Reliance, Hotstar, and the second wave of cricket broadcasting

First off, thanks for all the lovely messages you sent me when I was unwell last week. My sinuses are finally liberated, and my eyes and nose no longer drip-irrigate my face when I look at a laptop screen. Once again, I appreciate your understanding. And without further ado, let’s jump into today’s edition, which is about something that’s close to my heart—cricket. 

For a generation of cricket fans, their earlier memories of the game can be traced back to a seminal event which transformed the sport in Asia. 

This very week, 26 years ago, the 1996 Wills World Cup finally came to an end. 

And cricket in India was never the same again. 

The 1996 World Cup was special for many reasons. It was the first one hosted between India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. India’s liberalisation had just happened and cricket’s power centre was starting to shift towards Asia, away from England and Australia. And for the first time ever, this was the moment when cricket ceased to become a sport, and became a spectacle. 

A lot has been written about this event, but the one that captures this shift comes from the most unlikeliest of sources—an American Marxist named Mike Marqusee and his book called War Minus the Shooting. It’s one of my favourite cricket books and I can’t recommend it highly enough. 

The reason why you must read it is because it’s not just a book about cricket. Marquesee uses the backdrop of the 1996 world cup to talk about several things that were happening in India at the time. Globalisation. Nationalism. Commercialism. Politics. It’s written as a travelogue as he goes from city to city watching games, all while making sharp observations about the people who run cricket, those who watch it, and advertisers who promote themselves during the matches. And he does it with humour, detachment, but also a great deal of respect. It’s really unlike any cricket book ever written. 

But mostly, the book is about money and cricket. 

And one of the stories Marqusee talks about is cricket broadcasting rights. 

In the mid-1990s, the people who ran the sport realised that they could make a lot of money by selling broadcasting rights. Until then, all cricket matches were broadcast in India by Doordarshan, the state-run broadcaster, which didn’t pay for it. In fact, in 1992, Doordarshan wanted money from the BCCI (Board for Control of Cricket in India) to telecast matches on their channels. This is because for all practical purposes, broadcasting in India was a monopoly run by the state. 

All that had changed by 1996. 

For the first time, cricket broadcast rights were sold to a company called WorldTel, which in turn had sold India rights to Doordarshan for US$4.7 million. At the time, this was the highest amount that Doordarshan had paid for any event. However, Doordarshan defaulted in its payments to WorldTel. So, in December 1995, WorldTel cancelled the contract and sold the Indian rights to a younger, private company called Star TV, setup by Rupert Murdoch. 

Doordarshan was furious. The idea that cricket could be telecast in India by anyone other than the state-run broadcaster was ludicrous. It threatened to cut off access to the satellite uplink facility in India from Star TV, which at the time was also exclusively state-owned. And so WorldTel, StarTV, and Doordarshan ended up in court. The argument made by Doordarshan was that Star TV was a small, minor entity in India, which was watched by just 10% of Indians, who were mostly affluent. On the other hand, Doordarshan claimed to reach over 60% of India. 

Star TV may have the rights, but Doordarshan had the market. 

This also put politicians in a difficult position. On one hand, Star TV had paid for the rights fair and square, and to take it away from them wouldn’t do much to bolster investor confidence as a place to do business. However, on the other hand, if the biggest sporting event in the country was watched by just the elites, then they’d have voters to answer to later. 

With just days to go for the World Cup, the situation was tense. 

Many believed that it was possible that the 1996 World Cup may not be screened in India at all. 

In the end, a solution was found, and it marked the first wave in cricket broadcasting history. That was when Star TV exploded into our homes. 

Twenty six years later, next week may mark the beginning of the second wave as the BCCI looks set to start inviting bids for the Indian Premier League (IPL)—now one of the biggest sporting events in the world. 

Except this time, the ones who may lose will likely be Disney+ Hotstar, the current owner of the broadcast rights that were earlier owned by Star TV. 

Let’s dive in.