ITV

Category: Sports

  • Waqar Younis is now on the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

    Waqar Younis is now on the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

    MUMBAI: Former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame before the first Twenty20 International between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai Sports City kicked off on Wednesday.

     

    The cricketer received his commemorative cap from International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive David Richardson in front of a large and appreciative crowd. He has now become the 70th male member and fifth Pakistani after Hanif Mohammad, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

     

    Nicknamed ‘The Burewala Express’, Waqar is famously known as one half of ‘The Two Ws’ – a moniker for the fast bowling pair of Wasim Akram and Waqar. A famed exponent of reverse swing, he claimed 373 wickets from 87 Tests and 416 scalps from 262 One-Day Internationals.  

     

    The 42-year-old, who was born in Vehari, Punjab, also led his country in 17 Tests and 62 ODIs. In a first-class career spanning over a decade, he snared 956 wickets from 228 matches with a best of 8-17.

     

    Waqar’s Test figures bear ample testimony to his brilliance – he registered 22 hauls of five wickets or more in an innings, and, on five occasions, took 10 wickets or more in a match. He also boasted the best strike-rate of any bowler with more than 200 wickets in Tests during his playing days – a record only recently beaten by Dale Steyn. His best bowling performance in a Test came almost 20 years ago, when he registered match figures of 13-135 against Zimbabwe in the first Test in Karachi, having taken 7-91 and 6-44.  

     

    Earlier the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame has felicitated many well-known cricketers including Sydney Barnes, Bishan Bedi, Alec Bedser, Richie Benaud, Allan Border, Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott, Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell among many others.

     

    In 2009-10, Herbert Sutcliffe, Steve Waugh, Wasim Akram, Victor Trumper and Clarrie Grimmett were included in the list. In 2010-11, Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Ken Barrington, Courtney Walsh and Joel Garner were the inductees. Belinda Clark, Frederick Spofforth, Curtly Ambrose, and Alan Davidson were the inductees of 2011-12; while Enid Bakewell, Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne were included in the list in 2012-13.

     

    Besides Waqar Younis and Adam Gilchrist, two more cricketers would be announced later this year.

  • Sony Six gears up for ‘Total Non-Stop Action’

    Sony Six gears up for ‘Total Non-Stop Action’

    MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media’s sports channel Sony Six has recently acquired the rights of some very niche and diverse sports. And it has upped the ante with Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) the direct competitor to one of the biggest sporting brands in the world – World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

    TNA executive VP Andy Barton says: “TNA is a young brand compared to its competition and we found a similar fit with Sony Six, which is also a fairly young brand and it already has properties like UFC and IPL; the ideas that they brought to the table were just too good to resist and that is how the multi-year deal came about.”

    TNA manages every aspect of production internally to bring fans more than 500 hours of original content each year. It produces exclusive entertainment for more than five million viewers in 14 languages each week to more than 100 countries.

    MSM executive VP and business head Sony Six Prasanna Krishnan says: “There is a strong culture of fight sports in this country, but from a television perspective it is an area that has always been neglected or inadequately promoted in India. Our effort and idea is to bring together the best of fight sports – whatever be the segment – to Indian viewers. Thus, we are on the right course by partnering with big brands like UFC and TNA; we as a channel want to have a wide array of fight sports to suit everyone’s preference in the country.”

    The channel will be airing 500 hours of fresh content from TNA over a period of one year in the multi-year contract. This will include Impact Wrestling (TNA’s weekly televised show); and annual mainstays like March’s Lockdown, June’s Slammiversary and October’s Bound for Glory anchor the lineup for pay-per-views.

    Sony Six, which has dabbled with Hindi commentary in the past with properties like IPL will first be looking at trying out the product and stabilising it before experimenting with the language innovations, but it is on the cards. TNA will be available in both the SD as well as HD feeds.

     

    MSM COO N P Singh says: “Wrestling in India is huge as we have a very long wrestling tradition with Kushti and with our wrestlers performing and winning on international platforms; it has renewed interest in wrestling as a sport. TNA is an established brand and has been around for some time now, but it’s a brand that hasn’t received the kind of push that it deserves.”

