Dozens of television news channels across India will boycott the glitzy Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament due to what they said were "arbitrary" media restrictions. The guidelines say news channels can carry match footage for only 30 seconds per bulletin, as against four minutes earlier.
While match footage for the first two tournaments in 2008 and 2009 could be telecast with a five-minute delay from the end of the live telecast, it has been expanded to a 30-minute delay. The News Broadcasters Association (NBA), which has 34 channels as members, said in a statement late Tuesday that IPL authorities and the official broadcaster of the event, Set-Max, refused to alter the terms. IPL boss Lalit Modi defended the decision to impose strict restrictions on the media.