TV coverage in Bangladesh unlikely for Antigua Test

For the first time since 2001, a Test match involving Bangladesh will not be broadcast on TV in Bangladesh as negotiations between the rights-holders and Bangladesh's TV networks failed to materialise for the rights to the Test series in the West Indies. The Antigua Test, which begins on June 16, will only be available on the ICC's streaming channel for a subscription fee.

But there are efforts being made to show the matches for free on the BCB's social media handles.

"The Bangladeshi channels are not interested in showing these matches, but the BCB and Total Sports Management (TSM) have managed to put it on ICC.TV so that the people of Bangladesh are not deprived of the coverage," Moinul Haque Chowdhury, owner of TSM, the company that bought the rights from CWI, reported Prothom Alo.

BCB director Ismail Haider Mallick said, "We are trying to show the matches on BCB's Facebook and YouTube channels for free".

It has come to this point after T-Sports or Gazi TV, the Bangladeshi channels that have been showing all of Bangladesh's international cricket in recent years didn't land a deal with TSM. Both channels have reportedly bought the BCB's broadcasting rights for 2021-23 from Ban Tech, who had initially bought it from the board for $19.07 million last year.

But such a TV blackout was on the cards from earlier this year when the Bangladesh broadcasting rights were only picked up a week from the start of the New Zealand vs Bangladesh Test series in January. Last year, the Bangladesh vs Australia T20I series wasn't aired in Australia due to a lack of interest.

The last time a Bangladesh Test wasn't shown was back in 2001 during the Asian Test Championship when one of the matches wasn't shown in Bangladesh.

During a month-long tour, Bangladesh will play West Indies for two Tests, three T20Is and three ODIs.