    During their visit, Kurt and Gail will be a part of a variety of promotional events to seed the growth of wrestling in India. Setting a different pace to the stars visit, Six and TNA have taken an unconventional route to the tour by featuring the city of Lucknow as one of the pit stop in a promotional tour that will see them visit Mumbai, Lucknow and Delhi between 9 and 13 December.

    Krishnan adds: “The television side of the deal is just one side of it, our idea is to take the sport to the grass root levels and thus we will be touring Lucknow in the three city tour this coming week to reach out to the heartland of wrestling in India. Thus, we are just not investing in the brand as a business proposition but looking at the bigger picture.”

    The entire network will be used to promote the TNA brand very aggressively and one big initiative that it has taken is to get Kurt Angle to be a part of a popular show on Sab TV – Balveer – where the protagonist will be seen in a duel with the superstar. The network plans to capture the attention of all its GEC viewers through such initiatives and give the brand a heavy push.

    Besides TNA, the company is well known to exclusively broadcast some of the world’s largest as well as celebrated international sporting properties like The Pepsi IPL, UEFA EURO 2016, qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016 and the European qualifiers for FIFA World Cup 2018, The NBA and The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

  • “We will use the Indian jersey to promote all our brands” : STAR INDIA COO SANJAY GUPTA

    “We will use the Indian jersey to promote all our brands” : STAR INDIA COO SANJAY GUPTA

    Cricket – a game played on the greens with men in various colours battling it out with a bat and a cherry. And watched by billions of viewers worldwide. And the Rupert Murdoch-owned 21st Century Fox’s Indian arm Star India once again reaffirmed how much it is committed to  the game when the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that it had agreed to become the title sponsor of the men in blue for the next four years.

    It already has the television, internet and mobile broadcasting rights to domestic cricket, it made a lucrative offer to become an associate sponsor of the IPL, and is investing in different language streams of commentary and channels for the game, and what have you. Clearly, apart from entertainment, sport is coursing through the management’s veins in India.

    Indiantelevision.com’s Seema Singh spoke to Star India COO Sanjay Gupta on the reasons behind the sports drive, the title sponsorship of team India, the challenges that lie ahead in monetising all its investments.

    Excerpts: 

    What was the need to take the title sponsorship of the Indian cricket team? How many days of cricket will be played from 2014 to 2017?

    It is a very important sponsorship for us. Cricket helps build awareness of brands and associations and we are seeking value coming from both. It is a serious value that we see as a business and hence this sponsorship.  Broadcast right gives us the opportunity to put TV ads on air. What the Title Sponsorship gives us is the name on the jersey, which is a very different asset. So now we can put an ad and also logo on the jersey. So in my mind, the way we are using it is that the jersey will be used to make the Star brand more salient in our viewer’s minds. Approximately 100 or more matches will be played in this period.

    Are you planning on any innovation as compared to Sahara, the previous title sponsor?

    We believe that sport is an asset that can be used for building and marketing brands in a very effective way. This hasn’t been exploited so far in India, as compared to sports globally.

    Our aim is to reinvent sports and we spoke about this when we said ‘refresh sports.’ We thought of adding non-live content and we wanted to do it in Hindi.

    We would be using Star brands, and it could be Star Sports, Star Plus or Life OK, which could find its presence on the Indian jersey once our sponsorship commences. We would like to build our brand in a very effective way using this association.

    When Sahara sponsored the Indian team, it never put any money on television. But, we believe that the combination of putting money on television and sponsoring the jersey could be a great innovation to build stronger brands. We will get a multiplier with television.

    When the jersey has a Star Plus logo, viewers will also be informed about Star Plus shows and what the channel stands for.

    Are you allowed to change the cricketing gear as part of the title sponsorship deal?  If yes, are you looking at changing the look of the jersey?

    The jersey’s look is the call of BCCI.  Since we are the title sponsor, the jersey will now have our brand name. We are looking at using multiple brands on the jersey depending on the need. So we could start with Star Plus, and after a year think of putting Life OK’s logo on the jersey.

