ITV

Tag: Cricket World Cup

  • Zee Kannada supports Men in Blue through signature campaign

    Zee Kannada supports Men in Blue through signature campaign

    Bangalore: Team India will appreciate all the support it can get. If the initiative is as novel as Zee Kannada’s signature campaign it will also bring in more cheer.

    The channel is launching a unique handkerchief signature campaign to support Indian players in the forthcoming Cricket World Cup.

    The campaign will be launched on Thursday 22 February with the first handkerchief being signed by Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra.

    The Zee Kannada team will travel across the state and put up collection boxes at select locations like schools, colleges, orphanages and institutes for the disabled, malls and coffee shops. People have to sign wishes on their hankies and drop it off in the collection boxes.

    Fans can also SMS or email their messages to the channel.

    All the handkerchiefs received will be tied together to form the biggest ever chain of signed handkerchiefs which will be handed over to the Indian Cricket team before the start of the tournament.

  • SET Discovery targets Rs 4.5 billion in FY07 on back of World Cup

    SET Discovery targets Rs 4.5 billion in FY07 on back of World Cup

    MUMBAI: Riding high on the ICC cricket World Cup wave, SET Discovery expects to garner a revenue of Rs 4.5 billion in 2006-07. This would mean a growth of 40 per cent in a tight subscription market with cable operators resisting any big increase in payouts to broadcasters.

    “SET Discovery is targeting a total income of Rs 4.5 billion in 2006-07. This will include for the first time income from direct-to-home (DTH) which should be contributing eight per cent of the overall kitty,” says a source in the industry who is close to the company.

    SET Discovery signed a contract with DTH service provider Dish TV in June 2006 and subsequently with Tata Sky.
    When contacted, SET Discovery president Anuj Gandhi declined to talk on the financials of the company. “We had set an aggressive target this year and we are going to hit it,” he said.

    Despite a slide in Sony TV’s ratings, analysts say SET Discovery’s growth in the fiscal would be greatly helped by a rich lineup of cricketing properties that include ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC World Cup.

    SET Discovery’s revenue stayed flat in 2004-05 but rose 15 per cent to Rs 3.2 billion last fiscal as it added Ten Sports in its distribution bouquet. Sony signed a distribution deal with the sports channel which has key cricket properties that include the Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies boards.

  • Max gears up for the cricket World Cup

    Max gears up for the cricket World Cup

    MUMBAI: With seven weeks to go before the biggest sports event of the year the cricket World Cup kicks off Max is gearing up to create buzz around the event.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com Max business head Sneha Rajani says that Extraaa Innings the wrap around show kicks off at 5 pm on each match day. Since matches get over in the wee hours of the morning the pre show will start with a review of the previous match with the expert panel.

    It will then go on to previewing the upcoming match. This time around some matches will also air on the English movie channel Pix in case Max and Sab cannot accomodate them. Besides the first couple of Extraaa Innings Charu Sharma and Mandira Bedi the channel has commentators like Geoffrey Boycott, former Indian cricket coach John Wright who will provide an insider’s touch, Barry Richards and Ian Chappell. Max is also in the process of finding someone to send to the West Indies to join its commentary team with its Host Ka Dost hunt.

    Max has kicked off promotional activity for the World Cup with an on air campaign. The message is that one world will be converging in the West Indies to watch the event.

    The campaign is feel good and light in the spirit of the Caribbean which is known for its relaxed, fun atmosphere. From Friday a series of countdown spots will air to build anticipation. Rajani adds that no cricketers have been used. There will be calypso music to give viewers a feel of the upcoming event.

    On the ground the channel will conduct a roadshow next month. A van will visit 150 cities in a bid to get fans to express their support for the boys in blue. The winning placard will be sent to the Indian team. Rajani conceedes that the fact that matches finish late might impact viewing particularly for the non India games. The hope is that the matches will be involving enough so that viewers do not mind going to bed late even if the likes of Saurav and Sachin are not involved.

    The World Cup will be used to push Indian Idol 3 which is expected to kick off sometime in the May – June period on Sony. It will also push Max’s blockbusters which will kick off from May. Key shows on Sony and Sab will also be pushed.

  • ESPN Star wins ICC global telecast rights

    ESPN Star wins ICC global telecast rights

    MUMBAI: In what was virtually a come-from-behind victory, ESPN Star Sports has walked away with the audio-visual rights for International Cricket Council (ICC) conducted events for the next eight years from late 2007 to 2015.

    A statement issued by the ICC announcing the winner said, “The decision was a unanimous one, taken by the ICC Board in Dubai on Saturday, and the ICC will now seek to reach final agreement with ESPN STAR Sports.”

    The ICC statement was silent on what the “final figure on the agreement” was, other than to say that it was “significantly in excess of the ICC’s previous commercial deal The previous agreement with the Global Cricket Corporation (GCC), included sponsorship rights as well as the audio-visual component and was worth $550 million for the years 2000 to 2007.

