PPV, Sony & Geo in line for UK telecast of India cricket

According to latest reports, it appears that the upcoming England tour of India cricket will be shown on a Pay Per View service, still yet to be confirmed.

The rights holder Nimbus, which bagged the India cricket rights for worldwide telecast has completely ruled out Sky Sports in showing the series, which begins on 1st March.

IndianTelevision has reported that the terms of the deal that Nimbus has signed for the UK territory, according to sources close to the developments, are as follows: Live telecast of the current series will be available only on PPV, but England’s next tour to India in 2008, which also involves three Tests and seven ODIs, will be on Channel 4. The remaining tours to India (by the other Test playing nations) will be broadcast on Sony Entertainment Television and Pakistan’s Geo TV in the UK.

Speaking earlier to the UK’s Sunday Telegraph, Nimbus Chairman Harish Thawani had said, “We find the terms offered by Sky Sports to be singularly unattractive. We will demonstrate there are some alternatives for cricket in the UK. Their (Sky Sports) monopoly has just ended.”

An official announcement from Nimbus will be made tomorrow where a telecast partner will be confirmed for India and internationally. According to information available with Indiantelevision, the total amount that Nimbus has been able to extract through these tie-ups (television and radio rights) for the UK territory stands at a little under $26 million.

Last night we reported the BBC has won the UK radio rights for all upcoming India cricket matches.