Click to play videoNew Delhi: Nimbus and Prasar Bharati have failed to come to an agreement over the telecast of the ongoing India-West Indies ODI series.
Earlier Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi had said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India had violated the down linking guidelines by selling terrestrial rights to Nimbus.
"BCCI had no right to sell the terrestrial and radio broadcasting rights to Nimbus because they are sacrosanct and belong to Prasar Bharati and AIR respectively," Dasmunsi had said.
Nimbus, which had moved Delhi High Court on Monday morning, said its proposals were rejected and challenged the public broadcaster to produce its own programme and go live.
The broadcaster has challenged the Centre's uplinking guidelines that make it mandatory on private broadcasters to share feed of sporting events of "national interest" with public broadcaster Prasar Bharati.
On the other hand, Prasar Bharati filed caveats in the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court and Bombay High Court, pleading that it be heard whenever the matter regarding the telecast row would be taken up.
The Delhi High Court will hear the matter on Tuesday.
Nimbus claimed that they are being pressurised to share the feed with Prasar Bharati.
"I think the Prasar Bharati is just trying to precipitate a precarious crisis in the country and hoping that eventually we would be blackmailed into giving up our legitimate commercial rights,” Nimbus chief Harish Thawani said.
What we are saying is very simple: why are you not encrypting. If they are don't want to encrypt it and don't want to carry it, I can't them compel to carry it," Thawani added.
"We offered Prasar Bharati that they can have live feed of the matches if they encrypt signals or else they can go in for a 15-minute delayed feed. However, since they do not agree to both these, all I can say is they can come to the stadium with their equipments and go live if they believe they are so entitled under guidelines," Nimbus CEO Digvijay Singh said after talks with Prasar Bharati failed.
DD Director-General LD Mandloi ruled out any live recording from the stadium, saying, "how can we do it without an agreement. Its not possible at all."
Dasmunsi also tried to bring in the patriotic flavour in the telecast row.
"Terms and conditions set by Nimbus to resolve the deadlock humiliating to the country," Dasmunsi said.
He said the government would make sure that Indian cricket fans are not deprived of action during the World Cup.
"The Union Government will discuss the matter in the Cabinet and will bring in a proper legislation in February to ensure that the common people of India don't lose out on World Cup coverage," he added.
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