LONDON: Coincidence or is there a link to Comcast having outbid Fox in an auction to take control of pay-TV group Sky in September 2018? Star India, the Indian Premier League’s global media rights holder, has taken back within its fold the UK rights for the world’s biggest annual T20 tournament.
It was only last year that Sky Sports had penned a multi-year agreement which gave the network the rights to showcase the IPL.
In a statement, Sky said: “It has been confirmed that Star India will exploit the rights themselves this year so Sky will not be covering the IPL cricket in 2019.”
What is clear however, is that Star India is NOT adopting the digital-only approach that it has taken for the US market, where its over-the-top (OTT) streaming platform Hotstar will be broadcasting the IPL.
In the US, Star moved all of its network offerings to Hotstar from 5th January, moving the content away from its US-based pay-TV carriers, including Dish TV, Sling TV, Comcast and Verizon.
Star TV UK has also confirmed in a tweet that the IPL would be shown on its Star Gold channel, which is available to Sky and Virgin Media customers.
