Pakistan Television’s sports channel seems all set to squander at least Rs800 million over the next 3 major ICC events ( 1 T20/I ODI World cup/1 Champion’s trophy) in its inept bid to acquire rights for the International Cricket Council (ICC) events.

By Special Correspondent (18th August, 2015)

Pakistan Television’s sports channel seems all set to squander at least Rs800 million over the next 3 major ICC events ( 1 T20/I ODI World cup/1 Champion’s trophy) in its inept bid to acquire rights for the International Cricket Council (ICC) events.

Unimpeachable sources at PTV headquarters here have revealed that national television’s sports channel is in the process of buying broadcasting rights for the ICC events for the next four-year cycle from the global Indian giant Star Sports for around $15-20 million. The industry experts believe its actual value at around $11.5-12 million based on the previous four-year deal.

In 2012, PTV Sports had jointly bought from Star Sports, which owned the global rights then as now, the right to broadcast ICC events for the Pakistani territory in collaboration with Ten Sports, for four years, for four events until 2015.

The rather curious part is that PTV is splurging in the vicinity of Rs.800 million over the top when it is in an advantageous, monopoly situation, as the ICC has made it mandatory for Star Sports to incorporate national terrestrial channels as its ‘minimum broadcast obligations’.

There is no competitor for PTV for its portion of the rights, and yet it is willing to forsake its primacy, and pay a whopping $15-20 million for a deal that could easily be clinched around $12 million. There is another disadvantage here, as PTV would be earning in rupees, but paying out in dollars. The rupee deprecation risks are huge.

The PTV’s spendthrift ways are evident from the fact that five to six of its top management including its managing director Mohammad Malick – went over to Dubai for a four-day junket, staying at a top five-star hotel there – all a freebie at the cost of the state television. The meetings did not last more than half a day.

As a public service sports channel for the country, despite its deep pockets, PTV Sports is generally in bad shape. Its programming has left much to be desired, with its equipment old and archaic, which is one reason why its indigenous production is not a patch on other international channels.

A fraction of the money it wants to gift to Star Sports could buy much-needed state-of-the-art equipment to take its production to a level that could nudge it closer to international benchmarks. But no one at PTV is interested in making that happen and everyone seems to be pursuing its own agendas.

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