Who will broadcast Indian Cricket?

[Sushubh]

right. disney might be planning to launch it independently in india considering the huge market india has become for them and everyone else. though i am not sure if they would find any content to broadcast here would be nice to have another biggie in the sports channel market looking at how bad things have become in the last couple of years. someone else needs to take over the broadcast of formula-1 in india with better commentators.

 

[ajuravi007]

I believe Star name would be changed to Fox by the start of the next year...

 

[moindear]

Star name has a lot of brand value, dont think they would desert it!

 

[Sushubh]

it's not a choice. depends upon who owns the trademark over the brand. as simple as that. hero did good discarding honda name from most of their models soon than required. no point sticking with a rival branding considering you only have it for another two years.

 

[mhsabir]

Well, Fox brand would replace ESPN not Star. Newscorp owns both Fox & Star brands, so it makes sense that it replaces the ESPN brand, which is (was) an affiliate brand with one of its own brand, Fox.Also, as you would expect they have some exit clause based on which ESPN can re-enter after a certain period. ESPN have made it clear that would focus on digital media (ESPNCricinfo, for example) meanwhile, and decide later if they want to re-enter TV Channel broadcasting in the region.

 

[moindear]

Going back to 1996 when Lalit Modi backed ESPN ventured in Indian sport channel whose transmission was lot better than "Prime Sports" (sports channel by Star). Harsha Bhogle started a new show called "inside cricket" and from then on became popular.Star group (Newscorp) benefited a lot from the tie up with ESPN and if ESPN starts its own sports channel(s), it will become too crowded...

 

[mhsabir]

ESPN know it too thats why they would probably wait for a while before re-entering, the T20 leagues & Ind-series are already blocked for next few years, so are many or most other cricketing rights (Star & Ten sports) . So unless they are happy with non-cricketing rights & broadcast other sports (like Neo is doing now), I dont see them entering again for another 3-4 years.

 

[ajuravi007]

I dont want to see any further new sports channels in india...So we can see the ESPN logo off the air very soon in india...

 

[mhsabir]

News Corp acquires complete stake in ESS > afaqs! news & features

According to the arrangement, STAR India and News Corp will use ESS's current brands within guidelines agreed by both partners. The ESPN brand will eventually be phased out as per agreed terms.

The official communication from STAR also states that both, STAR India and ESPN have also entered into a non-compete agreement typical for a transaction of this nature.

 

[SVK]

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) is brand owned by Disney. So ESS would soon have to drop ESPN name. There is good chance that ESPN may be renamed to FOX considering NewsCorp is bringing FOX name in India (like Fox Action Movies, instead calling it Star Action Movies).

ESPN would not compete in content acquiring for few years, but later they may have option to compete. Then they could also launch ESPN channels independently again. Disney also owns UTV comapny (which runs UTV channels, web content, etc). I think ESPN may even look to acquire some channels like Neo Channels