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Tag: Disney Star

  • BCCI implements e-auction to determine future value of bilateral cricket engagements

    BCCI implements e-auction to determine future value of bilateral cricket engagements

    Mumbai: The BCCI is all set to  conduct an e-auction today for Team India’s home matches during the 2023-28 cycle.

    The BCCI has decided to sell digital and TV rights separately. The collective base price for TV and digital has been pegged at Rs 45 crore per match. According to media reports, the BCCI is expecting a minimum of Rs 60 crore per match from the media rights auction.

    The reserve price for digital is higher at Rs 25 crore per match, while it is Rs 20 crore per match for TV. In both IPL and ICC media rights auctions, digital valuation went marginally over TV.

    The three bidders, Disney Star, Viacom18, and Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), are hoping to once again relax their financial restraints.

    Disney Star was once more in the thick of things when the ICC (International Cricket Council) later auctioned off its rights for four years, purchasing the rights for $3.03 billion.

    After that, it made the decision to keep solely the digital rights and sublicensed the TV rights for almost $1.4 billion to Zee Entertainment Enterprises.

  • Disney Star onboards 18 sponsors for the Asia Cup 2023

    Disney Star onboards 18 sponsors for the Asia Cup 2023

    Mumbai: The stage is set for an exhilarating cricketing spectacle as the Asia Cup 2023 approaches, and Disney Star, the official broadcaster, has onboarded a total of 18 sponsors for the upcoming tournament across Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar. The sponsors include renowned brands such as Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Glow & Lovely from HUL, Surf Excel, Jindal Panther, BPCL, My11Circle, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Amul, Maruti, Berger, McEnroe, Thums Up, Amazon Pay, MRF, Policy Bazaar, Tira from Reliance Retail and ICICI PRU MF.

    “Cricket fever is at an all-time high as sports fans across India wait in anticipation to watch the ‘Men In Blue’ in action at the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. Brands across categories are equally excited and have come forward to collaborate with Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar to further their business objectives and get closer to millions of fans. We are thrilled with the positive response received for the Asia Cup and are looking forward to delivering an unmatched cricketing experience across both TV and Digital,” said Disney Star head of network – ad sales Ajit Varghese.

    As excitement for the Asia Cup reaches its peak, Disney Star’s resolute dedication to delivering exceptional content and memorable experiences remains unwavering.  The collaboration with these prestigious sponsors underscores the network’s dedication to delivering an exciting and immersive tournament for cricket fans.

    Both Star Sports and Disney+ Hostar recently unveiled their campaigns for the tournament, which have further notched up the buzz for the marquee cricket event. Additionally, the country is waiting in anticipation to watch the ‘greatest rivalry’ unfurl between India vs Pakistan, which will present a golden opportunity for brands to reach an unparalleled audience across the country.

    The Asia Cup 2023 is set to take place from 30 August to 17 September and the tournament will be broadcasted live on Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar.

  • BCCI media rights auction set to commence on 31 August

    BCCI media rights auction set to commence on 31 August

    Mumbai: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is all set to have an auction on 31 August 2023, for the media rights of international and domestic matches for the upcoming five-year cycle. A few weeks ago, the BCCI released an Invitation to Tender (ITT) seeking proposals from reputable organisations.

    The ITT, which was made available after payment of a non-refundable fee of Rs 15,00,000 along with applicable GST, included the specific rules and regulations regarding the tender process, including eligibility requirements, the method for submitting bids, rights and obligations, etc. The ITT was up for grabs until 25 August 2023.

    For the new cycle, the BCCI is offering two packages: Indian subcontinent TV rights and Indian subcontinent digital rights, both of which are bundled with the remainder of the world’s TV and digital rights. The television bundle has a starting price of Rs 20 crore per match, however, the digital package commences at Rs 25 crore per match. It has also been mentioned that the total amount per match must not be less than Rs 60 crore per game. The upcoming cycle includes a total of 88 games.

    Only three companies have reportedly submitted technical proposals for the BCCI media rights – Disney Star, Sony Sports Network, and Viacom18.

