South Asian Business news and information

Canadians are not great enthusiasts of cricket and the country is not a big market for TV companies when it comes to buying TV rights for cricket. However, do not forget that many people of South Asian origin live in Canada and they would love to watch world cup matches. Secondly, Canada is located in closer time zone with West Indies than South Asian countries. ATN has bagged the TV rights for World Cup in Canada and I found a press release about it.

Here is the press release: 

Asian Television Network International Limited (ATN) (TSX-SAT), Canada's largest South Asian Broadcaster and Canada's largest Distributor of World Class Cricket announces it has secured the exclusive Canadian Broadcast Rights for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 through a sublicensing agreement with

including but not limited to bars, restaurants and theatres anywhere within Canada.

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 is the biggest Cricketing event and will be hosted by the West Indies from March 13 to April 28, 2007. Jamaica will host the Opening Ceremony on March 11, 2007. The final match will be held in Barbados in the completely redesigned Kensington Oval.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) represents all cricket-playing nations around the world. Its primary role is to administer the game and oversee its development and expansion. The ICC organizes various events each year under its banner. The premier event is the ICC Cricket World Cup, which is held every four years.

The World Cup was awarded to the West Indies via the ICC's rotational policy. It's the first time the Cricket World Cup has been held in the Caribbean despite the fact that the West Indies cricket team have been the second most successful team in past World Cups.

There will be a total of fifty-one matches played in the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup and will be contested by 16 nations divided into 4 groups of 4 teams. The top two teams from each group will then compete in a "Super 8" format, from which the semi-finalists will be decided. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 is slated to include the national teams of Australia, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Canada, England, India, Ireland, Kenya, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

"We are extremely excited as this is the first time in the History of Cricket that the world cup is taking place at prime time or rather a convenient time from a Canadian perspective", said Shan Chandrasekar President and CEO of ATN. "We are hoping that the games can be watched all across Canada live without viewers staying up late as the case has been for many years. We expect a record viewership as several teams are in top form."

 ATN was the first to bring the World Cup Cricket live via satellite to Canada in 1987 and has since then been an ardent supporter and broadcaster of Cricket in Canada. ATN's viewers include thousands of cricket fans from countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, East Africa, South Africa, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the West Indies, where cricket is the national sport.

 ATN is also the official Broadcast Media Sponsor of the Canadian National Cricket Team that is scheduled to participate in the World Cup. ATN operates 13 channels, and has programming alliances with leading International Broadcasters. ATN will also be launching, soon, a dedicated Sports Channel with prime Focus on Cricket. For More details about ATN please visit www.asiantelevision.com  or contact your local service provider.

Cricket has enormous potential in North America. I wish that some TV networks could take the US market more seriously and invest there to make Cricket more popular. ICC should also come forward in this regard.