    ESS, which had only made a territory bid covering the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East in the first round, upped the ante in the second and final round of tenders on Thursday, putting in a global bid and beating out Harish Thawani’s Nimbus, as well as separate tenders made by Zee and its recent acquisition Ten Sports. Ten Sports’ bid was made in partnership with sports marketing agency Infront.

    As far as how the bids stacked up in the end, ESS’ winning punt was $ 1.1 billion, well ahead of Nimbus bid of $ 900 million, sources in Dubai close to the developments have told Indiantelevision.com. As for Zee and Ten Sports, their bids were in the region of $ 850 million and $ 825 million respectively.

    A point of note is that other than Nimbus, all the bidders had upped their tender values in the second round. ESS, as already mentioned, hadn’t even put in a global bid in the earlier round. Zee’s earlier bid was reportedly $ 620 million, while in the case of Ten Sports-Infront, it was said to be $ 750 million.

    Included in the eight-year period of the ICC rights ESS has acquired are 18 ICC tournaments with two World Cups, in Asia (2011) and Australasia (2015), and a minimum of three Champions Trophy tournaments.

    Also included are the first two Twenty20 World Championships, in South Africa (2007) and England (2009), the latter taking place in the ICC’s centenary year.

    Then there are Cricket World Cup qualifiers, four ICC U/19 Cricket World Cups, and, for the first time, the Women’s Cricket World Cup, with two tournaments scheduled for 2009 (Australia) and 2013 (India) in the eight-year timeframe.

    ESS managing director Jamie Davis said,“This acquisition affirms our commitment to the Indian subcontinent and the world and we are absolutely delighted to bring the exciting lineup of ICC Events to millions of cricket fans globally.”

    IS Bindra, the former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president and India’s representative at the meeting, said: “This deal is good for the game and it shows cricket is growing.”
    One aspect that comes out of all this is that Sony Entertainment Television India, the incumbent ICC rights holder for the Indian subcontinent, has closed the chapter on its sports telecast ambitions, at least for the foreseeable future.

    As for ESPN Star, it has now reasserted its dominance of the sports broadcast arena, particularly in India in what has become a three sports network market – ESS, Zee Sports-Ten Sports and Nimbus’ Neo Sports.

  • ‘What we need to do now is concentrate on our week day prime time band’ : Sneha Rajani – Max business head

    ‘What we need to do now is concentrate on our week day prime time band’ : Sneha Rajani – Max business head

    It has been an eventful time for Max. It recently aired the champions Trophy. Having successfully shored up its share on the weekend due to its focus on Sunday, it is now concentrating on strengthening its week day prime time band. It is also putting together plans for next year’s cricket World Cup.

    Indiantelevision.com’s Ashwin Pinto caught up with Max business head Sneha Rajani for a quick chat. She recently took over from former head Albert Almeida who was tapped to head Sony.

    Excerpts:

    Firstly, could you talk about the push given to The Champions Trophy by Max?
    If you look at the, ratings you will see that once again cricket on Max has delivered higher ratings than on any other channel. This started four years back. The non-India match ratings have been a revelation. It has been the highest since the World Cup. Our ratings were certainly helped by the buzz that Extraaa Innings bought and the innovations we did.

    Some advertisers I spoke to were not too happy. Do you feel there would be some cooling off in the next edition of the event?
    One grouse is that a lot of the matches including the final finished way too early. I think the advertisers are smart enough to understand that its in nobody’s hand whether the game ends before 100 overs or goes on till the end. This Champions Trophy has been fascinating from a cricket point of view as it has been unpredictable. When you have a high scoring game you have an idea of who will win and lose. Here dodgy totals kept viewers in suspense. It could swing either way. This is why the non-India ratings were more than what was achieved in 2004. So I don’t think it would in any way effect the next year’s Trophy.

    A lot of matches did not last 100 overs as it was a bowlers tournament?
    Matches ending early is in nobody’s hand. As an advertiser, if you decide not to put money the next time around in 2008 because of this and most matches last 100 overs it will be a lost opportunity. You cannot pre-empt anything.

    What is Max’s game plan going to be to build up buzz and anticipation ahead of the World Cup?
    We tailor our campaigns around where an event is happening. The campaign is always skewed to reflect the country a tournament is being played in. So when the Champions Trophy was in Sri Lanka it had a sub continental feel to it. In England we incorporated the stiff and proper mannerism into our campaign.

    In India we did the Shaadi campaign to emphasize the spectacle. Everything was shown as larger than life and melodramatic. Now when we go to the West Indies the campaign will be around beaches, sun and sand. It will have a carnival atmosphere.

    You are doing a ‘Host ka Dost’ hunt. What are the logistics involved to find someone to go the West Indies?
    This initiative is being done in collaboration with Reliance. It is a hunt for someone who’ll be part of the Extraaa Innings team for the World Cup and other cricket that we may have.

