Category: Sports

Star to launch Star Sports 3, continue sports investments: Gautam Thakar

MUMBAI: Uday Shankar, the man on Urmi Estate’s 37th floor, has made his next move. Star India is set to launch a multi-lingual channel Star Sports 3 in place of Channel V on 15 September 2018, the broadcaster has confirmed.

“India’s appetite for sports beyond cricket is growing and viewers are expecting good quality broadcast of a wide range of sports. To cater to this need, we are launching a new channel Star Sports 3, and to begin with we will broadcast the Hero ISL Season 5 in Hindi,” Star Sports CEO Gautam Thakar told Indiantelevision.com, highlighting the rationale behind the network’s decision to add a channel to it sports bouquet.

Thakar, who took over as Star Sports CEO on 15 January, also added that Star India is likely to pump in more cash into its sports business.

“In line with our commitment of fostering a multi-sports culture in the country, we have grown our sports portfolio and its offerings and we will continue to actively invest in,” he said.

Star Sports 3 along with three other channels that went off air on 29 May 2017 were replaced by Star Sports Tamil, Star Sports Hindi 1, Star Sports Select 1 SD and Star Sports Select 2 SD.

Towards the end of last year, Star India contemplated taking Channel V off air, with Star Sports 1Kannada as its substitute. 16 November 2017 had been fixed as the launch date.

However, the broadcaster was unable to get the necessary approvals from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).

Star India even launched a promo campaign to support Star Sports 1 Kannada. However, their plans to secure an exclusive sports channel for its Kannada viewers didn’t see the light of day during the Indian Premier League 2018. The Kannada feed was aired on Star Suvarna Plus and the channel launch was put on hold due to regulatory hurdles.

In a public notice dated 26 October 2017, Star India informed viewers that Channel V would continue to remain available in its current form across all addressable platforms (DAS, DTH, IPTV, HITS).

At an event in Delhi in January this year, Star India MD Sanjay Gupta declined to comment on the status of Star Sports 1 Kannada, adding that the launch was still in its planning stage.

Star India’s sports bouquet will now boast of 13 channels – Star Sports 1, 2 and their HD versions, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports Select 1, 2 and their HD versions, Star Sports First, the only FTA channel and soon to be re-launched Star Sports 3.

August 24, 2018
Tamil Thalaivas & Telugu Titans clash in vivo pro kabaddi season vi opener

MUMBAI: Mashal Sports Pvt Ltd., the organizer and right holder of VIVO Pro Kabaddi League, announced the fixtures for Season VI, beginning October 5th, 2018. The sixth season of VIVO Pro Kabaddi will begin in Chennai, and will travel across 13 cities, with the final showdown in Mumbai on January 5th, 2019. Fans can catch the action at the stadiums as well as on the Star Sports Network and Hotstar.

The opening day will witness the clash of kabaddi giants, Telugu Titans and Tamil Thalaivas. The competition will intensify, as the neighbours renew their rivalry in the latest season. In the second match Anup Kumar, the ‘Captain Cool’ of U Mumba for the last 5 seasons, who moves to Jaipur Pink Panthers this season, will lock horns with his former team.

The other highly anticipated matches through the week include, Tamil Thalaivas vs Patna Pirates, as the Dubki King Pradeep Narwal will dodge his way through defenders to break his previous seasons’ record of 369 raid points. VIVO Pro Kabaddi League’s highest paid player, Monu Goyat will begin his raid for glory as Haryana Steelers takes on Puneri Paltans in the fifth match of the season.

Anupam Goswami, League Commissioner, VIVO Pro Kabaddi said, “We have had to adjust the Season VI window to October onwards, in lieu of the ongoing Asian Games that have nearly all the world’s top Kabaddi athletes playing for their respective national teams. We will return to a July start for VIVO PKL Season VII. Meanwhile, I look forward to VIVO PKL Season VI being an intensely competitive affair, as well as a great celebration of Kabaddi”

The 12 participating teams have been divided into two zones of six teams each, where each team will be playing a set of 15 intra-zone and 7 inter-zone matches, prior to the anticipated play-offs. The play-offs stage will comprise of 3 adrenaline filled eliminators, 2 qualifiers and the finals scheduled to take place in Mumbai.

