Will Bangladesh fans be able to watch BD-WI series free of cost?

Ahead of the first Test between Bangladesh and West Indies today in Antigua, all the talk has been regarding whether viewers from Bangladesh will be able to watch the game. 

The broadcasting rights for the series including two Tests, three ODIs followed by three T20Is belong to Total Sports Management (TSM) but no TV channel from the country brought the rights for the series with fans left wondering how to watch the matches.

As the standstill at the negotiation table has continued over the last few days, it was reported in the media today that Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will try to show the games on its Youtube and Facebook channels. However, there are technical issues that are obstacles to that happening.

"We wanted to show the matches and we are still trying. However, the BCB's official pages do not have geo-fencing and so if we show the matches on our pages, it can be broadcasted by others [from other countries] and will mean that we will not be able to show it exclusively [to the viewers in Bangladesh]. It will be difficult to work out that issue but we are still working on it," BCB director Ismail Haider Mallick told The Daily Star today.

TSM owner Moinul Haque informed that they and the BCB have held talks with the ICC so that Bangladesh citizens can watch the matches free of charge on ICC TV. The ICC TV platform will show the games live but viewers in Bangladesh will have to subscribe to ICC TV and pay two dollars to unlock access to live streams, on-demand replays and highlights.

"The thing that I have heard about a consortium (of TV channels that buy the broadcasting rights from TSM), I only saw it in the media. I approached the channels but they did not show interest but it doesn't mean I have a clash with them. I have held talks with people and from what I have understood, the advertising market is going through a bad phase. Without ads it's difficult.

"We and the BCB have approached the ICC to broadcast it on ICC.tv. ICC has a third-party technical team which charges 60 Taka or something for every match and we requested the ICC so that the money is not charged since most people in Bangladesh do not have international credit cards," Moinul told The Daily Star today.

Asked if there are realistic chances of the Bangladesh audience watching the game for free, he said: "ICC has agreed but there are technical aspects, specifically software issues," he added.

"There has been no resolution on the match being shown on TV. We are holding talks [with ICC regarding making the match available free of charge] and if we get an approval, we will immediately provide a press release so that viewers can access the link to watch the game," BCB media committee chairman Tanvir Ahmed Titu told The Daily Star today.

With just a few hours left before the start of the game, there remains doubt whether those technical issues will be sorted. The series has been named 'Padma Bridge Dream Fulfilled Test Series' and the first Test in Antigua will get underway from 8:00pm today.