New Delhi, Mar 13: As Doordarshan's advertisement revenue from the telecast of the first one-day match between India and Pakistan rose to Rs 10 crore, Prasar Bharati sources said the board of control for cricket in India should offer all its series to the public broadcaster before considering open bids. Prasar Bharti Chief Executive Officer K S Sarma, who is meeting Attorney General Soli G Sorabjee and Solicitor General Kirit Raval tomorrow to prepare for the hearing before the Supreme Court on March 15 of the ten sports appeal, told news agencies over telephone from Mumbai that the public broadcaster was still open to signing a commercial deal with the Dubai-based sports channel. Replying to a question about the various options available, he said this could depend on the verdict of the apex court which could uphold the view of the Madras High Court that had yesterday asked Ten Sports to give the signals to Doordarshan. Doordarshan would expect to be compensated in the event of permitting the signals of Ten Sports to be carried on its channel and this would be much higher than the carriage fee since a sizeable advertisement revenue was involved.
He did not rule out an ''an out of court settlement'' with Ten Sports. But he said this will depend on the legal advice he gets from Sorabjee and Raval, adding ''we have been advised by the Solicitor General that a commercial settlement cannot be ruled out even now''.

He said that Prasar Bharati would still plead the public interest issue in its arguments before the apex court on Monday.

Bureau Report