Nepal Television acquire cricket telecast rights

Kathmandu, August 31:

Nepal Television acquired the exclusive rights to telecast cricket tournaments after the state-owned TV signed a three-year contract with Cricket Association of Nepal here today.

Durga Nath Sharma, general manager of NTV, and Jai Kumar Nath Shah, president of CAN, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for three years. CAN vice presidents TB Shah and Shree Niwas Rana and NTV DGMs Bishwo Prakash Maskey and Madan Kumar Sharma signed the MoU as the witnesses.

As per the MoU, Nepal TV will give CAN Rs 400,000 a year for three years. The contract can be extended for further two years on both parties’ consensus. In April Nepal TV signed the similar contract with All Nepal Football Association for five years. The contract was worth Rs 500,000 a year.

“This is a milestone for us,” said NTV GM Durga Nath Sharma. “We are not paying a hefty sum to CAN as this is just a beginning,” he said, adding “The amount could be 40 million in the days to come depending on cricket’s popularity and management.”

“We had been doing all these (telecast) for free in the past. We were not giving anything to CAN, we were just taking from them,” said Sharma. “We thought why not to share among us, so decided to sign a contract,” he added. President of Cricket Association of Nepal Shah said that move would help people understand cricket.

“It is a historic day for us. Now, every one can watch cricket which will help in popularising the sport, even in remote areas like Baitadi,” he said.