    According to media reports, other entities such as ZEE Entertainment Enterprises and FanCode, as well as two other international corporations, Google and Amazon are not believed to have participated. As a result, the highly anticipated media rights auction for international and domestic fixtures in India will be a three-way fight between Sony and Star, and Viacom18.

  • Nodwin Gaming and Star Sports announce BGMI season 2 with Rooter as the digital streaming partner

    Nodwin Gaming and Star Sports announce BGMI season 2 with Rooter as the digital streaming partner

    Mumbai: NODWIN Gaming, one of the world’s leading emerging market gaming and esports media company, in association with Star Sports, India’s leading sports broadcaster, has announced the highly anticipated return of India’s biggest esports tournament, BGMI Masters Series.  Building upon its record-shattering success in season 1, the upcoming season 2 of the BGMI Masters Series which kicks off on August 4, will feature 24 teams, and offer one of the highest-ever prize pools of INR 2.1 crore (over USD 250K) for a non-publisher event. 

    Among the 24 teams, 14 esports outfits will be invited directly, while the remaining 10 spots are to be earned by the victors from the Open Qualifier where anyone in India can participate. The high-octane live broadcast of the BGMI Masters Series Season 2 will kick off at 9:30 pm on the Star Sports Network and Rooter. 

    The television broadcast of the inaugural season of the BGMI Masters Series (2022) was a tremendous success, garnering over 36 million viewers over the course of the tournament. In celebration of that success, BGMI Masters Series Season 2 will be broadcast on Star Sports in three different languages – Hindi, English, and Tamil. This initiative undertaken by NODWIN Gaming, and Star Sports aims to connect core esports with viewers from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds, making esports content more inclusive and appealing to a broader audience. Beyond the regular broadcast, Star Sports has also announced additional programming to provide viewers with a distinctive and enriching esports experience, setting the popular sports network as a key destination for BGMI enthusiasts. 

    Commenting on the new season of the BGMS Masters Series, NODWIN Gaming co-founder & managing editor, Akshat Rathee said, “Last year, we took a bold and historical leap of faith by airing the BGMI Masters Series on primetime television with our partners Star Sports. That leap turned out to be an incredible success, revolutionizing the esports ecosystem and transforming how esports is traditionally consumed in India. BGMS season 2 doubles down on our commitment to bringing the epitome of BGMI esports to the masses. We have a larger prize pool, larger participation base, and larger distribution with all our partners. We are sure that this year we will amaze you with the games, the production, and the passion only our community can bring. Remember to tune in with your family!”

    Speaking about the upcoming season, Disney Star head – sports, Sanjog Gupta said, “Esports is a rapidly emerging category, fueled by the growing gaming culture in India and the global acknowledgement of its status as a sport. The first season of the BGMI Masters’ series, in partnership with NODWIN Gaming, was positioned as the pinnacle tournament for the game in India and demonstrated the potential of a world-class esports competition staged at an elevated scale. Over 36 million viewers tuned in for the first season on TV with more than 40% below the age of 21. Encouraged by the results, we believe that this endeavor – BGMI Masters – will excite the gaming community, drive wider acceptance for esports among non-gamers, and overall, engage a younger demographic on our platforms.”

    The digital broadcast of the Masters Series 2022 followed suit with the television broadcasts’ record-breaking performance and surpassed the 100 million viewership milestone, setting a new record in the history of Indian esports. For the upcoming BGMI Masters Series Season 2, NODWIN Gaming has announced its partnership with India’s biggest gaming and esports content platform Rooter as the championship’s digital streaming partner. Rooter’s expertise in delivering sharply crafted streaming experiences and an extensive distribution ecosystem across Android, iOS, web, and connected TV, will contribute to NODWIN Gaming’s objective of setting the benchmark for esports audience experience within the ecosystem.

