News Headline

‘Cricket needs to evolve’

Published

19 years ago

January 1, 2007

If there was one person who brought about the biggest change in sports broadcasting in India in 2006, it was Nimbus chairman Harish Thawani. He took the big gamble by acquiring India cricket rights for a whopping $612.8 million and became a broadcaster.

Thawani holds forth on sports broadcasting in terms of the changing landscape, Asia emerging as a major player and the importance of multiplicity of platforms and technologies.

Traditionally the sports media industry has had 3 major segments: full service sports management/marketing agencies (such as IMG, Sport Five, Nimbus Sport) that manage/market rights, sponsorship sales, stage/manage events, provide sponsor services, advise on and/or manage L & M programs, represent athletes etc (many agencies specialize in a sub-set of these); sports television companies that focus on host broadcast production and/or sports program production and syndication (such as Sunset + Vine, TWI, HBS, Nimbus Sport) and sports broadcasters (such as ESPN, Fox Sports, Sky Sports, NEO Sports).

Two trends seem to be emerging in the sports media sector. On one hand there appears to consolidation taking place in both the agency and broadcast sector (more of that later) and on the other hand the lines are getting blurred between the roles with agencies or their parent companies such as Nimbus entering the broadcast sector (with its recently launched NEO Sports) and broadcasters such as ESS pitching for rights on a global basis and consequently winding up acting as rights agencies in countries where they don’t broadcast.

Consequently the future may see new role definitions, new competitive stances and strange alliances emerging; and quite possibly competitors in one region being partners in another.

Trends close to home

The importance of Asia is growing. In football it is now the world’s second most valuable rights territory. In cricket it is by far the most valuable. Japan, Korea, China and the ASEAN are fuelling unprecedented growth in rights values for basketball, golf, motor sport, tennis, even baseball.

Pan Asian broadcast services are under threat and I think in 3 years will become unviable, as the regional broadcasters gain ground. The rise of the regional broadcasters and/or platform owned sports channels (from Al Jazeera in the Middle East to NEO Sports in South Asia to Astro’s Super Sports in Malaysia, to PCCW in Hong Kong and Starhub’s Super Sports in Singapore) have encouraged rights holders to stop doing pan Asian deals and opt for country wise deals. The success of the recent EPL auctions on a country wise basis was an example, where ESS lost a substantial portion of the valuable territories to regional broadcasters including China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and several others.

Multiplicity of platforms and technologies will fetch sports broadcasters in Asia higher share of subscriber revenues. Sports and movies drive pay TV! In the Middle East we have three DTH platforms and three cable companies vying for premium sports channels. In India we have two DTH platforms with two more to come and a very large cable industry, Malaysia’s long standing monopoly of Astro will diminish with Telecom Malaysia’s massive IPTV foray. Hong Kong has two cable systems. Every major country is developing multiple platforms.

Perhaps in 2-3 years time, we might see a consortium of regional broadcasters emerge, forming a pan Asian footprint but retaining regional autonomy, using the benefits of consortium buying of rights, collective platform negotiation ability, exchange of best practices and technology; and who knows perhaps even cross holdings into an Asian superstructure.

Global management is now happy to work in Asia thereby giving Asian sports broadcasters the ability to merge local skills into global best practices, and compete with the global broadcasters such as ESPN and Newscorp (Fox, Sky, Star)…for e.g. NEO Sports has a Scottish COO, an Australian head of acquisitions, a Polish technology consultant and an Indian CEO!

Cricket : The challenges and opportunities

Cricket needs to evolve. The economic dominance of Asia powered largely by India represents both an opportunity and a threat to the globalization of the sport. Opportunity because the funds now at the disposal of cricket allow it to invest in development across the world. Threat because if the Indian economy slows down or the sports broadcast industry further consolidates, the revenues of the sport will decline. Cricket must reduce its excessive dependency on India. But that is easier said than done.

