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WI-Bangladesh Series

Uncertainty deepens as no broadcaster yet

Staff Correspondent
15 Jun 2022 00:08:37 | Update: 15 Jun 2022 00:08:37
Uncertainty deepens as no broadcaster yet

With less than 48 hours to go, Bangladesh cricket fans are yet to know where to watch the Test Series between West Indies and Bangladesh starting from June 16 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua.

Total Sports Marketing (TSM) holds the broadcast rights of the West Indies-Bangladesh series, where the Tigers will play two Tests, three One-Day Internationals, and three Twenty20 Internationals.

Md Moinul Haque Chowdhury, CEO and Proprietor of TSM, told The Business Post that he is yet to find a client (TV channel) to telecast the matches.

“We are yet to find a broadcaster,” he said on Tuesday.

Bangladesh Cricket Board CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury also told the media that the board can’t do anything in this regard.

“The update we have until today (Tuesday) is that it’s [Telecasting the series] yet to be finalised. This is not within our grasp as this is all about the responsibilities of the host board. They will telecast the series through their designated right holders. If we have any further updates will let you know in due course,” said the CEO.

BCB director and the chairman of the media committee, Tanvir Ahmed Titu, also told the reporters that it is totally up to the jurisdiction of Cricket West Indies.

“This is yet to be confirmed. We can’t force them [West Indies Cricket Board] in this connection as we have nothing to deal with the issue since the authority is theirs,” he said.

No local TV channels are yet to confirm the live telecast of the matches. The Tests will start at 8 PM BST.

An official of the state-run Bangladesh Television (BTV) also told The Business Post that they were not telecasting the matches.

This is not the first time Bangladesh fans are missing the live telecast of a Test match taking place abroad.

The match where Ashraful played his record-breaking 114 runs on debut as the youngest cricketer to score a century, was also not visible to home viewers. That match against Sri Lanka was part of the Asian Test Championship (now defunct), which took place in Colombo in 2001 and was not broadcast anywhere.

The first match of the Asian Test Championship between Pakistan and Bangladesh was also not available on TV for viewers from Bangladesh.

The West Indies-Bangladesh series is also not available on any India-based Satellite TV channels. A streaming app FANCODE obtained the rights for all the home matches hosted by Cricket West Indies, and they will stream the matches through their app and website.

T-sports and GTV are the two leading sports broadcasting TV channels in Bangladesh, and none have bought the broadcasting rights so far.

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