DD`s free signals abroad cost Neo Sports dear

BS reports

With about 15 million TV homes in West and East Asia ready to receive un-encrypted sport signals beamed by Prasar Bharati on its direct-to-home (DTH) service, Neo Sports, which has bought for Rs 2,714 crore the rights for all cricket matches in India for five years, stands to lose more than Rs 600 crore in the next three years.

The issue is behind the sport broadcasting company’s ongoing battle with the BCCI on the one hand and the information & broadcasting ministry on the other. The government, through a bill passed today, has made it mandatory for sport broadcasters to share feed with Doordarshan.

But with the state broadcaster beaming un-encrypted signals on its DTH platform which covers the whole of West Asia, East Asia and even the UK, viewers there are getting the feed without paying a penny to Neo or its partners in these countries.

It's amazing how a piece of law can make robbery a right!