The sport is essentially a 10 country sport with only 4-5 countries providing revenues worth the mention. The structure of the sport needs to emulate football and we need to dismantle the class system wherein only 10 countries get to play Tests and regular ODIs. In football even India plays internationals despite being ranked below 125! Cricket needs to allow all ICC member countries to play internationals. With the emergence of shorter formats (which itself are the way to the future of the game), like 20/20, it is easier for weaker teams to win against stronger teams occasionally because all that it takes is for 1-2 batsmen to fire for an hour or so!! Such results fuel fan following and the sports grows in new countries.

Lastly cricket needs to understand that its obsessive focus only on revenues (read highest bidder wins!) is perhaps an expensive trade off as the interests of the highest bidder are not necessarily aligned to that of the sport. E.g. broadcasters that win global rights are not necessarily equipped or even wanting to encourage free TV broadcasts or multiple platform broadcasts for their interests lie in exclusivity and the subscription revenues that come with it. Fortunately many cricket boards have begun to understand that and now prefer to engage sports agencies (albeit with a revenue MG) to manage their rights with the mandate to increase revenues but also increase reach, improve branding, procure better sponsorships, develop new markets and assist in development programs through coaching videos etc.

India : Road ahead is clear

With economic growth beating the 8 per cent per annum mark and the next 10 years (if not much more) quite clearly a boom phase, there’s seldom been a better time to invest in India. Broadcast industry revenues are growing at 17-19 per cent per annum, spending on leisure including sport by Indians is on the rise, and the advent of addressable systems particularly DTH bodes well for premium pay TV services such as sports and movies.

India : Cricket domination continues

Having said that even the world’s largest markets don’t support more than 2-3 pay TV sports companies, which meant that my prediction of some months back that from a 6 player market we will see a 3 player market by 2007 has come true even before 2006 is out. DD and Sony are at least for the moment quite clearly out of the cricket rights acquisition market. Zee has taken control of Ten, so its essentially 3 companies now in sports broadcasting each with 2 channels (Neo Sports and Neo Sports Plus, ESPN and Star Sports, Zee Sports and Ten Sports); which should allow all three to operate profitably and given the amazing range of sports product available would give all three enough options to program their channels, except for one catch. The cricket catch.

In a single sport country, this means that Neo Sports with its powerful cricket assets over the next five years, the depth of sports expertise of Nimbus behind it and powered by Star India’s distribution leadership will have a smooth side. As will ESS with its long standing experience, market franchise and reasonable cricket assets now strengthened by the ICC package. The challenge for ESS will be that in 2007 some if not all of their previous cricket assets start expiring and that means an uncertain path ahead. If renewals are hard to come by, they will have to wait for 2011 when the next World Cup is staged to make a strong come back.

India: Domestic sport

I had said in early 2006 that this would be the year of domestic sport in India. Hopefully the numbers bear me out. BCCI commenced 72 days a year of domestic cricket coverage and extensive re-branding and re-formatting. Even with the start-up phase distribution of NEO Sports it rocketed to the No 1 sports channel position in the TAM data in its first week itself with the broadcast of the domestic Challenger Series, with peak TVRs of 9.2 in one match! The Duleep Trophy final achieved peak TVRs of 2.7 on a weekday despite it being a 5 day match format! Zee Sports broadcast of Indian domestic football has also shown consistent results. I think by mid 2007 the ratings of domestic cricket will start rivaling Test match TVRs consistently and weekend One Day matches in the domestic Super League could be the killer app for NEO Sports!

India: Other Sports

Hockey is dead. It’s now official. It received a quiet and indecent burial at the recent Asian Games where India did not make it to the semis and no one shed tears.Tennis, golf and motor sport plough on their elitist path into Indian homes that would scarcely know the difference between a birdie and a break-point. I can hear howls of protest from the same elitist benches and to them I would say walk down (as I have) the streets of Jalgaon, Coimbatore, Ajmer or even Hyderabad and ask what a birdie is. The range of cute or crass answers might surprise you.