    Speaking about the association, Rooter co-founder & COO, Dipesh Agarwal said, “NODWIN Gaming’s BGMI Masters Series has become the biggest and most loved esports IP in the country, and we are excited to be their exclusive digital streaming partner. From multi-platform distribution strength to sharp, tech-led content creation solutions, we’ve been pushing the boundaries of how Indians consume and engage with esports. For the tournament, we are geared to deliver the rich and immersive viewing experience that fans expect from us, even as we create more interactive avenues for them to root for their favorite teams. The much-awaited Master Series is also a great opportunity for brands to connect with the gaming community in a highly engaging setting. We are now actively working with multiple brands to help them reach out to the community through our media solutions like sponsorships, advertising campaigns, creator marketing, and more.”

    NODWIN Gaming has also announced its partnership with Indian two-wheeler manufacturing giant TVS Motor Company as the mobility partner for the upcoming season of the BGMI Masters Series. Under the aegis of this collaboration, TVS Raider, the leading sporty commuter from TVS will exclusively be the mobility partner of the BGMI Masters Series Season 2. 

    The BGMI Masters Series Season 2 promises an even more intense showdown than its previous edition. Mass-favorite esports powerhouses from last year’s tournament have undergone significant roster changes, and with emerging underdog teams qualifying from the preceding qualifiers, an exciting David vs. Goliath narrative could be on the cards. Furthermore, the community might even witness an unexpected turn of events, heralding the arrival of a new BGMI powerhouse.  

    The newest season of the BGMI Masters Series is set up to be a magnificent celebration of gaming excellence, exhibiting exhilarating gameplay, and unforgettable esports moments delivered exclusively to the community by NODWIN Gaming, Star Sports, Rooter, and TVS.

    NODWIN Gaming invites all to embark on this thrilling journey as the Indian esports community witnesses the rise of the next generation of BGMI Masters. This remarkable journey marks a significant paradigm shift within the Indian esports industry, unveiling many untapped opportunities for esports organizations to expand their regional dominance and for brands seeking fresh advertising avenues.

  • Harbhajan Singh and Mithali Raj play cricket with school children

    Harbhajan Singh and Mithali Raj play cricket with school children

    Mumbai: Students at Raje Shivaji Vidyalay in Dharavi, Mumbai, were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when cricket legends Harbhajan Singh and Mithali Raj visited their school on Wednesday. The veterans spent a fun-filled morning with the school children at the special event organised by Disney Star in collaboration with Yuva Unstoppable.

    The duo, who are part of the Star Sports commentary panel for the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, played cricket with the kids and gave them real-time game insights.  

    The students had a memorable day because an exciting game of cricket was followed by a heart-to-heart conversation with their favorite heroes.

    Former Team India spinner Harbhajan Singh said, “I would like to thank Disney Star, along with Yuva Unstoppable, who gave me the opportunity to come here and spend quality time to play cricket with these children. Whenever we meet with kids, the happiness and smiles we see on their faces, is the real victory in life. Today, their day was made along with mine.”

    Former India Women’s captain Mithali Raj said, “Today was a surreal experience and it was amazing to interact with some talented students at Dharavi. I had a lot of fun playing and even shared a few cricket tips with them. Our country has plenty of talent, both girls and boys, and such kind of events will only inspire them to excel and work hard in everything that they want to do. Today was a special day which I will remember for a long time!”

    For over two years, Disney Star has been associated with Yuva Unstoppable for the School Transformation Program. Disney Star has so far transformed 40 schools across the country.  

    The program will enhance government-run schools by renovating the school campus, thereby encouraging students to continue their education. Sanitation (separate toilets for boys and girls), improved access to water (separate drinking and dishwashing areas), making the school building brighter, educational paintings, smart classrooms, rainwater harvesting, providing tablets for digital learning, equipping science labs, and more are some of the key areas of this intervention.

  • Kaumudi Mahajan joins Meta India as head of entertainment partnerships

    Kaumudi Mahajan joins Meta India as head of entertainment partnerships

    Mumbai: In a LinkedIn post, Kaumudi Mahajan announced that she has joined Meta India as head of entertainment partnerships. She also mentioned that last week was her final week at Disney Star, where she held the position of senior vice president of marketing and strategy for Marathi Network. She had spent 14 years with the latter.

