TV rights for England tour of India still up for grabs with three possible scenarios in play

[ASFN Admin]

England’s tour to India is the subject of a television rights bidding war, but with a week to go before the first Test fans are still waiting to discover how they will be able to watch the action. Telegraph Sport revealed before Christmas that Star India, who control the rights to India cricket, were considering screening the tour in the UK live via their Hotstar streaming app instead of selling on the rights to a traditional broadcaster such as Sky or BT Sport. But India’s win in Australia and good audience figures on Sky for England’s recent series in Sri Lanka, has increased the market for the rights with even Channel 4 showing an interest. The rights, worth around £20m, are expected to be settled in the next few days but time is running out with England arriving in India on Wednesday. The first Test starts next Friday, February 5. The tour includes four Tests, five T20s and three ODIs from February 5 to March 28. The third Test in Ahmedabad is a floodlit match which means it starts at 9am, a more civilised time for a UK audience to tune in. With millions working from home in lockdown, the Test matches are expected to draw record audiences for an England overseas tour. Three scenarios are in play. BT Sport and Sky remain the likeliest traditional subscription service to win the rights. Sky have shown almost all of England’s cricket tours over the past 30 years. BT Sport has rights to Australian cricket and screened the last Ashes tour. Channel 4’s interest is a surprise but they would be welcomed by many in the game as free-to-air broadcasters. They will face challenges around scheduling the cricket at such short notice and marketing the tour in time. The third scenario is for Star to retain the rights and show them on Hotstar in a bid to increase subscriptions to the streaming service, which is viewed as the future model for broadcasters. Sources have also indicated a combination of Hotstar and a terrestrial partner is a possibility as well.

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