That leaves football and to me the dark horse badminton as the 2 sports that India can and I think will develop a TV loyalty to. Football because it has a 3-4 state base, and the western and southern metros are beginning to take up to it (on TV I mean) and also quite simply because it is the true world game. Which is why at NEO Sports it already broadcasts live the Bundesliga and the Italian Serie A.

And Badminton because it is India’s largest participation sport after cricket. It is extensively played in India and easily understood. It has never been adequately programmed on sports channels and not enough has been done to market it. NEO Sports plans to change both of that starting early 2007.

India: Sports entertainment

When Nimbus Sport did the Extraaa Innings production for Sony during the 2003 Cricket World Cup, only Nimbus Sport and Sony believed that merging sport with entertainment will lead to a serious opportunity to build a viewer franchise. It made the purists cringe (and rightfully so) but it raked in the TRPs and the revenues.

Some months back I had announced that we see sports entertainment as the big hole in the market and NEO Sports Plus will launch a slew of sports entertainment shows by 1st quarter 2007. ESS was quick to follow with its own announcement and the good news is that they’ve already started 2 shows, both of which are showing very promising ratings.

I think NEO Sports Plus will do 70+ GRPs a week by mid 2007 off the back of sports entertainment and its focus on football and badminton.

Regulatory

So now TV is in the PDS, controlled prices et al (sorry administered prices). Is it constitutional? Are world class premium channels to be sacrificed at the altar of populism? These and many other questions will get answered in the coming months. Personally I believe that price caps will not go for at least 6 months, but in the interim a multi tier price cap regime may emerge, with Rs 5 as cap for most channels, Rs 10 as cap for GE and movie channels and Rs 20 for sports channels.

On anti-siphoning the Supreme Court of India has ruled in the Ten Sports case. Many believe that in India where cable is cheap and DTH is also cheap and covers all cable dark areas, there is no grounds for anti-siphoning regulations. Moreover cable reaches nearly 65 per cent of all TV homes now.

But if anti-siphoning laws do get enacted, they need to consider some rather serious issues:

1. Is DD a terrestrial broadcaster or cable/DTH? ODI matches can’t be shared with DD under the guise of it being a public free TV terrestrial broadcaster, and then DD merrily supplies the signal to cable and DTH killing the pay TV business!

2. A use or lose policy with strict timelines and license fee rationale will need to be adhered to by DD as it is in many countries where antis-siphoning rules are in force.

3. DD must encrypt its signals to their transmission towers. No where in the world does a free TV broadcaster send unencrypted signals via satellite.

4. If the anti-siphoning rules are truly meant to for public service, DD must refrain from commercial exploitation of the feed and agree to carry the rights holders feed with commercials. And DD must not decline other sports the right to be broadcast on DD National, when events of global stature and/or Indian interest are being staged.

Related Topics:Al Jazeera DD ESPN Fox Sports HBS Neo Sports Nimbus Sport Sky Sports Sunset + Vine TWI

Up Next

Tata Sky, Zee Turner case: TDSAT asks for Trais’s position on DTH operations

Don't Miss

TV9 plans to invest Rs 1.2 billion in regional news channels, Africa operations

Click to comment

Awards

Hamdard honours changemakers at Abdul Hameed awards

Published

21 hours ago

February 7, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

NEW DELHI: Hamdard Laboratories gathered a cross-section of India’s achievers in New Delhi on Friday, handing out the Hakeem Abdul Hameed Excellence Awards to figures who have left their mark across healthcare, education, sport, public service and the arts.

The ceremony, attended by minister of state for defence Sanjay Seth and senior officials from the ministry of Ayush, celebrated individuals whose work blends professional success with a sense of public purpose. It was as much a roll call of achievement as it was a reminder that influence is not measured only in profits or podiums, but in people reached and lives improved.