    With Star India banking getting its hands so deeply embedded in cricketing, there is a perception of a monopolistic setup coming into the picture?  Your take on that.

    In my mind, if I look at cricket content, it is very equitably distributed amongst all the three sports channels. So, while we have the BCCI content, Sony runs the IPL, which is the biggest cricket tournament. Besides this, Ten Sports has the rights to South Africa, West Indies and the Sri Lanka series.

    All the three brands have strong cricket content. This makes it interesting, since having cricket on all platforms makes it reach larger audience base and in turn builds sports in the country.

    Many feel that cricket is overvalued, then why is Star investing so much on the sports?

    In my mind, cricket is undervalued. If you see all pieces of content: drama, sports, news, Bollywood, the content which has the biggest affinity and reaches the largest audience is cricket. 64 crore people watched the sport last year, which is higher than any piece of content and this cuts across all regions and languages. So cricket according to me is not at all overvalued.

    Sports help build brands, not locally, but nationally. And most people who today look at building brands are looking nationally and not only in select states. Anybody who feels that cricket is overvalued and doesn’t have power, needs to see its power through its reach and the impact it has on consumers.


    I personally feel that the sports content has been limited to English language and a few people. So taking sports deeper into regional market is essential and this hasn’t been done so far.

    The biggest heroes are the cricketers of the country. They are young talented people, performing well. Investment in sports and cricket is justified.

    You can never get enough of good quality sports and content; viewers  will always want more.

    Will you be backing other sports and diversifying your sports portfolio?

    Yes! We want to. We think cricket is the main stake, but we are not a single sports nation. There is a large followership of football. We are investing in football and hockey in a big way. We are going ahead and investing in Hockey India League. We have already shown our intent in badminton, by sponsoring the Indian Badminton League. We will invest money in all sports.

    Cricket was the one sport where we were not the partners. Now we have invested in that as well.

    With India losing on foreign grounds, do you see that as a problem for your investment and viewership?

    No, I don’t. I have high level of confidence that both sport in general and cricket in particular, will have its following and deeper engagement. We have opportunity to perform better even outside and it is not that we haven’t performed. In England we did well. We performed well across best teams and across best seaming pitches. It is a phase in any team.  But fundamentally, I feel that Indian team is performing dramatically. The game of cricket has got deeper in this country. All these new cricketers are from smaller towns. Even younger generation now feels they can be a part of team. The coming in of IPL has just deepened that desire of becoming a part of the team.

    What is needed to monetise your investments in sports? Do you think digitisation will help? Even if it is not proceeding as smoothly as you expect? 

    I personally feel that the sports content has been limited to English language and a few people. So taking sports deeper into regional market is essential and this hasn’t been done so far. So to fortify sports we want to reach out to different regions and into other sports, beyond cricket. We want to make sports big for every member of the family.

    Monetisation of sports is a challenge, given there is very limited transparency in terms of numbers given by analogue distribution system. I think, with digitisation we are seeing that changing over the next few years.

    Yes, there is a challenge with the MSO vs LCO tussle. But, I am an optimist and I feel there will be a better tomorrow than what is today. Also I think the overall content and media market is growing so much that every stakeholder has a potential to earn and earn reasonably and in a fair way.

    So, I see a very fair distribution of income and every stakeholder: MSO, LCO, Broadcaster will earn a fair amount.  The reality is that of the 140 million cable TV homes, already 70 million are digital between DTH and cable, which is a big leap in two years time. This market is large and is growing fast. Though there are hiccups, I am confident that things will be better.

    Digitisation will ensure that every household is well connected with a transparent set top box, a measurement system which is more transparent and fair money will exchange hands. I don’t know if it will happen in couple of months, but I am sure that in the next three to five years, life will be dramatically different.

    But the time is limited between the sponsorship, the broadcast rights and digitisation. What if there is a mismatch? How will you recover investments?

    Our sponsorship is a way to build our brand.  We have an opportunity to make our brands bigger.  As far as the broadcast rights are concerned, we will work towards resolving issues on the ground and related to monetisation as we move forward. Yes, I agree there is a risk, but we believe there is a reasonable risk and hence the investment. 

