Karachi: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday signed a satellite broadcast deal for broadcast in Pakistan with PTV Sports and a further agreement to secure cable distribution with I-Media Communication Services.
The broadcasting arrangement is structured to provide for increasing revenues over the term of the cycle and PCB expects to earn in excess of US$200 million over the three year term.
The agreements were signed in the presence of the Prime Minister who is the Patron of Pakistan Cricket Board. The broadcast deal will be for the 2020 to 2023 cycle. The Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Ehsan Mani speaking at the occasion thanked the Patron for his unwavering support to PCB.
The broadcast agreement is for Pakistan only while PCB will be soon finalizing the grant of its broadcast rights for international territories separately as well as launching a new structure for its digital media rights.
Under the arrangement all Pakistan international home series of the senior cricket team and the women’s and junior cricket teams will be broadcast live on PTV Sports. Also for the first time all the major domestic tournaments, including the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the National T-20 Cup, the One Day Pakistan Cup and the National U-19 One-Day and National U-19 Three Day tournaments, will be broadcast live on PTV Sports and distributed across Pakistan on cable networks.
The supporting cable distribution agreement, unlike in the past, seeks to ensure that the broadcast content of PCB cricket is not redistributed without proper authorization which was one of the reasons for greatly diminishing the value of PCB content.
For the first time in almost three decades the broadcasting rights of Pakistan Cricket in Pakistan have been granted exclusively to a Pakistani broadcaster and that too the national broadcaster. This will maximize the opportunity for cricket fans in Pakistan to watch good competitive cricket almost throughout the year and follow the top cricketers and teams they support in the domestic season.
PCB plans to invest Rs15 billion over the next three years on men and women domestic cricket including upgrading of stadiums and infrastructure, building provincial academies and centres of excellence, employment of over 100 former cricketers as coaches and managers for the city cricket associations, restarting inter-university cricket, investment in grass roots cricket and improving players’ earning and welfare.
The broadcast deal also marks the launch of rebuilding PTV’s production and broadcast capabilities. The conversion of PTV Sports to HD broadcast format already is in the pipeline and it will be followed by acquisition of not only international quality production equipment but also training of its staff during the production by PCB of cricket matches in Pakistan.