First ODI gets Rs 8 cr for DD

The rates for a 10-second commercial were going for close to Rs 2 lakh, and officials said they were over-booked, amid charges by Ten Sports that Doordarshan had violated court orders by not showing its logo along with the live feed. Doordarshan denied it had violated any rules.

The final telecast of the remaining matches will, however, depend on the Supreme Court, where Ten Sports’ special leave petition (SLP) comes up for a hearing tomorrow.

‘‘Ours was a full signal with logo and ads. Prasar Bharati deleted our logo as well as the ads. Besides, the DD signal was carried free-to-air. This resulted in signal pilferage,’’ advisor with Ten Sports’ distributor R.K. Singh told PTI over phone from Mumbai.

‘‘We have communicated to Prasar Bharati that their act has resulted in a breach of our ad contracts and has severely hurt Ten Sports’ business fundamentals…They were serving only their own commercial interests, not any public interest in doing so,’’ he said.

The Supreme Court had intervened in the dispute after Ten Sports submitted the petition questioning the verdict of the Madras High Court which had directed the channel to give terrestrial signals of all the matches to Doordarshan. The Prasar Bharati Corporation had moved a caveat in the apex court to make it a party in the event of

Ten Sports approaching the court. Ten Sports had submitted to the apex court its decision to give Doordarshan a live feed for the first match.

Prasar Bharati CEO Sarma, it is learnt, will meet Attorney General Soli G. Sorabjee and Solicitor General Kirit Raval tomorrow to seek their opinion on the row, ahead of the Supreme Court hearing.

The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of his comments made last night that the national broadcaster was ‘‘still open’’ to a commercial deal with the rights holder, which has led to speculation about an out-of-court settlement between the two channels.