Pakistan Television (PTV) and ARY have secured exclusive domestic media rights for International Cricket Council (ICC) events until 2023.
The rights for linear and digital broadcasts also include the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup that began on 17 October in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.
According to Business Sports, this is a three-way agreement between PTV, ARY, and GroupM, a media investment company owned by global media giant, WPP. GroupM is responsible for managing the flow of advertising revenues to the two broadcasters.
Pakistani broadcasters have entered a sublicensing deal with Star TV Network for showing the ICC events until the 2023 World Cup. The monetary value of the deal wasn’t immediately confirmed.
The new deal is a sublicensing agreement between the Star TV Network and the Pakistani broadcasters. Star holds global ICC media rights in a deal worth $2.1 billion over eight years, from 2015-16 to 2022-23.
While PTV Corporation is broadcasting the ongoing mega event through PTV Sports, ARY has launched a separate sports news channel, ASports, to broadcast the tournament. Meanwhile, Ten Sports is also airing T20 World Cup by carrying ARY feed under a deal.
PTV and ARY have sublicensed the digital rights for the T20 to Alibaba-owned online shopping platform Daraz.
Managing Director PTV, Aamer Manzoor, welcomed the new deal and said he is looking forward to the partnership with GroupM and ARY to help expand the deal.
“We look forward to our partnership with GroupM and ARY to help expand the total outlay and to provide more visibility to the people of Pakistan, a sports-loving country where cricket is followed hysterically and with an unending passion.”
Salman Iqbal, Chief Executive Officer at ARY, said, “As a cricketing nation, the audience will greatly benefit from this collaboration. Our vision to see Pakistan grow stands firm and this is another step in the right direction.”
Previously, PTV and Ten Sports jointly held rights domestic rights for ICC tournaments.
Source: Pro Pakistani