Among the headline awardees was Alakh Pandey, founder and chief executive of PhysicsWallah, recognised for turning affordable digital learning into a mass movement. On the sporting front, Arjuna Awardee and kabaddi player Sakshi Puniya was honoured for her contribution to the game and for pushing women’s participation onto bigger stages.

The cultural spotlight fell on veteran lyricist and poet Santosh Anand, whose songs have echoed across generations of Hindi cinema. At 97, Anand accepted the honour with characteristic humility, reflecting on a life shaped by perseverance and hope.

Healthcare honours spanned both modern and traditional systems. Manoj N. Nesari was recognised for strengthening Ayurveda’s place in national and global health frameworks. Padma shri Mohammed Abdul Waheed was honoured for his research-backed work in Unani medicine, while padma shri Mohsin Wali received recognition for his long-standing contribution to patient-centred care.

Education and social development also featured prominently. Padma shri Zahir Ishaq Kazi was honoured for decades of work in education, while former Meghalaya superintendent of Police T. C. Chacko was recognised for public service. Goonj founder Anshu Gupta received an award for his dignity-centred rural development initiatives, and the Hunar Shakti Foundation was honoured for empowering women and young girls through skill development.

The Lifetime Achievement Award went to former IAS officer Shailaja Chandra for her long career in public healthcare and governance, particularly in the traditional systems under Ayush.

Speaking at the event, Hamdard chairman Abdul Majeed said the awards were a tribute to those who combine excellence with empathy. “These awardees reflect Hakeem Sahib’s belief that healthcare, education and public service must ultimately serve humanity,” he said.

Minister Seth struck a forward-looking note, saying India’s young population gives the country a unique opportunity to become a global destination for learning, health and wellness by 2047.

The ceremony also featured the trailer launch of Unani Ki Kahaani, an upcoming documentary starring actor Jim Sarbh, set to premiere on Discovery on 11 February.

Instituted in memory of Unani scholar and educationist Hakeem Abdul Hameed, the awards have grown into a national platform that celebrates those building a more inclusive and resilient India. For one evening at least, the spotlight was not just on success, but on service with substance.

MAM

Why the Best Campaigns Today Start With Insights, Not Ideas

Published

21 hours ago

February 7, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: For decades, creative storytelling has been the cornerstone of brand communication. The “big idea” amplified through catchy jingles, striking visuals, and memorable hooks was once the gold standard for relevance and recall. Creativity defined presence, and the loudest, boldest campaigns often won attention.

But the marketing landscape today looks very different.

Audiences are more exposed, more discerning, and far less patient. They are inundated with messages across platforms, formats, and creators, often encountering hundreds of brand touchpoints in a single day. In this environment, creativity alone especially when untethered from real consumer truths is no longer enough to move behaviour. Great ideas are abundant. Meaningful impact is not.

This is where insights matter.

The difference may seem subtle, but it is fundamental. An idea represents what a brand wants to say. An insight reflects what the audience is already thinking, feeling, or experiencing. The most effective campaigns emerge not from cleverness alone, but from the intersection of these two forces.

From creativity to relevance

As the marketing ecosystem becomes increasingly saturated, consumers are growing immune to inflated claims and surface-level storytelling. Even beautifully crafted campaigns can fail if they are disconnected from lived realities. The gap between a brand’s internal enthusiasm and the audience’s actual sentiment can be the difference between attention and indifference.

Insights help bridge this gap. They force brands to pause, listen, and observe to understand emotions, behaviours, cultural contexts, and contradictions. Instead of trying to be remembered through louder branding, insight-led campaigns allow audiences to see their own experiences reflected back at them. When a campaign articulates a problem that feels personal, relevance is created. Trust follows.

Insight is interpretation, not information

It’s important to distinguish between data and insight. Data tells us what is happening. Insight explains why it is happening. While data is measurable and structured, insights are interpretive and dynamic, shaped by real-time sentiment and human behaviour.

