THE state owned National Communication Networks (NCN) yesterday said that they are currently in talks with rights holder ESPN, to air the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup which bowls off on Saturday February 14 in Australia.

Marketing Manager Raymond Azeez, speaking to Chronicle Sport yesterday, explained that unlike previous years when NCN had to simply deal with the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), now, it’s complicated, since they have to negotiate with ESPN who only distribute to its cable partners.

ESPN’s partner in Guyana is E-Networks and Azeez said that NCN is trying everything in its power to ensure that the Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation owned entity breaks protocol to allow them the right to air the matches.

He said that it will cost the Government of Guyana owned station approximately US$30,000 to have to the event shown; almost three times what was paid for the 2011 tournament rights.

“We understand that they (ESPN) are dealing with their cable partner who in Guyana is E-Networks. We had first reached out to E-Networks who pointed us to ESPN and we’ve been in talks with them. It’s just a matter of them (ESPN) understanding that in Guyana, more than 60% of the population depend on us for events like this and not everyone has E-Networks” said Azeez.

Azeez pointed out that NCN remains committed to bring ball-by-ball coverage of the ICC showpiece, adding “We’re going to fight hard to get the rights. It’s only a couple of days left and so we’re waiting on ESPN to give a final word after making a proposal”