After weeks of not knowing what would happen, Bangladesh's next Test match against Zimbabwe will be shown live, but not through a normal rights deal.  Instead, the show will be shown on Bangladesh Television (BTV), which is owned by the government. This kept the show from being a potential media blackout.

This was confirmed by a news release from BTV on Thursday, which said that the two-match Test series would be shown using a satellite feed given by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).  The series is set to start on April 20.

After days of rumors that BCB couldn't find a commercial broadcast partner for the show, the news finally came true.  On March 19, the board asked stations to send in Expressions of Interest (EOI) for media rights and asked them to make financial offers.  But by April 7, when the bids were due, no company had come forward with one.

There were several reasons why the show wasn't wanted to be shown on TV.  According to BCB sources, media houses weren't as interested in a Bangladesh-Zimbabwe Test series because it wouldn't make much money, especially since the world is focused on the IPL and PSL right now.

In the past, BCB's home games were shown on T Sports and GTV thanks to a deal with the Millennium Media Consortium.  But that deal was over after Bangladesh's series against South Africa in October 2023.

Since BCB didn't have a new rights holder yet, there was a chance that the media would not be able to cover any of their games. This would be embarrassing for any international cricket board.  Thanks to BTV's help, fans across the country will still be able to watch the show, though in a more usual way.