Modern consumers are full of contradictions. They demand authenticity while remaining deeply aspirational. They want brands to take a stand but expect nuance, not instruction. They seek transparency, yet are drawn to curated narratives. These tensions are not obstacles, they are opportunities. When understood correctly, they can shape communication that feels timely, credible, and human.

Some of the most effective campaigns today are born not in isolated brainstorm rooms, but through listening to audiences, creators, editors, online communities, and cultural signals. Insights often exist in blurred patterns, but once identified, they can redefine how a brand connects.

A recent campaign we executed for Domino’s illustrates this shift clearly. The brief wasn’t to make a pizza look bigger or louder. Instead, it was rooted in a simple behavioural truth: in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, sharing food is an emotional act tied to family, celebration, and value perception. The “Big Big 6-in-1 Pizza” became a canvas for this insight. The campaign leaned into regional voices and real sharing moments, allowing people to show how they experienced the product rather than being told why they should buy it. Influencers and celebrities amplified genuine usage, not scripted endorsements. The impact from engagement to footfall to sales came not from a clever idea, but from understanding how people relate to food in their everyday lives.

Shifting the starting point

Today’s consumer landscape demands a shift in perspective from “What should the brand say?” to “What does the audience need to hear right now?” This marks a move away from inward-led marketing toward communication shaped by behaviour, emotion, and cultural relevance.

Brands leading today are keen observers. They notice when perfection stops resonating. They sense when luxury shifts from aspiration to excess. They recognise when influencer content begins to feel repetitive and trust erodes.

Virality, too, is often misunderstood. It is not a strategy to chase, but an outcome. Campaigns rooted in insight do not aim to go viral; they aim to resonate. When content reflects something familiar, a shared truth, emotion, or tension, it travels organically because people see themselves in it.

Ideas attract attention. Insights build connection.

The evolving role of PR

For PR professionals, this shift has redefined success. Coverage volume alone no longer tells the full story. The more meaningful questions today are: Did the communication influence behaviour? Did it align with cultural conversations? Did it address a real consumer pain point?

Insight-first thinking allows these questions to be answered at the planning stage, rather than corrected midway through execution.

In a world where formats and platforms will continue to evolve, what remains constant is the power of authentic communication. The strongest campaigns today do not begin with a brainstorm, but with observation, interpretation, and empathy. That is not just better marketing, it is more responsible, resilient, and meaningful brand-building.

Brands

Ahmad Muneeb elevated to VP – HR centre of excellence at Zepto

Published

21 hours ago

February 7, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Zepto has elevated Ahmad Muneeb to vice president – HR centre of excellence, placing him at the helm of the company’s total rewards, executive compensation and organisational effectiveness as the quick-commerce firm powers through a high-growth phase.

The move follows his stint as senior director of the HR COE, where he played a central role in preparing the company for IPO readiness while scaling its people analytics capabilities. During this period, Muneeb helped align complex performance management structures with more streamlined and scalable employee experience frameworks.

In his new role, he will steer the design of total rewards strategies, executive compensation planning and organisational design, while also overseeing performance management, employee experience initiatives and people analytics programmes.

Before joining Zepto, Muneeb spent nearly three years at Meesho, where he held multiple rewards and HR business partner roles. Earlier in his career, he worked as a senior rewards consultant at Mercer, advising high-tech clients on compensation benchmarking, pay structures and talent-focused reward frameworks.

He began his hr journey at Cognizant, where he supported compensation programmes for nearly two lakh employees across India and worked on m&a compensation alignment and skill-based pay initiatives. Prior to moving into HR, Muneeb started his career as a software engineer at Netcracker, bringing a technical grounding to his people strategy work.

With a mix of consulting rigour, start-up agility and enterprise-scale experience, Muneeb’s elevation signals Zepto’s continued focus on building robust people systems as it races towards its next phase of growth.