Cricket fans of Mumbai, the headquarters of the game in India, may miss watching the much-awaited confrontation between ace batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Australian pace bowling great Glenn McGrath on Saturday in Malaysia because of the row between cable operators and the tournament's television rights holders in India.
The bone of contention between the Multi System Operators (MSOs) and Zee Sports channel is the refusal of some MSOs in Mumbai to sign the subscription agreement with the channel, which became a paid one in June 2005, a media statement from Zee said on Friday.
- Malaysia tri-series coverage
The TDSAT tribunal on Friday rejected a plea filed by In Cable, one of the MSOs, seeking restoration of their Zee Sports signal even in the absence of an agreement between the operators and Zee Turner, the distributing company of Zee Sports, the statement added.
During court proceedings on Friday, the channel had offered bulk discount to In Cable with the intention of settling the matter, which was not accepted by the operators, the statement said, adding, since In Cable was unwilling to sign the subscription agreement, TDSAT rejected the operators' plea for interim relief.
The next hearing of the case is slated for September 19 and, if an agreement is not reached by the two parties before that date, the court will take a decision, according to the statemnt.
Zee Turner, distributor for Zee Sports, said it has been negotiating with the operators to sign the subscription agreement for the pay channel but to no avail.
It alleged that when they turned down the operators' unreasonable demand, some of them, including In Cable, moved TDSAT, arguing that their viewers are suffering due to the channel not being available.
The first match of the series on September 12 between Australia and the West Indies was missed by most Mumbai television viewers though Thursday's second match, between India and the West Indies, was made available by the channel despite the dispute not being resolved.
"We cannot allow our signals on any of the networks that have not signed the subscription agreement with us, especially since majority of the country has already signed and is watching the tri-series," said Zee Turner CEO Arun Poddar.
"Zee Sports has been a pay channel since June 2005 and we have spent a substantial amount of money in acquiring the rights of the DLF Cup tri-series and thus have the right to demand subscription fees.
"However, the operators that have already signed the agreement will continue to get the signals for Zee Sports," he explained.
Zee Sports has bought the telecast rights for cricket matches to be played by India at offshore venues over the next five years from the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