    Is your associate sponsorship continuing for the IPL?  Also would you take the broadcast rights once the rights for Sony expires in 2017?

    We had taken the rights for three years. So it will continue for two more years.
    As for the broadcast rights, there is nothing definite right now. We have invested a lot of money in sports already and we would like to see some returns first, before we make up our mind if we want to invest more. The big question for us today is how to ensure that the big investments we have made start reaping results.
    Our commitment made in rights is close to Rs 20,000 crore. It is a huge bet. We need to now unlock value and how do we take content deeper and also invest in more sports.

    Are you seeing an uptick in Star India’s ad revenues?

    Overall the mood in the economy is not very buoyant and I think everybody this year has been very careful on where they are investing. However, as we move forward, people will look at building their brands, so they will spend on advertising as it helps build strong brands. We will have bilateral discussions with brands. We are excited about the future.

    Growth rate in this country will not be less than 4.5 to 5 per cent in the next few quarters. And it may get better depending on the policies, with the party coming to power.

    Star India is seeing a very healthy growth rate, much ahead of what the market is seeing. I think the market will in the next seven to nine months grow at 10-12 per cent and we are significantly ahead of that in terms of numbers.

    Is there scope for sports viewership to grow in India and what is the advertising revenue earned through this reach?

    The sports channel viewership is approximately 4 per cent in India, while that globally is 15 per cent. We think there is a scope for growth and Hindi and other regional language commentary will help achieve that growth in reach.  Of the total advertising revenue, sports amounts to 10 per cent revenue share. 

  • Ten Sports hits a six with India-SA series ad inventories

    Ten Sports hits a six with India-SA series ad inventories

    MUMBAI: So what if Indian cricket lovers are yet to recover from the loss of their God – Sachin Tendulkar?  Ten Sports is pulling out all the stops as the world’s best cricketing nation gets ready to battle with the world’s No 1 test team – South Africa.

    India’s great performance on the cricket field in almost every tournament recently has resulted in Ten Sports selling out almost 90 per cent of its inventory three days before the action starts with the Proteas. And it seems as if there’s a lot many more advertisers waiting to sign up in what is being billed as ‘Clash of the Titans.’

    Says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi: “Post the departure of Sachin from the national side, I feel this will be the true test of the young brigade that we have against the fierce pace attack of the South Africans in their backyard. We are looking at this series as speed vs skill and the feedback on social media has been really encouraging for this series.”

    Big names are associated with the tournament, what with Kent RO the title sponsor and iBall the co-presenting sponsor for the studio show; Micromax as co-presenting sponsor for the series along with associate sponsors Xolo, Vodafone, Havells, Go daddy, We Chat, Daikin, Tata Motors and ITC.

    We are targeting nearly Rs 120 crore in terms of ad revenues from this series, says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi

    Sethi further reveal that for the ODIs, ad slots have been sold at Rs 4.25 lakh for every ten seconds and for test matches, they’ve been sold at Rs 1.25 lakh for every ten seconds.

    “We are in a very comfortable position with just 10 per cent of our inventories remaining to be sold and with three days still remaining for the highly anticipated series to commence, we are planning on hiking the rates by 20 per cent.” he laughs. “We are targeting nearly Rs 120 crore in terms of ad revenues from this series and I am confident of hitting that mark.”

    The 360 degree marketing campaign has cost the channel nearly Rs 10 crore, which includes above the line (ATL) with a wide outdoor campaign as well as below the line (BTL) activities, with road shows in key cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. “Apart from this, we have also carried out an innovative campaign on the digital platform with a Hindi jingle that has gone viral on social platforms for the high octane series,” informs Sethi.

    Giving his perspective on the channel’s claim, Madison Media COO Karthik Laxminarayan says: “Big sporting events such as these generally sell out 80 per cent of their inventories and make the most of the remainder of the same. Ten Sports on its part has surely garnered a sizable amount for the series.”

