DD Sports

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DD Sports is a state owned TV channel telecasting from Central Production Centre Delhi. DD Sports was launched on 18 March 1998. In the beginning, it broadcast sports programmes for six hours a day, which was increased to 12 hours in 1999. From 1 June 2000, DD Sports became a 'round-the-clock' satellite channel. It was an encrypted pay channel for a while (between 2000 and 2003) and on 15 July 2003 it became free, to become the only free-to-air sports channel in the country.

Besides showing live sporting events like cricket, football, and tennis, DD Sports showcases Indian sports including kabaddi and kho-kho. In addition to international sporting events, important national tournaments of hockey, football, athletics, cricket, swimming, tennis, badminton, archery and wrestling are also telecast. The DD Sports channel also telecasts news based programmes, sports quiz and personality oriented shows.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended a Delhi high court order that restricted Prasar Bharti from broadcasting the live feed of sports events that it got from private companies only through Doordarshan's (DD's) terrestrial network, ahead of the cricket World Cup beginning on 14 February.

In effect, cable operators will be able to access the Doordarshan feed of the World Cup matches, which Prasar Bharti mandatorily receives from private sports broadcasters as per law.

A bench comprising justice Ranjan Gogoi and P.C. Pant said the issue deserved to be heard and issued notices to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and Star India Ltd for their responses. Prasar Bharti and the centre had challenged the Delhi high court order.

On Tuesday, Star India, through lawyer P. Chidambaram, claimed that it suffered huge revenue losses as DD was aired free of cost, whereas it asked for a fee of Rs.18 per subscriber. Chidambaram claimed that putting the live feed on DD's terrestrial network did not affect Star, however, when cable operators had access to the feeds, often Star channels got bypassed.

Star asked the court to come to a balanced view as it had suffered losses since 2007, while the case was pending before the high court. Further, Star said that this would negatively affect the forthcoming World Cup broadcasting, especially when the Delhi high court ruling was in its favour.

"It is only a matter of coincidence that the judgement has come on the eve of the World Cup," the apex court said, while staying the high court ruling. However, the apex court agreed to hear the case on 17 February to deal with these issues.

A senior executive at Prasar Bharti, who declined to be named, said," We have made our submissions in the court. It is technically not possible to segregate airwaves for DD National-- the channel which will air the forthcoming World Cup--which is available on both terrestrial and satellite networks. DD's submissions are on these lines. The matter is sub judice in court."

An email to Star India remained unanswered till the time of going to print.

The dispute between state-run Doordarshan's owner Prasar Bharti Broadcasting Corporation of India, and private broadcasters Nimbus Communications Ltd, ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd, Star India Pvt. Ltd along with BCCI, dates back to 2007.

According to the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007, a broadcaster is required to compulsorily share with Prasar Bharti the signals of sporting events which are of national importance. Since the law mandates that two DD channels be necessarily carried on cable networks, operators for these networks could access sporting events on two different channels--DD as well as ESPN/Star. ESPN/Star requires a subscription fee, while DD is free, causing subscription loss to the private broadcaster. The high court had taken note of the huge broadcasting fee paid by ESPN/Star for these events.Order Passed dated Wed, Feb 11 2015. 12 27 AM IST. SC stays order barring Prasar Bharti from sharing DD World Cup feed

Star Sports+ Sony Ten are not allowing DD Sports to broadcast any tournament involving Indian Teams despite being the National Broadcaster for decades. DD Sports has been denied permission to broadcast Olympics, Asian Games,Commonwealth Games, (Champions Trophy) Hockey +Cricket several times. National Broadcasting channels should broadcast events related to the nation otherwise National Broadcasting Channels are of no use in today's time.

DD Sports provides entertainment to 132.42 crores population(2016). Private Broadcasters have created so many channels here in India. Star Sports 1 Star Sports 2 Star Sports Hindi Star Sports Tamil

Sony Ten 1 Sony Ten 2 Sony Ten 3 Sony Six Sony ESPN All the above mentioned have HD channels also. Private Broadcasters broadcast events on Different Channels thereby forcing the population to purchase channels by paying a huge amount. When DD Sports is telcasting the same event at a free cost, Why Indian population should watch Hotstar, Sony Ten, Star Sports channels. Indian Population demands National Broadcaster DD Sports to be allowed to broadcast Indian Team Events worldwide thus eliminating Pvt Broadcasting Channels.

A customized Rate in India HD Channels (Rs 75 per channel subscription as al carte) SD Channels(Rs 60 per channel subscription as al carte )

By allowing DD Sports to broadcast all worldwide International & Domestic Events involving India, We can save huge amount of money and use that money towards the Development of the proud Nation India.