Sky TV and BCCI locked in $800,000 pre-series dispute

England’s tour of India has not yet begun but the battle already has. According to The Sunday Times in London, Sky TV – which holds the UK rights for the series – has received an unexpected demand from the Indian board for additional fees totalling more than £500,000 ($800,000) for their commentary team to have facilities at the grounds. The Sunday Times reported that Sky received this ‘unexpected demand’ from BCCI and unless the dispute over payments is resolved, the broadcasters may not send their commentary team to cover the tour. [caption id=“attachment_498484” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] BCCI wants some more money. Reuters[/caption] Reports also said that the figure quoted by the BCCI to Sky were ‘ realistic costs ’ to allow the broadcasters to have an independent and unilateral coverage of the series. In realistic costs, the BCCI is referring to studio space and a commentary box for Sky’s own panel of commentators, a TV control room as well as satellite uplinking from the venues for 30 days of cricket. Sky, on the other hand, feels that having paid for the UK rights, these things should be part of the deal. The commentary team on Sky includes former England captains Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain and Ian Botham, and they have been told that they may not travel for the tour unless a solution can be found. This isn’t the first time that there will be problems ahead of an India-England series. In 2011, during the one-day series, television audiences in India and England couldn’t watch the first three overs of a match in Hyderabad because of a dispute between the host broadcaster of the time, Neo Sports, and Prasar Bharati. There were also problems for Sky before England’s 2006 tour of India, when they agreed terms with Nimbus only a few days before the series began.