August 22, 2018
Facebook to sub-license La Liga India broadcast rights to Sony

MUMBAI: Social media giant Facebook, which recently acquired the Indian sub-continent La Liga rights for three years, has struck a sub-licensing broadcast deal with Sony Pictures Network (SPN) India, a source close to the development has confirmed to Indiantelevision.com.

SPN has also renewed its Serie A deal for a three-year term. Sony Six and Sony ESPN will broadcast the matches, which will be streamed on its OTT platform SONY LIV.
The high-profile move of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid to Juventus has undoubtedly increased the buzz surrounding the league this term.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner made his Serie A debut for Juventus in a 3-2 win at Chievo on 18 August 2018 after a €100 million move from the Champions League winners.

SPN had reportedly paid $32m (€28m) when the La Liga rights for India were up for sale in 2014.

Earlier this year, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company unseated the broadcaster as it bagged the rights for the 2018/19-2020/21 cycle for an undisclosed fee.
The landmark agreement La Liga’s first broadcast deal with a social media platform.

At the time, Facebook had stated it was open to working with broadcasters in the region to increase the reach of the league. In a sense, the deal with SPN is consistent with the company’s vision and position.

While Facebook steams the La Liga content for free, it remains to be seen whether SPN’s OTT will stream the matches with a delayed feed or not.

Amazon, the tech giant, was the first platform to strike a deal to stream Premier League matches in the UK, with 10 matches to be shown on Amazon Prime on two separate days for three seasons starting from 2019.

In April 2018, Amazon wrote a large cheque for the exclusive UK rights to the US Open tennis, giving subscribers who pay £79 a year for its Prime Video service access to three of the four grand slams.

Last year, Facebook bid for the five-year global media rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which went to Star India for a hefty sum of Rs16,347.50 crore.

August 21, 2018
Star Sports announces a blockbuster line-up of renowned cricket commentators for Karnataka Premier League (KPL) 2018

Bengaluru : Showcasing a blockbuster line-up of 12 renowned cricket experts, Star Sports announced the commentary panel for KPL 2018 which began on 15th August 2018. For the first time ever, Australia’s bowling legend Mitchell Johnson donned the commentator hat. A winner of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, Mitchell was one of the most feared bowlers in the world, due to his lightening pace. Since its inception, KPL, one of the oldest running domestic cricket leagues in the country, has been a perfect platform for the emerging cricketers to showcase their talent.

The panel consists of celebrated Indian and International experts such as Dean Jones, Brett Lee, Scott Styris, Mitchell Johnson, Vijay Bharadwaj, Sunil J, Fazal, Charu Sharma, A Balachandra, Sujith Somasundar and anchors Suhail Chandhok and Mayanti Langer.

The experts will continue to use their experience and immense knowledge of the game to further enhance the viewing delight of the tournament and bring cricket ever closer to the hearts of fans from across the country.

Speaking on his commentary debut for KPL 2018, Mr. Mitchell Johnson said, “It is a pleasure to be a part of such a world class panel of expert commentators for KPL 2018. It will be fun to continue sharing the commentary box with legends of the game like Brett, Scott and Dean. Our aim is to bring a continuous comprehensive coverage of the best cricketing action to fans as the tournament progresses.”

Star Sports, the official broadcaster of KPL 2018, believes in providing the best of cricket content and facilitating unmatched TV viewing experience for the cricket fans across India. The regional programming will garner more fans, as they will get to witness the matches and cricket commentary in their preferred language.

Fans can watch all the KPL matches on the following channels:

Star Sports 2/ Star Sports 2 HD – English and

Kannada commentary is available on the audio button on select operators in Karnataka.

August 21, 2018
Facebook to sub-licence La Liga to broadcaster: Report

MUMBAI: Social media giant Facebook took several industry pundits by surprise when it acquired the India sub-continent rights for La Liga’s 380 league matches for the new season, which commenced on Friday. It is now being reported that the league’s broadcast in India will not just be limited to the social media platform, but will also be sub-licenced to a TV channel as well.