    Madison Media COO Karthik Laxminarayan feels Ten Sports on its part has surely garnered a sizable amount in ad revenues for the series

    On Twitter, Ten Sports has over 43,850 followers while on Facebook, it has got 2.3 million likes with fans continuously interacting about the upcoming series.

    Between 5 and 30 December, the series will be shown live on Ten HD, Ten Cricket and Ten Sports. On Ten Sports, there is Hindi commentary while on Ten HD and Ten Cricket the ball by ball action will be narrated in English.

    Explains Sethi: “With the viewer becoming more and more demanding like any other nation, and rightfully so, there is a viewer base that is looking forward to Hindi commentary and then the usual English commentary feed. Thus, we are only trying to reach out and satisfy the needs of our viewers and keep everyone glued to the action being played out on their screens in the language of their preference.”

    Ten Sports has over 100 million viewers across the market, and will be sharing the telecast of the ODI series with the public broadcaster Doordarshan. Like the last India vs West Indies series, this series too is expected to grab eyeballs.

    “Each property has its own traction and there are different reasons for each event to have the kind of viewership it had, as we all know the main reason for the series being followed was the last two test matches of Sachin’s career; but having said that, with two of the best in the sport locking horns on the field and with the injection of fresh blood in the Indian squad, cricket lovers are surely in for a treat,” Sethi signs off.

  • Sachins farewell frenzy works in favour of Star Sports

    Sachins farewell frenzy works in favour of Star Sports

    MUMBAI: He isn’t called the God of cricket for no reason. Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar certainly has some supremacy that creates magic. His farewell test match has emerged as the highest rated test match on television in India in the last eight years. According to the TAM ratings provided by the channel, the match garnered 1739 average TVTs (TG: C&S 15+, M, SEC ABC) that remains unmatched since 2005.

     

    The two test matches in the India-West Indies series were telecast on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD1 in English, while Star Sports 3 showcased the match in Hindi. Star Sports network channels together had the maximum channel share across all genres during the six days when the test series was on in terms of overall TVTs generated during the day.

     

    Even online, the Sachin frenzy worked well for the Network. The series was also streamed live on www.starsports.com that attracted 3.5 million unique visitors during the two matches of the India West Indies test series. A Sachin Memory Project that captured Sachin’s 24 years with videos and stories was also launched on the website and has received rave reviews with many regarding it as the best salutation to the cricketer.

     

    The series along with the 360-degree marketing campaign launched around it has made the Star Sports brand really big. Its campaigning involved interesting programming, innovative production, disruptive marketing to add buzz around the maestro’s farewell series. The network also launched three high quality programs to engage deeper with the cricket fans.

     

    Besides, a distinctive “Cheer for Sachin” campaign featuring stars from Bollywood, cricket and television stars calling Sachin fans to cheer ‘Sachin Sachin’ was also popular. Many other on-ground activities were also initiated to make the test series memorable for fans who came together to watch the maestro in action.

     

    Star India head of sports business Nitin Kukreja said, “We are delighted with the ratings. We are humbled that maestro’s farewell series was played on our network and wanted to give him a befitting farewell. I am happy to note that cricket fans have appreciated our efforts. Our strategic investment in the Hindi language feed over the past year or so is now paying us huge dividends. We will continue in our endeavor to promote sports culture in the country.”

  • RCB signs a deal with Spoment Ventures

    RCB signs a deal with Spoment Ventures

    BANGALURU: To make itself a 365-day brand rather than one that is in the limelight just for 45 days, the IPL franchise – Royal Challengers Bangalore – has brought on board specialist sports management agency, Spoment Ventures, a Singapore headquartered agency that focuses on sports and entertainment business.

     

    The first property under the new deal has already been rolled out as RCB Corporate Cricket Championship, which will have many innovations that will differentiate it from other corporate matches. The final of the tournament will be played at the famed Chinnaswamy Stadium. To give the tournament an edge over others, one RCB player can be substituted for semi finals and finals.

     

    Spoment plans to make it an annual property which will keep growing in stature and size every year. This time, the trump card or super sub is legendary spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan. Corporate teams will have the right to use Muralitharan for one over during the match if they wish.