    Mahajan says in the LinkedIn post, “When I joined Disney Star straight from campus, I was always amazed by the kind of impact it created on its consumers. Mine was one of the billion imaginations it inspired. It’s when I stepped in – I realised it was because of a passionate team who made it what it is.”

     

     

    “My last seven years at Star Pravah have taught me that with grit and grace, we can win the world. They say it takes a village, I say it takes one large family at Disney Star to see a dream and then chase it until it becomes reality,” she added.

    Talking about her new role at Meta India, Mahajan quips, “Equally, I am looking forward to my next challenge at one of the most innovative companies that helps people connect, build communities, and grow businesses. I am thrilled as I start this new chapter and excited for what the future holds!”

  • Ajit Mohan takes over Snap’s APAC operations

    Ajit Mohan takes over Snap’s APAC operations

    Mumbai: As reported by Indiantelevision.com on 3 November, Meta India country leader Ajit Mohan had quit and was reportedly set to join Snap. In a LinkedIn post, Mohan has confirmed joining the APAC team of Snap.

    His LinkedIn post reads, “After almost 4 years leading Meta (Facebook) in India, I am stepping down from my role. I am grateful to the company for the amazing opportunity to lead its efforts in one of its most important countries and I am absolutely proud of the work the team and I have done to create impact for people, creators and businesses around the country. “

    He goes on, “When I took on this role, my objective was to build a team and a company that would be a valuable ally to India and play a useful role in fuelling its economic and social transformation. This is exactly what we have managed to do in the last four years.”

    He confirms, “Am also excited to share that I am going to lead the Asia Pacific region for Snap and be a part of the company’s executive team. Can’t wait to get started!”

    Mohan had joined Meta (the erstwhile Facebook) as the managing director for the India market in January 2019. He was preceded by Umang Bedi who quit in October 2017.

    Prior to Meta, Mohan was CEO of Star India’s (now Disney Star’s) video streaming service Hotstar for four years.

  • After two years of muted celebrations, India’s festive spirit is back once again: Disney-Star India’s Kevin Vaz

    After two years of muted celebrations, India’s festive spirit is back once again: Disney-Star India’s Kevin Vaz

    Mumbai: With the return to normalcy and restrictions having been lifted, broadcasters are upbeat about revenue growth during the festive season. Disney Star head of network entertainment channels, Kevin Vaz, is no exception. He tells Indiantelevision.com that the festive season this year is one of the best so far.

    “The sentiment of both the viewers and the advertisers is extremely positive. As a network, we have always celebrated the festive season with much fervour, and our goal this year is to up the entertainment quotient for our viewers when families sit down to watch their favourite content together. This year, we have an exciting content line-up across our Hindi and regional channels to ensure the same. With our strategically planned content pipeline, this festive season, we aim to enhance the viewing experience with more exciting content and build a deeper connection with our viewers. “

    Talking about how he sees the overall TV Adex faring during the festive season, he said that the overall market is extremely positive. “After two years of muted celebrations owing to the pandemic, India’s festive spirit is back once again. There is a great deal of optimism in the market this year and brands are eager to spend.”

    When asked about price hikes that the broadcast industry has gone for, he pointed out that local advertisers have come back after two years and high pricing categories are also reviving, which is adding to the AdEx this festive season. “Also, to ensure higher absorption capabilities, we have lined up our best festive content to entertain the viewers. There are various tentpole properties, festive events, and blockbuster movies planned, improving the overall monetisation capacities of the broadcasters. The advertisers will leverage these to reach out to their customers during the festive season, thus driving overall adex growth.”

    When asked if inflation has been a challenge to yield maximisation during the festive season, he explained that brands have not had the opportunity to engage with their target audience in the last two years and this year there is no stopping them.

    He elaborated on the strategy to work with national and local brands in India. Onam always sets the tone for the festive season. He said, “From what we have witnessed on our Malayalam channels, I can say the season is off to a great start. There is a rise in the local/retail sectors coming forward, aided by positive consumer sentiment. Similarly, Ganesh Chaturthi and Dasshera were great for Star Pravah and Star Jalsha, respectively. All of this has already paved the way for the upcoming Diwali outputs.”