According to Mumbai Mirror, Facebook officials from Singapore and US apart from their Indian representatives are in advanced talks with a Mumbai-based sports television station to seal the deal for the same.

Given that Facebook does not charge consumers for the La Liga content, it remains to be seen how the broadcaster will air these matches.

Facebook currently streams the live matches for free to its 348 million users in the region, including 270 million in India. The company did not disclose how much it had paid to acquire the rights, which cost Sony Pictures Network $32m (€28m) the last time it was for sale in 2014. The Financial Times, however, quoted a sources suggesting that Facebook had shelled out something between €10 million and €20 million for the rights.

Facebook, which streams the matches on Facebook Watch, had opened the channels of negotiation with the television company for quite some time.

La Liga president Javier Tebas said, “We are delighted to team up with Facebook and be able to bring the action closer to all followers of La Liga in the Indian subcontinent.”

Facebook head of global live sports programming Peter Hutton said, “For Facebook, the deal is an important experiment.” It has been trying to win broadcast rights in India to major sporting events including the Indian Premier League. “We see this as a great opportunity to bring people together around world-class football and also help La Liga reach new audiences.”

The season kicked off on Friday night with matches between Girona versus Vallodolid and Real Betis versus Levante. Although these are early days in India for the live online broadcast of the games, there is an opinion that Indian fans still prefer the big screen for live action. It could be a reason why Facebook is looking to sub-licence the rights to a broadcaster.

August 21, 2018
Hero ISL gets NIVIA as ball partner for 3 years

MUMBAI: NIVIA, the Indian sports manufacturing brand has signed a three-year agreement with Football Sports Development to be the official ball partner of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) starting season 2018/19.

With this multi-crore deal, NIVIA will supply the official match balls NIVIA ‘Ashtang’ to the League and the ten clubs throughout the season.

NIVIA MD Rajesh Kharbanda said, “We are elated to be associated with ISL as the official ball partner. The FIFA Pro categorised Ashtang balls are the newest edition in our professional football product stable and we are confident of upping the game in the highly competitive league environment.”

An ISL spokesperson said, “We are delighted to introduce FIFA Pro certified match balls Nivia Ashtang for Hero Indian Super League. Ashtang has been produced by Nivia with the highest standards and newest technology to maximise performance.”

“The association of NIVIA with the ISL is a constructive partnership aimed towards cultivating a strong system of developing football in India and maturing it to International level, a trend that is evident from the performance of U-20 and U-16 Indian teams recently. I would like to thank Inventive Sports for recognising the synergies and facilitating this association,” Kharbanda added.

NIVIA Ashtang is a FIFA Pro category approved ball which is the highest quality certification that FIFA can grant on the quality of the ball.

The iconic Indian sports brand has been associated with the league through individual club deals as kit partners with ATK, Jamshedpur FC and Shillong Lajong (I-League). NIVIA, since its early days has been closely associated with the grassroots development of football in India and has become an integral part of the glorious history of Santosh Trophy since 1970s.

August 20, 2018
Sony India unveils #KoiKasarNahi campaign for Asian Games

MUMBAI: The 18th edition of Asian games is all set to go on floors from 18 August to 2 September 2018 in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang. Meanwhile Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) today announced its marketing and digital initiatives for the pan-Asian multi-sport event. With India being one of the first five founding members of the Asian Games, expectations from our contingent are always high.

Be it the Olympics, Commonwealth Games or Asian Games, Indian athletes have never left any stone unturned in their quest to win medals and proudly represent the country. With this backdrop, SPN launched its campaign ‘Koi Kasar Nahi’.

As a part of the campaign, SPN will be hosting a ‘Fan Flame’ on its microsite https://sonypicturessportsnetwork.com/koikasarnahi/. Inspired by the Asian Games torch that burns in the cauldron for the duration of the Games, the virtual Fan Flame will burn brighter with every message of support that goes out to the athletes.

In order to show support and add to the fan flame, all fans have to do is use the hashtag #KoiKasarNahi on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and post their inspirational and supportive messages to the athletes. Each post will appear on the digital fan flame and will be sent to our athletes.