     

    Spoment director Ashok Karanth said in a release, “To make RCB a 365-day brand, we will create numerous properties to engage with corporate audiences, youth and families using sports lifestyle as a platform.”

     

    The agency is also studying the ticketing and corporate hospitality business model of RCB to help the team increase its revenues from the operations.

     

    It seems the IPL teams don’t want to lose out on any front and thus they have already started creating the buzz before the next IPL season kicks off.

  • Uday Shankar honours Sachin with Star Sports Believe trophy

    Uday Shankar honours Sachin with Star Sports Believe trophy

    MUMBAI: Star India CEO Uday Shankar presented the first Star Sports ‘Believe’ trophy to master blaster Sachin Tendulkar at the post presentation ceremony of India’s second test against West Indies in Mumbai.

    ee Coin’ on the top of stumps alongside bails. This is inspired by the real childhood story of Sachin Tendulkar who sparkled under the tutelage of coach Ramakant Achrekar. It is common knowledge that Achrekar used an interesting strategy to inspire Sachin- he would put a one-rupee coin on the top of the stumps when Sachin used to bat in the nets. Any bowler who dismissed him would be rewarded with the coin; however the coach would hand over this coin to Sachin himself if he passed the whole session without getting dismissed. This remarkable way of rewarding ensured that Sachin kept a very high prize on his wicket throughout his career.

     

    Uday Shankar presenting the first Star Sports Believe Trophy to Sachin Tendulkar

     

    Star Sports’ new network’s campaign urges India to ‘Believe’ with an aim to inspire the hero in each and every Indian.

  • Ten Sports readies to dribble with Junior Hockey World Cup

    Ten Sports readies to dribble with Junior Hockey World Cup

    MUMBAI: Right now, the nation is moaning about the retirement of Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar. Clearly, the focus is on cricket and punters are betting that his farewell test is going to notch up never before heard of ratings.

     

    But wait, here’s a channel which is hoping to take the viewership of hockey – another national passion  (until cricket took over) –  up a few notches as it readies for a blast which is going to hit the air waves in the next 10 days. Ten Sports, which is the official broadcaster of the Hero Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup 2013 says it is going to unleash a promotional blitzkrieg for it. To be held in Delhi from 6-15 December, it features 16 national teams and will be played out at the Major Dhyanchand National Stadium, New Delhi.

     

    “We are building up a strategy to make hockey really big. We know that the sport has huge potential to catch up with cricket as it has the same energy and vigour,” says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi, adding that the promotional strategy includes going big on social media to build the buzz for the tournament.

     

    Commentary is going to primarily be in English unlike rival Star Sports which normally telecasts hockey with Hindi commentary.

     

    In fact it’s not just Junior Hockey World Cup, the channel, which also has a right to broadcast the Hockey World Cup that will be played in Netherlands in May-June 2014, the Commonwealth Games, Glasgow (23 July- 3 August, 2014), and 2014 Asian Games (September-October 2014) scheduled to be held in South Korea, is planning a huge build up for all these spectacles from now onwards.

     

    “Hockey forms a big chunk of all these games. With the telecast of the Junior World Cup, we will start building up an environment for the sport,” says Sethi, who is closing on some “big advertising deals” for the tournament very soon.

     

    According to sources, the channel is also planning to rope in a well-known person as the brand ambassador to promote the tournament.

     

    Rival channels are not too disturbed by Ten Sports push.

     

    Says one of them: “Ten Sports has a long term agreement with International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the way we try to make all our events big, even they will do that. There’s really no need for us to be troubled because of that. The sport has its loyal audience; hopefully Ten Sports’ push will expand the viewership. The entire sports industry in India wants other sports to develop viewership so that our dependency on cricket can reduce.”

     

    All league matches featuring India will be played in prime time slot at 8:00 pm, beginning 6 December. Should the GECs be worried?

  • Starsports.com and Twitter join hands

    Starsports.com and Twitter join hands

    MUMBAI: Starsports.com and Twitter have evolved their ongoing strategic partnership. Twitter users will now be able to directly view Starsports.com videos in-stream, without leaving Twitter. This is a first of its kind integration for a TV brand in India.