    He also noted that there is more brand integration compared to last year. “Brands are increasingly looking for innovative brand solutions to engage the audience. Maruti Suzuki launched its latest car, the Grand Vitara, on Star Plus’ non-fiction show Ravivaar with Star Parivaar. Reliance Trends collaborated with us on Star Jalsha to launch the celebratory campaign, Trends Saj Parbon 2022, to usher in the spirit of Durga Puja and inclusivity. We are also seeing brands like Flipkart and Max Fashion doing vignettes to increase their festive sales.”

    In terms of spending by various categories, he said that categories like consumer durables, electronics, retail, jewellery, fashion, and lifestyle are going all out this season. “These categories provide the boost and make the difference between a festive quarter and a regular quarter. Some categories have not been able to advertise for the last two years; they are coming back with a bang.”

    When asked about how much of TV’s annual ad spend happens during the festive season, normally, he said that in the last two years, the share of TV’s annual spend during the festive season increased drastically due to other months impacted by the pandemic. “This year we are seeing similar trends to the pre-pandemic year 2019, where the share during the festive quarter was higher than other quarters marked by categories like consumer durables, electronics, retail, jewellery, fashion, and lifestyle.”

    “The festive season is a great time for categories like consumer durables, electronics, retail, jewellery, fashion, and lifestyle to advertise. While the regular categories like FMCG and e-commerce continue to advertise all year round, it is these categories that drive the festive spending.”

    He, however, added that the biggest icing on the cake is the auto industry. “Normally we would see two or three manufacturers advertising during Onam. But this year, every manufacturer was advertising. That will be the standout category this time. In fact, Maruti Suzuki launched its latest car, the Grand Vitara, on Star Plus’ non-fiction show Ravivaar with Star Parivaar.“

    Content line-up

    For Onam celebrations, Asianet had a line-up of movies and shows like Bro Daddy, Bheeshma, Twenty One, and Lalitham Sundaram. During the season, the channel brought special non-fiction formats, including cookery and celebrity chat shows.

    Asianet announced the tagline “Anudinam Valarunna Atmabandham” (a relationship that grows every day). The theme and proposition of Onam, he explains, was to help Malayalis celebrate with the best entertainment on offer – blockbusters, events, Onam themed shows etc.

    In Maharashtra, viewers witnessed Star Pravah Ganeshutsav 2022 to welcome Ganesh Chaturthi. In West Bengal, the prime attraction was Mahalaya. This was a two-hour pre-festive event paying special tribute to Devi Durga, and Vaz said that it witnessed more colour and energy.

    Star Jalsha launched a non-fiction show called Dance Dance Junior Season Three (on 6 August) in Bengal, in which the participants celebrated Durga Puja through the dance medium.

    Tamil and Telugu audiences were delighted by the grand and much loved show Bigg Boss at Star Maa on 4 September and at Star Vijay on 2 October. 

    In Hindi, Star Plus launched Rajjo on 22 August.

    For movie-loving audiences, blockbusters were aired across the Disney Star network – Vikram (Star Gold, Star Vijay, Star Maa, Star Suvarna and Asianet), Akshay Kumar starrer Samrat Prithviraj and Ranbir Kapoor’s Shamshera (Star Gold), Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal on Star Vijay, Kishmish & Belashuru on Star Jalsha.

  • Did Disney-Star make the right decision by paying an exorbitant price to buy broadcasting rights for ICC tournaments?

    Did Disney-Star make the right decision by paying an exorbitant price to buy broadcasting rights for ICC tournaments?

    MUMBAI: The year 2022 has been action-packed for cricket lovers. It was a busy year with several interesting things happening throughout that appealed to fans.  The renewal of rights, e-auctions, tender process and so on were some of the important events that occurred recently. In a recent development, the broadcaster Disney-Star drew immense public attention for winning the media rights to telecast International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments till 2027. It has been one of the top bidders and for availing this opportunity it had to pay a huge moolah.

