South Africans who do not have access to DSTV will not be able to watch any of the matches in the Cricket World Cup, which starts today.
Multichoice, which operates DSTV and holds the rights to the tournament, said that it could not come to an agreement with the SABC to sub-license the cricket jamboree, which is being held in India.
In a statement Multichoice said: ‘After prolonged negotiations, the SABC last night rejected MultiChoice’s latest proposal for a possible sub-licensing of broadcast rights to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 based on the proposed licence fee. This is notwithstanding MultiChoice offering the rights to the SABC on significantly reduced commercial terms, given its current circumstances. MultiChoice is disappointed at the rejection of its various proposals.’
The SABC claimed that the offer made by Multichoice was unaffordable.
The SABC did manage to come to an agreement with Multichoice to broadcast some Rugby World Cup matches, which included all the Springboks’ matches and a number of other prominent games.