Multiplexes gearing up to screen ICC World Cup 2011 live
With just four weeks to go, the owners of multiplexes and theatres are gearing up to finalise their plans for the live coverage of February’s ICC World Cup 2011 matches on big screens.
“We are talking to the respective right holders for live screening for the World Cup,” said the Chief Executive Officer of Cinemax, Sunil Punjabi while talking to the media reporters.
The mega cricketing event will be followed by the fourth edition of the much-hyped Indian Premier League so the contract would also include live screening rights for the cash-rich tournament.
Punjabi, however, said that the focus was the 10th ICC World Cup while the lucrative Twenty20 league will take some time. He also urged that the plan for World Cup should be in its final shape soon.
The ICC World Cup 2011, which will be jointly hosted by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747, kicks off on 19 February and will run till 2 April while IPL 4 gets underway six days after the conclusion of mega event.
ESPN Star Sports is the official broadcaster of the esteemed World Cup event and holds the theatrical rights as well. The company is in negotiations with various multiplex and theatre owners to sell the live streaming rights.
Industry sources have claimed that nothing has been finalised yet in this regard. However, ESPN Star Sports is silent on the matter.
PVR Cinemas, a leading multiplex chain is also one of the companies working on the game plan for the World Cup and IPL 4. PVR Cinemedia had shown matches of the third Indian Premier League live on 18 screens in 2010.
Gautam Dutta, the chief executive of PVR Cinemedia confirmed on Friday that the company will telecast IPL 4 matches on big screens. He, however, did add that there is no clarity on broadcasting World Cup matches yet.
Dutta was confident the both cricketing events will generate more interest among people as they will see their stars performing as a team after a long time.
“If the team makes it to the critical matches like semi-finals and finals then the interest levels will be certainly very high,” he added.
When asked whether broadcasting both World Cup and IPL 4 will incur some additional cost on owners of multiplexes and theatres, Dutta promptly replied that the deals will be on revenue basis and there was no question of bearing any extra
cost.
He also said that the tickets for the matches, if telecasted on big screen, would be priced like normal movie tickets.
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