Having initially signed a rights deal with GCC for a premium package of 16 live games as well as highlights coverage, Indian terrestrial broadcaster Doordarshan (DD) has enhanced this agreement to cover 43 matches of the 54 match tournament.
The additional 27 games that DD has bought up will be available to the cricket-mad Indians on a delayed basis on the network's DD Metro channel with the 16 live games shown on the flagship DD National. The live games to be broadcast include all of the Indian team's games as well as the two semi finals and the Final.
In the Americas, satellite pay-TV platform EchoStar has bought up the exclusive broadcast rights to the tournament which begins next month.
EchoStar's DISH network will broadcast coverage of the World Cup in the US while the platform also holds the rights to distribute the rights through sub-licensees in Canada, Mexico and Central and South America.
The new deals add to the existing TV rights contracts that GCC has already signed up covering all of the major cricket-playing nations. Among the broadcasters that have bought up the rights include Sony Max (India), Rupavahini (Sri Lanka), Sky Sports (UK), Pakistan TV (Pakistan), SABC (South Africa), BTV (Bangladesh), Sky Sports (New Zealand), and Fox Sports (Australia).
For a full commercial analysis of the upcoming Cricket World Cup, see the February issue of our sister publication SportBusiness International.
The global TV coverage of the Cricket World Cup has been boosted after News Corp. owned rights holders Global Cricket Corporation (GCC) signed new deals in India and the Americas.
