Published: Feb 02, 2016, 03:28 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 02, 2016, 03:28 AM (IST)
London: The BBC has agreed a four-year deal to show highlights of all major International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments up to and including the 2019 World Cup, which is being played in England and Wales. The British public broadcaster can show clips of up to six minutes for every hour of play as well as round-ups and previews in Britain only. The agreement also covers the ICC World Twenty20 2016, Champions Trophy, Women’s Cricket World Cup, under-19 World Cup and the women’s World Twenty20 tournaments.
The BBC has been forced to cut costs in recent months because of a major drop in public funding. It has shelved its coverage of Formula One and now shares coverage of rugby union’s Six Nations.
“We’re very pleased to announce this new agreement with the ICC, which is all about free-to-air accessibility and bringing the best of cricket to as wide an audience as possible across the UK,” said Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport.
“The online rights will complement our live radio commentary portfolio and popular online offering, giving UK audiences video of the best of the action wherever they are,” she added.
Previously lack of any cricket coverage of free-to-air networks has been cited as a reason for the decline in cricket’s popularity in the UK region. All rights to cricket events in UK are held by Sky Sports which works on an expensive subscription system. Recently, BT Sport bagged broadcasting rights to cricket played in Australia including the 2017 Ashes. The move came as a shocker to Sky who was enjoying monopoly over cricket. However, even BT Sport is a paid network.
