Nimbus vs Prasar Bharati: Cricket fans let down

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In a big blow to fans hoping to watch cricket at home, the Nagpur ODI between India and West Indies was not available on Prasar Bharati's All India Radio and Doordarshan, reports CNBC-TV18.

Nimbus, the company that holds the broadcasting rights was willing to provide feed to the public broadcaster on the condition that Prasar Bharati encrypt the signal or accept a delayed feed. But talks fell through.

Nimbus says it will stick to its guns as it has commitments with other broadcasters to honour in countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

"Sending an unencrypted signal to their satellite will damage the rights of others that have paid millions to get rights from usa. An unencrypted signal spills over into Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, even upto the Middle East. We have continously got complaints, Doordarshan fails to understand this," said Harish Thawani, Chairman, Nimbus Communications.

However, the government insists that it is going ensure that cricket feed is shared with Prasar Bharti. Meanwhile, BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah has said that the Indian cricket board will support Nimbus.