Can Pakistan’s ugly media rivalry stay out of the PSL, please!
PSL is a franchise-based tournament in which provincial teams are formed. During this tournament, these teams battle against each other. With various companies buying franchises, the highest bid was received by ARY for the franchise in Karachi. ARY Group won the rights for Karachi at $2.6 million per year for a period of 10 years.
Pakistan Super League (PSL) is underway. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s initiative to make this league a reality is truly commendable. Young players don’t usually get the chance to showcase their talent in front of the global community as a result of poor local coverage. Hence, PSL will be the ideal opportunity for various budding cricketers to not only display their prowess, but to learn from the experienced coaching staff and prominent foreign players.
PSL is a franchise-based tournament which forms provincial teams and these teams battle against each other over a month’s time. With various companies buying franchises, the highest bid was received by
ARY for the Karachi franchise, at
$2.6 million per year for a period of 10 years.
The entry of a media group as a buyer awakened the attention of other media groups. The initial coverage provided by
ARY to PSL played a key role in prompting other franchises to form affiliations with each other, all in an attempt to become a part of PSL. Channels are aware that Pakistani citizens are passionate about cricket and require extensive coverage; therefore, PSL will be an opportunity for them to improve their ratings and viewership.
After
ARY associated itself with Karachi,
GEO TV followed suit by entering a sponsorship agreement with Lahore Qalandars, followed by
PTV Sports joining hands with Quetta’s franchise,
Express News sponsoring Peshawar Zalmi and
Dunya News supporting Islamabad United. Channels will air promos of their teams as well as interviews of key players from their franchises.
During the inaugural edition of PSL, what is interesting to note is that six prominent channels are supporting five franchises. Peshawar Zalmi is the only franchise to boast the backing of two channels;
Hum TV Network and
Express News.
The nature of the media groups supporting PSL are quite diverse, two belong to sports, three from news and current affairs, and the remaining pertains to entertainment.
Various T20 leagues such as the Big Bash and the
Indian Premier League (IPL), despite having played in different countries, have never seen the media take such a strong role in any league as it has in PSL.
There is no apparent harm in the media affiliating themselves with a particular franchise, but what’s extremely concerning is the favouritism displayed by these media houses. There is strong rivalry amongst channels in Pakistan. Being news channels, they will not be airing the whole match but instead, I believe, will talk more about the activities of their respective teams as opposed to PSL in its entirety.
A few days ago, various guests on the
GEO News show
Khabarnaak were wearing the Lahore Qalandars kit and
Dunya News aired a special interview of the Islamabad United Captain, Misbahul Haq.