MUMBAI: The last match in the India Pakistan one day series took no prisoners. Tam data C&S 4+ for the period 21-27 March shows that Ten Sports and DD's coverage took the number one and number two positions respectively.

The news should not come as a huge surprise given the fact that the fifth match was virtually a final. This temporarily ended Star Plus' domination which had been going on for a very long time since the glory days of Kaun Banega Crorepati. While Ten Sports coverage got a rating of 12.1 DD's rating was only slightly behind with a rating of 12. This was for the evening session from 6:39 PM to 10:27 PM

What one needs to keep in mind is the fact that the achievement is all the more impressive given the fact that Ten was blacked out in Mumbai, Pune and parts of Delhi. In total the cricket coverage occupied nine positions in the top 20.

Looking ahead, the huge question for the Bukhatir broadcaster is - with the distribution scene in Mumbai in a chaotic state will the Mumbai cable operators agree to put Ten back on air once India completes their tour of Pakistan. The only seeming way out for Ten is to settle for the existing deals with the cable ops and forget about ramping up the numbers. The other issue of course is how the controversy will affect the rights to cricket coming out of India. These rights open in June.