    If one is selected from the call they would be asked to come for an audition at Reliance Webworld, where they have to give a two to three minutes performance in front of the camera. There will be five finalists who would be further shortlisted by public voting. At present we are just at the call stage. We should wrap this up by the second week of January.
    ‘Matches ending early is in nobody’s hand. As an advertiser, if you decide not to put money in 2008 because of this and most matches last 100 overs it will be a lost opportunity‘

    What are the big properties that Max has lined up for now till March?
    We signed some big movies recently. Fanaa is coming up as a weekend premiere. We also have Apna Sapna Money Money. January and February 2007 is where big titles will be shown. In terms of thematic blocks right now we have a King Khan festival.

    Certainly having a theme block associated with a star brings in loyalty. We will also have a comedy festival lined up for December.

    How do you push the non-blockbusters?
    It’s simple. We market and promote them in a way that has not been done before. It is all about the buzz you create – old wine in a new bottle. On air promotions are a key. You find a key moment that defines a film and you push that. We had a movie called Nayak, which tanked at the box office. It has delivered tremendous ratings for us though.

    In the past you focussed heavily on Sunday with housefull and then the blockbuster at 1 pm. How did this help grow your share over the weekend?
    Our reach has grown by 20 per cent. A 12-hour slot delivers an average of 1+. We will continue to focus on Sundays as well as festivals that happen once in a month. What we need to do now is concentrate on our week day prime time band. The evening slots are fine. The afternoon band is doing well where we have a block for women.

    My job is to strengthen the Monday – Friday prime time band from 9 pm. There will be a mix of titles. We have 36 China Town, Golmaal.

    What libraries were recently acquired?
    To name a few we have acquired Sajid Nadiawalla’s library, Yash Chopra’s library and Ramesh Behls library recently. Our library is over 1000+.

    What are the changes that have happened in the acquisitions process in the past couple of years?
    We have always focussed on acquiring the top five to six films in a year and that will stay. The scenario has changed with more players. More buyers for the same product means that the pricing has become buoyant. Competition is good and It keeps us on our toes.

    One big change that has happened, especially in the past year is that films are acquired before their theatrical release. This is a risk that all broadcasters are taking. This was not the case earlier on. Then it was more staid. You now go by track records in buying films pre-release. We just presume that a certain star cast with so and so director and producer should be doing well.

    If you go with established producers you should be fine. Sony has great relationships with them. Shaadi Se Pehle was a title that we bought pre release. The acquisition process is very organised. The producers are fairly realistic, they know which film is to be priced at one crore and which at 10 crores.

    How important are dubbed Hollywood films?
    Extremely! We launched Hollywood Hungama two and a half years back. It is one of the most loyal slots on our channel. Each year we acquire 25-30 titles.

    You had in the past done the innovation of the onebreak film. What further innovations can we expect to boost viewer loyalty?
    It worked for us initially and then it did not. Viewers got worried that why is the channel not having a break. They might feel that one ad break equates to a channel not doing well. They are conditioned to having breaks in between a film. Also we had a lot of ads on our plate to schedule. The one ad break did not prove to be economically viable.

    We keep looking at innovations that will surprise people. In this Champions Trophy we had huge cut-outs of Mandira Bedi and Virendra Sehwag at Mahim. We will do some wrap around programming on films and we are also looking at an innovation during our ad breaks. We do outdoors on special occasions, like for Lucky we had done an outdoor and we might do it for Fanaa too.

    Are you also looking at new formats like chat shows, news related film specials to add variety or is there too much of this already on Indian television?
    No! We already have Sony and Sab for this kind of content. We have a news show Current Bollywood but we will not be adding to this.

    New media segment is growing in importance in terms of mobile and the internet. What can we expect from Max in this regard?
    We did a lot of mobile activity for the Champions Trophy. It was very interactive. We offered movie trivia on the mobile and did contests as well. Clips we do not offer as the rights belong to either a mobile firm or a producer. Whether we go beyond will be an a decision that will be taken as an organisation and not as a channel. We won’t rule it out though. On the net right now Max site basically offers film information.

    One way that Max has separated itself in cricket has been through personalities like Mandira Bdei. Are you planning to extend this association further through the film platform?
    We already do this. She used to anchor Extraaa Shots which was a wrap around show for our films. Manish Vanicha is now anchoring the show. He is now doing stuff on cricket. So while Mandira moved from a cricket anchor to a film anchor Manish did the opposite. Next year you will see more personalities.

    Besides cricket and films what other events is Max looking at over the next few months?
    We have the Max Stardust awards coming up. We have been doing that for the last two years. I would say that it was the best looking awards show last year. Concerts air across the network.

    Could you talk about how your client portfolio has grown as well as ad rates?
    In the last year our client base has grown by 25 per cent. I am not in a position to talk about revenues or increase in ad rates.