Zee seeks refund of ₹ 68 crore from Star: ₹ 11,637 crore deal was signed for cricket broadcast, ZEE had canceled it

Zee Entertainment has sought a refund of Rs 68.54 crore from broadcaster ‘Star’, alleging violation of the terms of the ICC Cricket Rights Agreement. Star is a subsidiary of Walt Disney.

Last month, Zee Entertainment had canceled the $1.4 billion (then approximately Rs 11,637 crore) agreement with Disney-Star. This deal was signed by Zee Entertainment with Disney-Star to broadcast International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s and Under-19 cricket matches.

The star also alleged violation of the deal

Earlier, Star had also sent a legal notice to ZEE accusing it of violating the broadcast deal. According to Zee, in the notice sent by Star, it was said that Zee has not paid $ 203.56 million (about Rs 1,691 crore) as the first installment of the rights deal along with commission and interest expenses of about Rs 17 crore. .

The deal was done on 26 August 2022

On August 30, 2022, Zee had informed about the licensing agreement with Disney-Star for the broadcast rights of ICC Men’s and Under-19 cricket in a stock exchange filing. This agreement was signed on August 26, which was for the next 4 years from 2024.

Reason being considered for cancellation of G-Sony agreement

The broadcast agreement between Zee and Star was also part of the $10 billion (about ₹83,140 crore) merger deal between Zee and Sony. It is believed that after Sony canceled the merger, Zee had decided to cancel the broadcast deal with Star.