It is time for the Governments to intervene and ban Ten Sports in India and Pakistan! Next time the Governments should remember – every Indian or Pakistani has the right to watch the India-Pakistan series in Door Darshan or Pakistan TV free of charge!
Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, Chairman of Bukhatir Investments Limited and the man who brought one-day international cricket to a seemingly unlikely place -- Sharjah -- in the United Arab Emirates on April 6, 1984, is the owner of Taj Television Ltd - Ten Sports.
Commercialization of the Cricket series between India and Pakistan does not work in countries like India or Pakistan. Governments of India and Pakistan should have made proper arrangements to make sure cricket fans are not deprived of their passionate rights. The Ten Sports-Doordarshan battle, which had led to uncertainty over the telecast of the historic India-Pakistan cricket series, had made millions of fans bite their nails in anxiety.
Ten Sports has the exclusive telecast rights for all cricket matches played in Pakistan. It has also bagged the telecast rights for West Indies cricket for the next five years. The combined cost of both acquisitions is said to be around $50 million.
The sports channel demanded $24 million from Doordarshan to share its live telecast feed, but DD refused to part with that amount leading to a high-profile battle which moved from the high courts of Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi to the Supreme Court. Due to the apex court's intervention, cricket fans in India have been able to watch the first two ODIs.
Meanwhile, Ten Sports has indicated that it might be ready for an out-of-court settlement over the issue with DD, to put the controversy to rest. Ten Sports is a sports channel owned by Taj Television Ltd which is headquartered in the Dubai Media City, with six offices across the sub-continent. Taj Television Ltd was established in January 2001. It is a full service television concern and its portfolio consists of a 24-hour sports channel Ten Sports, television production, broadcasting solutions, remote television production and event management.