Sony Pictures Networks India sports and distribution business president Rajesh Kaul said, “At Sony Pictures Networks India we have always promoted a multi-sport culture and it doesn’t get bigger than the 18th Asian Games. As our athletes compete across 36 sports and against sportspeople from 45 countries, we will bring fans and viewers the ultimate experience to enjoy the Asian Games. As patriotic fans, it’s our utmost duty to give our unrelenting support to our athletes just as they will give on this stage.”

Bollywood superstars Salman Khan, Varun Dhawan and Asian Games participants from India like Anjum Modgil, Satish Kumar, Rakesh Patra and Dipa Karmakar have joined in appealing to fans to support our athletes in the #KoiKasarNahi campaign. In a series of videos, they urge fans to come together and support the Indian contingent to leave no stone unturned in their quest for glory.

2018 Asian Games will be telecast with Hindi commentary on Sony Ten 3 channels and with English commentary on Sony Ten 2 and Sony ESPN channels from 18 August 2018. In addition to the 300+ hours of live telecast, SPN will also air more than 30 hours of highlights and repeats for viewers to catch up with all the sports action in Jakarta.

Viewers can also see in-depth coverage of the games with a live studio show, both in Hindi and English. It will feature expert panellists like wrestler Jagdish Kaliraman, hockey champions Sandeep Singh, Viren Rasquinha, and Jagbir Singh, tennis players Somdev Devvarman and Gaurav Natekar, badminton player Aparna Popat, and expert columnists Ayaz Memon and Boria Majumdar.

August 18, 2018
Sony India bets on Pro Volleyball League

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India has signed a multi-year deal with Baseline Ventures and Volleyball Federation of India (VFI), to broadcast the inaugural season of the Pro Volleyball League in February 2019. SPN will broadcast all 18 matches of the Pro Volleyball League live across its sports channels.

Pro Volleyball League will give budding Indian athletes a platform to hone their skill and compete against some of the leading players from across the world.

Excitement around the league has been building up steadily with volleyball being a sport that attracts people from all walks of life, from local villages’ rural areas to urban international schools all over India.

Sony Pictures Networks India president sports and distribution business Rajesh Kaul said, “At SPN our focus has always been to promote a multi-sport culture in India and Pro Volleyball League is the perfect addition to our sports portfolio. Volleyball is an extremely popular sport in n key markets like South and North India, producing world class players. From early discussions we realised that our values are completely aligned with Baseline Ventures’ – nurturing the development of various sports in India and we are happy to be on-board for the Pro Volleyball League.”

The current league structure will consist of 18 matches, which will be played across two indoor venues. The teams will consist of men from the national teams across all FIVB (the international governing body of the sport) member nations, with a predominant Indian player pool. Player auctions are scheduled for later this year and franchise-owners can bid for the Indian players from a bank of over 90 players, while the foreign players will be recruited via player draft.

Pro Volleyball League CEO Joy Bhattacharjya, “To allow for a good and clear broadcast window for the League and to ensure that the League can be promoted extensively across all platforms including the hugely popular digital platform Sony LIV, we have decided to kick-start Pro Volleyball in early February 2019. India is today consuming great sports content through the year and with Sony as a partner, we hope to deliver a well packaged product that will leave a lasting impression on one and all”

Baseline Ventures India MD Tuhin Mishra, “SPN has been successfully bringing some of the best global sports action to the Indian audiences for years now. Moreover, we completely believe them to be the right partners for the global sport of Volleyball to take centre stage in India. Being pioneers in offering a great mix of live action sports with entertainment, SPN offers us an opportunity to create do something similar with the Pro Volleyball League. We really look forward to a great association.”

August 17, 2018
Star Sports to telecast Asia Cup in Hindi, English, Tamil

MUMBAI: The Unimoni Asia Cup 2018 is all set to commence from 15 September and will see Asian neighbours – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan – fight for the trophy. Star Sports, the official broadcaster, has released its first film for the tournament which speaks of the unique aspect of ‘The Tournament of Neighbours’ and this very aspect is at the heart of the campaign.

Star Sports’ “Knock Knock” campaign is based on the creative insight that one’s neighbour’s success will always be a consistent reminder of their own failure. Star Sports creative communications team is the mind behind this campaign. Nirvana Films has produced the campaign.