     

    This is yet another step forward for the broadcaster to create a stronger sports experience on digital. As part of the partnership, whenever a link to Starsports.com is tweeted, Twitter users on mobile will have the option to download the Starsports.com App. Earlier this year, @starsportsindia also became one of the first ‘handles’ that viewers could follow through Twitter’s SMS service and choose to receive tweets from the account as texts. Star Sports also regularly leads innovative broadcast integration of Twitter to fuel social TV experiences, as has been evidenced during this year’s Women’s Cricket World Cup, Super Fight League, BCCI International matches where fans have been encouraged to follow, tweet and more.

     

    Twitter India market director Rishi Jaitly said, “Twitter is the world’s leading, real-time information network where users consume content that is live, public, conversational and mobile. In India, Twitter has brought our users closer to the best of national and international sport. We applaud Starsports.com for embracing the Twitter platform in this way.”

     

    World over, sports is a key driver of social conversations. The strategic partnership with Twitter is a step in transforming the sports landscape on social media. Starsports.com was launched in June creating India’s first multi-sport destination on digital, with a live video experience that gives the fan complete control of his viewing experience, including a video timeline that allows him the ability to watch exciting moments of the game in an easy and intuitive fashion. Starsport’s launch campaign hashtag #GetOverTV trended worldwide during its launch, establishing Twitter as a key medium to engage with its core followers. The network’s handle @starsportsindia, which was started earlier this year, already has close to 1.5 lakh followers. It is amongst the most influential accounts in media in the country.

     

    Star India head of digital business Ajit Mohan said in a release, “Starsports.com is the leading multi-sports destination on digital in India. We are keen to continue to engage the most ardent sports fans in the country and our partnership with Twitter is a continuation of that commitment. Making these videos available for easy consumption will dramatically improve the nature of the social conversation around sports in India.”

     

    The in-stream video service will be first rolled out for videos that form a part of the Sachin Memory Project – a unique initiative by Starsports.com to commemorate the little master’s retirement. Over a 100 curated videos dating back to the 1980s will be made available as part of this initiative on a timeline that marks how his career has evolved, even as the world changed around him.

  • Final Ind vs Aus ODI garners unprecedented viewership

    Final Ind vs Aus ODI garners unprecedented viewership

    MUMBAI: Beginning today everyone will be glued to their television screens to witness one of the biggest cricketing moment in history. This will be the last time that cricket fans will get to see the master blaster – Sachin Tendulkar – don the Indian colours.

     

    But, that’s not all – cricket as a sport has always been followed as a religion in this culturally diverse nation. The latest viewership numbers that the seventh and final ODI played between India and Australia witnessed proves it.

     

    The last ODI between India and Australia emerged as the highest rated single day TV event in India for the year 2013. According to data provided by Star Sports, the match garnered 55,561 TVTs (CS 15+, M, SEC ABC, All India ) which remains unmatched on Indian television across all genres this year. It also recorded highest time spent per viewer (TSV) across ODIs in 2013 with 101 minutes on both Hindi and English commentary feed on Star Sports channels.

     

    The recently concluded Star Sports India vs Australia ODI series 2013 was watched by almost 43 per cent of the C&S homes.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Star India head of sports business Nitin Kukreja said, “We are delighted with the viewer traction for the series. There is an upswing of almost 18 per cent in average time spent per viewer per match for the India-Australia ODI series as compared to all India ODIs played in the year 2013.  We are pleased to note the stickiness that Hindi commentary has been able to generate in the HSM markets. This is a clear cut vindication of our strategy of promoting choice of language for the consumer.”

     

    Sports broadcaster Star Sports had launched a high-decibel campaign, with the core theme ‘Fight for No 1’; to promote the India Australia series featuring seven ODIs and a T20 match. The high profile series commenced on 10 October and ended on 2 November, just two days before Diwali.
    ODI 4 and 5 of the series were impacted by rain. India won the hard fought contest 3-2 thereby retaining the number one ranking in the ICC ODI Rankings.