ITV

Tag: 2018 FIFA World Cup

  • 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia continues to deliver with over 117 million viewers tuning in to the greatest show on earth on Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN)

    2018 FIFA World Cup Russia continues to deliver with over 117 million viewers tuning in to the greatest show on earth on Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN)

    MUMBAI: The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia continues to surpass expectations for football viewership in India in its second week. The tournament that was telecast live on SONY TEN 2, SONY TEN 3 and SONY ESPN channels and live streamed on SonyLIV app & website, garnered over 117 million viewers across 26 matches played in the first nine days of the tournament.

    Key Viewership Highlights for the first nine days of the tournament:

    The total cumulative reach of the event on our network is 117.3 million viewers. (BARC, All India, CS2+, LIVE matches + wraparound shows + highlights + repeats + surround programming of FIFA World Cup, SPN Sports Network, SonlyLIV)
    99.3 million viewers watched the World Cup on TV and over 18 million viewers live streamed it on SonyLIV 
    Top markets in terms of reach for LIVE matches on TV
    West Bengal – 14.8 mn
    Kerala – 14.5 mn
    North East – 8.4 mn
    Maharashtra – 7.1 mn
    Female viewership has contributed to 46% of the reach of the tournament (BARC, All India, CS2+, LIVE matches, SPN Sports Network)
    Local language feeds (Hindi + Malayalam + Bengali + Tamil + Telugu) have contributed to 46% of the overall viewership (BARC, All India, CS2+, LIVE matches, SPN Sports Network)
    Regional commentary: 6.8 million viewers in Kerala sampling Malayalam commentary and 5.4 million viewers in West Bengal sampling Bengali commentary
    Interest runs high for the tournament in rural markets, with 41% of the total reach coming from rural India (BARC, All India, CS2+, LIVE matches, SPN Sports Network)
    The Germany vs Mexico match telecast on June 17 at 8.30 pm is the most watched match of the tournament so far with 7 million impressions (BARC, All India, CS2+, SPN Sports Network)
    Average viewership for prime-time games (8.30 pm and 9.30 pm) has been 4.8 million impressions
    TVS: Each viewer has spent an average of 145 mins on the tournament in the first nine days.

  • AsiaSat to launch UHD broadcast initiative in Asia

    AsiaSat to launch UHD broadcast initiative in Asia

    MUMBAI: Satellite operator Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (AsiaSat) is planning to deploy Asia’s first dedicated Ultra HD (UHD) broadcast platform in the next few months.

     

    Initially using a C-band transponder on AsiaSat 4 at 122°E, the UHD platform, based on DVB- S2 and HEVC solutions, will be able to deliver two – five full time UHD channels. Transmissions will be in a free to air format, available for reception by terrestrial TV stations, pay TV platforms and home viewers across Asia which possess appropriate decoding equipment and a C-band antenna as small as 2.4 meters.

     

    AsiaSat president and CEO William Wade said, “UHD is gaining momentum in Asia with UHD TV sets readily available and affordable. However, there is still a lack of UHD content and consumer receivers in Asia. AsiaSat is proud to play a key role in UHD content delivery in Asia with the launch of this new UHD broadcast platform. We are committed to working closely with content and technology partners to make the delivery economics work for UHD broadcasting in this part of the world.”

     

    “The adoption of UHD will continue to be driven by consumers’ increasing demand for improved picture quality for sports and movies. Upcoming major sporting events such as the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and the 2018 FIFA World Cup are expected to be key drivers for the adoption of UHD. We look forward to supporting the UHD transmissions of these events on AsiaSat 4 and our future AsiaSat 9 satellite that is designed to meet the higher throughput requirements of UHD broadcasting,” he added.

     

    “As Asia’s premier satellite operator for over 25 years, AsiaSat has always strived to be at the forefront of advancing satellite communications. We are well positioned to work with our partners to introduce more exciting TV services to Asia,” Wade further said.

     

    The UHD Research Laboratory was established at AsiaSat’s Tai Po Earth Station in Hong Kong. This initiative is aimed at promoting and incubating the reception of UHD content under the AsiaSat footprint. The Lab is tasked to evaluate UHD solutions including the technical compatibility of satellite reception and transmission, playout and compression technologies, as well as content providers. Over the past few months, tests were successfully conducted on various HEVC encoding equipment, including off-air and real-time transcoding of channels at various bit rates.