The tournament’s title sponsor Unimoni is a global provider of money transfer, foreign exchange, payments and credit solutions with the global head quarters in UAE.

The film subtly takes on the age old “Neighbour vs Neighbour” rivalry, and brings alive the neighbourhood rivalry in a way which is bound to leave viewers with a smile on their faces.

Talking to Indiantelevision.com Star Sports CEO Gautam Thakar said, “For the Asia Cup, the channel will have the game in English, Hindi, Tamil and a different Dugout commentary. We have applied for licenses for regional languages. Our plans are ready and as soon as we get the approval we will launch the channels.”

Star India has already sent the request to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for permission of regional language channel, Star Sports Kannada. If the channel gets the approval the Kannada audience might also get to see the matches in their local language.

“Asia Cup kicks off the cricket calendar for us, we have learnt many things in the past six months, particularly regional languages, which proved really successful in the recently concluded IPL and we are planning to do more throughout this year as the tournaments evolve. On the other hand, the Select Dugout was a novel innovation which I think a lot of the serious cricketing enthusiasts enjoyed. We are going to have that in Asia Cup for the first time. We will be using the same technology as used in the IPL,” he added.

The tournament is scheduled to be held in Dubai from September 15 to 28. Nine Star Sports screens will telecast the tournament as well as Hotstar. This year, the Unimoni Asia Cup will have a few nail-biting matches between India and Pakistan, as they compete with each other in a bid to reinstate their country’s cricketing prowess.

Unimoni Asia Cup promo

August 14, 2018
CPL 2018 becomes first T20 league to stream live on Twitter

MUMBAI: The Hero Caribbean Premier League has recently announced its collaboration with Twitter to live stream all matches of the 2018 season in 54 countries. Caribbean Perimier League is one of the annual T20 cricket tournaments held in the Caribbean. This will be the first time where cricket fans in these countries will be able to watch full matches on Twitter and join the live conversation at the same time.

Fans from India will also be able to enjoy over 150 highlight video clips from the league. Currently the tournament is sponsored by Hero MotoCorp.

Hero MotoCorp head corporate communication Bharatendu Kabi said, “We are delighted to extend our association with Twitter for the second consecutive year for the Hero Caribbean Premier League. Cricket fans in India and around the world now prefer to watch live streams of their favourite matches at their convenience and we are glad to play a key role in facilitating this. Twitter is today one of the most preferred media for the youth and our continued partnership with them is a signal of Hero’s commitment to bringing sports to where the fans are.”

Through the partnership, premium video content highlights from #CPL18 will be made available on Twitter in India and globally. The in-stream video sponsorship collaboration builds on the success of the last season and treats fans on Twitter to the best moments from #CPL18.

Hero CPL head of digital Vishnu Kumar said, “Hero CPL is the biggest party in sport and we’re proud to partner with Twitter to become the first T20 cricket league to give fans access to cricket streaming live on the platform. Hero CPL brings together some of the biggest cricket superstars in a carnival atmosphere. In addition to the games, there will be highlight clips on Twitter.”

“Thanks to our title sponsor Hero, we will ensure that fans don’t miss a single moment, just like Fabian Allen’s stunning catch last season. Our goal is to engage the cricket community even more deeply and this partnership will make it big, especially as our star players are popular on Twitter,” he added.

Asia Pacific Twitter head of sports partnerships Aneesh Madani added, “The global, public conversation around cricket happens on Twitter and we’re thrilled to team up with Hero CPL to add live-streamed cricket to that experience for fans in 54 countries. Strengthening our partnership with Hero CPL is the in-stream video sponsorship with Hero for the second year running. Together, we’re excited to offer cricket fans a unique experience to take in the games, highlight video clips and the conversation, all in one place on Twitter.”

The 2018 season of the Hero CPL will feature superstars from around the cricketing world, including Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Steve Smith, David Warner, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, David Miller and many more. The live stream of CPL matches will be available to logged-in and logged-out cricket fans on Twitter and connected devices via @CPL on Twitter.

August 13, 2018