Media Notes: BCCI Will Launch Search For New IPL Title Sponsor

The Board of Control for Cricket in India "will formally launch a search for a new title sponsor and event manager for the Indian Premier League." It has been "formally decided that the media rights should be sold for five years, instead of 10 as was planned by the previous BCCI dispensation." Sony is the current holder of the media rights. Sony Max has been broadcasting the IPL since its inaugural season in '08. The BCCI will also "need to look for a new title sponsor since the deal with Vivo ends this year" (INDIA.com, 4/29).

The Eir Sport "bouquet continues to drive customers for its parent," Irish telecom Eir. The six-channel proposition is "similar to that run by BT and indeed includes access" to the U.K. channels. In the third quarter, 210,000 customers "were watching Eir Sport on their TVs, laptops, tablets and handheld devices." Eir said that the numbers "underlined its transition from a pure telecommunications company into a telecoms and media company" (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 4/28).