India’s one of the biggest sports network, Sony Pictures Network has raised some questions about Indian Premier League(IPL) Media Rights Tender. It seems the network is not too pleased with the ‘steep’ base price by the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI). According to SPN’s lead executive, the BCCI needs to be realistic about the base price. The executive in an interview to ET said the ratings for IPL is down and their needs to be a ‘reality check’ by BCCI.
SPN talks about BCCI setting base price of IPL Media Rights
“It’s a very aggressive reserve price and there has to be a reality check. TV viewership of IPL has dropped by over 34% and at a time when the rights are coming up for renewal,” NP Singh, managing director and CEO of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN).
The question remains whether Sony will still bid for IPL Rights to which he said: “The outlay expected, given the reserve price, is very high and we will have to factor in the expected growth of the market as well as possible economic and other risks that the market may see in the next five years,” he said.
“So, we will weigh everything before we decide on what to do.” The last cycle of rights were sold at 16,347.5. BCCI has doubled the base price to 32,890 crore this time.
SPN is one of the contenders for the IPL media rights. The others in fray will be Disney Star, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE), Viacom18/ TV18, Amazon, and Fancode/ Dream11.
Reliance backed Viacom 18 has now emerged as a very serious player. First the network launched its English (Sports18) & Hindi Sports channels (Sports18 Khel) earlier this month. Now in form of LUPA Investments, huge war chest is ready at their end to fight for the rights.
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