MUMBAI: Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati (PB) has issued an advisory to DTH operators and MSOs to not block DD Sports on their platforms during the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. In its advisory, Prasar Bharati mentioned that it is producing a live stream of the games for DD Free Dish viewers and a separate Studio stream comprising discussions that will be provided to private players.

In a tweet, PB named Tata Sky, Dish TV, Hathway, d2h, Sun Direct and Airtel Digital TV as not allowing viewers to see DD Sports. A notice on Dish TV says “Dear subscriber, as per the Hon’ble court order, DD Sports channel will not be available during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. To watch ICC Cricket World cup 2019 matches, contact customer care.” A similar message was displayed on d2h.

Replying to the tweet, d2h said, “As per the order of the Hon’ble supreme court, DD National will not be available on the match days.”

A few days ago, PB CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati announced that for the first time, DD Sports will run dual streams. The first stream will have live coverage of the matches and the other will have studio-based shows.

Under the mandatory sharing of sports signals act, the pubcaster was informing private DTH players and MSOs to not blank out the channel during the length of ICC World Cup.

The games commenced on 30 May and are slated to end on 14 July. A total of 10 countries are taking part in the tournament being played in England.