New Delhi: Following India's surprise first-round exit from the ongoing International Cricket Council's (ICC) World Cup, being held in the West Indies, rights holder Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India has been embroiled in a major debate with advertisers and their media agencies over the huge investments incurred and value of such budgets.

With television ratings expected to go down by over 30%, the industry is expected to incur losses worth US$33 million, whether SET and state-run Doordarshan agree upon any sort of relaxation is a different matter. According to the industry estimates, the cumulative amount, garnered by SET and Doordarshan, totaled to US$110 million, with SET accounting for US$78 million of the revenues.

According to New Delhi-based Anita Nayyar, Chief Executive Officer of media agency MPG, the negotiations are on but there hasn't been any concrete result. The advertisers are either looking for overall discount or extra spots, which could be disbursed over the network.

For its part, SET has categorically stated that there is no question of re-negotiation. In fact, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) issued a joint statement stating that all constituents/parties to the deal "cannot renegotiate deals on the basis of the performance of a particular team alone and are expected to honour their respective contracts.

When SET India shared info on its packages for both the Champions' Trophy (in October 2006) and the current World Cup, it had told Television Asia that it was targeting more than US$105 million in sponsorship and advertising revenues. The spot rates for the ICC World Cup have been sold well over US$4500 per 10 seconds.