Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 is set to be telecast live on Doordarshan (DD) channel if reports are to be believed. It comes as a good news for the sports fans that all the IPL matches will now be shown live on the DD TV channel.

The much-loved 2018 IPL tournament is scheduled to begin on April 7, with an extravagant opening ceremony earlier that day. The first match of the tournament will see Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lock horns with Mumbai Indians (MI) at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. The final of the tournament will be played on May 27.

As per an Economic Times' report, it is said both Prasar Bharati and Star India have agreed on revenue sharing, and it will enable Doordarshan to show VIVO IPL 2018 matches live. The major bone of contention in the deal was the revenue sharing, with Star India earlier demanding the 75:25 share ratio in its favour. However, after months of negotiations and talks, the talks have reached a logical conclusion and both Prasar Bharati and Star India will share the revenue generated in 50:50 ratio.

Star India will now have to share the broadcasting rights with Doordarshan channel for IPL 2018. As per the Sports Broadcasting Signals Act, 2007 (and 2012 notification), there should be mandatory sharing with Prasar Bharati, and all the private broadcasters will have to share live feed of sports events of ‘national importance’ with them.

In December last year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) had suggested a similar proposal – to make IPL matches to be telecast live on DD. However, the I & B Ministry had then sought the intervention of Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs on the same.

In September last year, Star India paid a whopping amount of Rs. 16,347.50 crores for acquiring IPL’s digital and television (both Indian and Global) media rights for five years, i.e. till 2023. Star India had then pipped big names like RJio, Facebook, and Sony Pictures to acquire the IPL media rights. IPL 2018 Best Playing XI: Check Out Our Greatest IPL Team From Players Across The Franchises in 11th Edition of the Indian Premier League.

Prior to it, Sony Pictures had held the media rights for 10 years, since IPL’s inception in 2008. With IPL live on Doordarshan now, it opens a completely new frontier for both, event organisers and sports authorities to tap into a larger set of audience in its ambit. It is delighting for the fans, who were earlier deprived of the IPL matches due to its non-availability on Doordarshan channel.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 05, 2018 05:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).