    Disney Star has paid around $3.04 billion for the ICC rights for India for four years. This is substantially more than the $2.02 billion it had paid for eight years for the global rights earlier. Disney-Star’s bid was almost double the amount and the highest among all bidders. The deal includes both digital and television rights for men’s and women’s ICC tournaments. On Tuesday, Disney Star also entered into a strategic alliance with Zee Entertainment Enterprises  under which Disney Star will licence ZEE for four years the television broadcasting rights of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Men’s and Under 19 (U-19) global events.

    The deal is a first-of-its kind partnership in the Indian media & entertainment space. Through this agreement, Zee will provide a good experience to the fans of the gentlemen’s game and a huge return on investment for its advertisers through its network spread across India and globally. After securing the IPL television broadcast rights for 2023-27 and deciding to only retain digital rights for ICC tournaments for 2024-27, Disney Star is going to have a balanced and robust cricket offering for the audiences across linear & digital platforms.

    Earlier, the media conglomerate had retained the TV rights for the cash-rich Twenty20 League IPL for Rs 57.5 crore per match though it had to do away with the digital rights to Viacom18. Disney-Star is also said to have paid around $255 million for the seven-year rights for Cricket Australia, which is a substantial jump compared to what the previous rights holder Sony Pictures Networks India had paid.

    In 2020, Disney-Star took the rights for Cricket South Africa till 2024. It is currently airing the Asia Cup. The next big property that will come up for renewal will be the BCCI rights next year for which Disney-Star is the incumbent.

    Pointing out his views, an industry observer said, “What I heard is that after Disney-Star, the next highest bid offered was $1.3 billion. The ICC had set a base price of $1.44 billion. Disney-Star should have offered not more than $1.5 billion. The issue is not whether Disney-Star will regain back the reported $3.04 billion but the condition is they have completely misread the market. A tender process works in two different ways. First, it is to figure out what is the worth of the rights to me as a company. This is not a five-minute job.”

    “This takes months of preparation. There are many levers. For instance, when Star went aggressive on the IPL it was not only about how much the IPL can earn for them. It was also about protecting distribution income across the network. Losing the IPL might have put some of its distribution income under threat. This is another aspect. It is not just about money. It is about the revenue the rights can generate and other strategic value that rights can deliver. Everyone does this calculation and so, the number & strategic value differ,” the industry observer added.

    “The second part is what is the least I can pay to get the rights? You try to buy for as low as possible. This is irrespective of how much money you think you can earn. That is how you maximize profit & business performance. It is in the second part where there was a massive failure on the part of Disney Star. They could have won the rights for $1.5 billion. Paying so much premium is unheard of in the world of sport. Even if they make the $3.04 billion that they are paying the ICC the bid is a failure. They could have made a profit of $1.5 billion. If they had read the market properly and decided that $1.5 billion was the upper limit, other broadcasters would bid then they would not have bid the reported $3.04 billion,” he added further.

    Now the ICC will go and sell the rights in other territories like England, Australia, and the US. The expert doubts that a jump in valuation will happen similar to what was seen in India. “Countries like England are going through a difficult economic period. The other markets like New Zealand are small. In the US, many people are interested in cricket. Australia is going FTA,” he said.

    Speaking on similar lines, another media expert and observer also said that Disney-Star’s strategy is futile. “They are the largest media company in the world with the largest balance sheet. A few billion dollars does not worry them as they never justify decisions based on an individual network but as a global company.” He mentioned that India is still in an investment phase for them. Cricket on a standalone basis is not viable. However, for a large network like Disney-Star, it is a must-have as it can drive the network as a whole both for TV and OTT. In fact, for digital Disney-Star had to overpay for the ICC rights, the media expert opined and said this has steeply pushed the value of digital cricket rights. On the ad sales front, Disney-Star could try to monopolise ad sales by offering IPL and other cricket properties only to those advertisers who place ads on the whole network for the year. “That is partly how paying a premium could make economic sense,” he added.

    The media expert noted that Sony & Zee, which are in the middle of a merger, have to be financially prudent. “They have to focus on cost efficiencies. It is also about their ability to monetise the content. Maybe their ability to monetise was relatively limited and so the ability to pay might also have been limited.” For the record, Sony renewed the rights for England cricket this year. It also has the rights for Sri Lanka cricket.

