A moment from the India-Pakistan match at Lahore. (Reuters)

Fresh from securing exclusive telecast rights for the India-Pakistan Test series, Ten Sports is planning to focus on the eastern region in 2006.

?East is the bedrock of sports and a very mature market for sports channels,? said Sharmista Rijhwani, managing director of Taj Television India, the company that manages Ten Sports, in town on Sunday. ?There has always been an effort from our side to develop this market, but we had one hit after another.?

The problems had started for the Dubai-based channel with India?s visit to Pakistan in 2004, when it had to share the exclusive rights with Doordarshan. ?There was little payback in the entire year and it was like starting all over again,? Rijhwani said.

Cut to 2006 and the situation is no different, courtesy the must-share clause in the Centre?s downlinking policy, which forces all broadcasters to share feed of Team India cricket with Doordarshan. Only this time, Ten is able to retain exclusive rights for Tests following litigation that reached the Supreme Court. ?It?s a lease of life for us for the moment and it seems that the thinking is in the right direction,? felt Rijhwani.

?The principle of the channel business is exclusivity. If some channels have exclusive game shows, others may be airing exclusive movie premieres. The must-share clause is bringing the exclusivity to the ground.?

Around five to seven per cent of the programming of a sports channel like Ten comprises Team India cricket. ?The revenues earned from cricket are ploughed back into developing the rest of the programming, which don?t earn for themselves.?

In such a scenario, simulcasting Team India cricket is only bad news for the channel?s coffers. Along with ad revenues, the distribution revenues ? from cable subscriptions ? are also affected, since channels utilise major sporting events like the Pakistan series to increase declaration from cable operators.

?Cricket featuring India helps us raise declaration from five to 10 per cent to 15 to 20 per cent and build on that,? Rijhwani pointed out.

Sharing the feed with Doordarshan renders that tool ineffective. ?We were the first to be affected as we have one of the strongest calendars this year ? from the India-West Indies series to the India-South Africa-Sri Lanka series.?

If Round One was won by the channel in securing the Test rights while Doordarshan had to be content with only the highlights, Round Two would be in getting the one-dayers. ?We are working with the I&B ministry to arrive at a workable solution where our revenues are protected,? said Rijhwani.

According to Ten?s contract with its national distributor SET Discovery, any simulcast brings down the value of money payable by SET Discovery to Ten by several crores.

But Ten is still hoping to ?take off? from the ongoing India-Pakistan series.

The east is set to figure prominently in the company?s plans this year. ?We started with a cable meet where we met the cable fraternity. We are also planning promotions of products like WWE, starting February,? Rijhwani added.

But as Rijhwani admitted, it?s still cricket that scores the most eyeballs for a ?football crazy? market like Calcutta.