August.
In its letter to the broadcasters, in May, Prasar Bharati said, “To remain future-ready and increase its footprint in the rapidly changing broadcasting industry, Prasar Bharati has extended its reach in the digital domain by developing an OTT platform. A diverse range of content available with Prasar Bharati in multiple languages and dialects shall be made available in digital format catering to the varied tastes and preferences of the audience. The OTT platform of Prasar Bharati shall represent the rich socio-cultural diversity of the nation, bringing family viewing of TV back. The Platform may be launched in July 2024.”