The IPL will be streamed on Doordarshan, the national broadcaster, for the first-time ever in 2018 though it will be restricted to one match per week.
Star Sports, who won the rights for the IPL last September, has agreed to the idea mooted by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) and will have a delayed broadcast of one match every Sunday.
However, the feed will be delayed by one hour after Star India acquired the media rights of the Indian Premier League for five years in an auction in September last year.
“It’s only one match per week and on a Sunday with an one hour delay. It’s not like international cricket that has to be shared with national broadcaster. We are comfortable with this and that’s why we have gone ahead. It only helps the IPL if it reaches people that don’t have access to Pay TV,” Uday Shankar, Star CEO, said.
This step is just an extension of the philosophy which allows Prasar Bharti to broadcast cricket games of national importance which includes all official one-day internationals, Twenty20 and test matches played by the men’s cricket team, the semi-finals and finals of the men’s World Cup and the International Cricket Council Championship Trophy.