    As far as Viacom 18 is concerned, the media expert noted that they probably did not see a lot of value in the ICC rights. “Unlike the IPL, in ICC tournaments, there are too many non-India matches in the package. Almost 80 percent of people only watch India play.” He expects Viacom18 to put up a fight for the BCCI rights next year. He also conceded that Star perhaps viewed Viacom as a major threat to the ICC rights given the competitive auction that had taken place for the IPL.

    For the record, the big properties under the new ICC deal are:

    * 2024 T20 World Cup in the US, Caribbean.

    * 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

    * 2026 T20 World Cup in India.

    * 2027 50-over World Cup in South Africa.

    D&P Advisory managing partner N.P. Santosh said that having cricket content is important for a large network. “Maybe on a standalone basis Disney-Star will not make money from these cricket acquisitions but on a network, cricket will drive value. Cricket can make the GEC business, which is already profitable, a little stronger. Sports is a loss leader. Also if you look at it beyond ICC, IPL and BCCI rights there is limited quality cricket of value. The value is significantly smaller when one talks of the fourth biggest property. The next big thing of value after these three is Cricket Australia which Disney-Star went after aggressively.” He is sure that India playing a five-test series in Australia in 2024-2025 will prove to be a big draw. After Cricket Australia comes England cricket rights (with Sony) and Cricket South Africa (with Disney-Star). He added that IPL rights went for a 15-20 per cent premium over what he had expected.

    For the record, a few of the less expensive cricket properties are with OTT platforms. For instance, Prime Video has the rights to New Zealand Cricket. FanCode has the rights for West Indies cricket.

  • Disney Star to licence ICC television broadcasting rights to Zee for four years

    Disney Star to licence ICC television broadcasting rights to Zee for four years

    Mumbai : Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) and Disney Star announced that they have entered into a strategic licensing agreement under which the latter will licence to the former  the television broadcasting rights of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Men’s and Under 19 (U-19) global events for four years.

    Disney Star will continue to be the sole provider of ICC tournament streaming via its digital platform, Disney+ Hotstar. This arrangement has been approved by the ICC.

    “This is a first-of-its-kind partnership in the Indian media and entertainment landscape, and this association with Disney Star reflects our sharp, strategic vision for the sports business in India. As a one-stop television destination for ICC men’s cricket events until 2027, Zee will leverage the strength of its network to offer a compelling experience for its viewers and a great return on investment for its advertisers,”  said Zeel managing director & CEO Punit Goenka. “Long-term profitability and value-generation continue to be our areas of focus across the business, and we will always evaluate all the necessary steps that will enable us to make sports a compelling value proposition for the company. We look forward to working with ICC and Disney Star, to enable this strategic offering for our television viewers in India.”

    This agreement allows Zeel to exclusively  telecast on TV marquee events such as the  ICC Men’s T20 World Cup (2024, 2026), ICC Men’s Champions Trophy (2025), and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup (2027), as well as key ICC U-19 events.

    Also reads:  Disney Star retains ICC TV & digital rights for India till 2027

    Disney Star president & country manager K Madhavan said, “By securing the IPL television broadcast rights for 2023-27 and now opting to retain only the digital rights for ICC tournaments for 2024-27, we have in place a balanced and robust cricket offering for our audiences across linear and digital. Over the years, Disney Star has strengthened the appeal of international cricket in India, enabling it to reach diverse age groups and cultural demographics across all parts of the country. As India’s leading media house, we will continue to do so with our strong portfolio of cricket properties across television and digital.”

    With the ICC digital rights secured for the next four years, Disney Star continues to remain India’s home of sports. Its current portfolio also includes IPL television rights (2023-27), Cricket Australia television and digital rights (2023-2030), BCCI television and digital rights (2023), and Cricket South Africa television and digital rights (end of 2023-2024). Other major sports properties available on its platforms, in addition to cricket, include the Pro Kabaddi League, the Indian Super League, the Wimbledon Championship, and the English Premier League.