BBC Radio Broadcast Of India-England Test Matches Saved By High-Level Phone Call

The radio broadcast of the cricket Tests between India and England was rescued after a telephone conversation between Board of Control for Cricket in India President N Srinivasan and England and Wales Cricket Board Chair Giles Clarke, according to Vijay Tagore of the DNA. The BCCI has agreed to accommodate the ECB chief’s request over TMS and BBC not having to pay the "heavy fee" that was wanted by the Indian board. The BBC wanted an air-conditioned studio, access to the ground and telephone connections to broadcast the matches. The BCCI has "agreed to provide these facilities at concessional rates." The key to the deal for the BBC was the "intervention of the chiefs of the two boards." It is unlikely that Sky TV, which "has also run into trouble with the BCCI" over the latter’s reported demand for £500,000 ($801,050), would get a similar concession. A board official said, "It is too late to meet the requirements of Sky even if they agree to pay the fee. We have to provide them an air-conditioned studio, a separate control room, uplinking facility. All this doesn’t come free" (DNA, 11/2).