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Tag: Fifa

  • Arabsat denies giving signal to BeoutQ, demands apology from FIFA

    Arabsat denies giving signal to BeoutQ, demands apology from FIFA

    MUMBAI: A few days ago FIFA accused the Saudi Arabia’s satellite operator Arabsat of being involved in the act of transmitting pirated signals of the World Cup to BeoutQ. Arabsat president and CEO Khalid Balkheyour has strongly denied the involvement. Instead, Arabsat is demanding an apology from FIFA for its allegation.

    In a letter it wrote to the body on 15 July, it said that seven independent satellite communications experts confirm that its satellite frequencies had not been used by BeoutQ. Balkheyour said, “Arabsat has always been confident that our satellite network has not been used by BeoutQ.”

    “Nevertheless, we undertook a very costly investigation to eliminate any doubts and to provide evidence to share with FIFA and the world. Arabsat has been deeply offended and harmed by beIN’s and FIFA’s attacks,” he declared. “Now that FIFA has been proven wrong, it should apologise for making such offensive statements” he added.

    BeoutQ users point their dishes to 26 degrees East, which either means an Arabsat slot, or its neighbour (at 25.5 deg East) Eutelsat 25B and its spacecraft partner Es’Hail 1. FIFA claims that BeoutQ was operating on Arabsat frequency 12341 MHz (and normally home to MBC ‘Pro Sports’ transmissions) for several World Cup matches and also 11996 MHz.

    The experts showed that that frequency carried no video content at all dates and times mentioned by FIFA. Arabsat’s expert also added that blocking the frequency had no effect on BeoutQ’s pirate World Cup broadcasts, and that only legitimate broadcasts (e.g., BBC, Sky News and CNBC) were available on that. Saudi Arabia denies BeoutQ as an entity of the country.

    BeoutQ users need to buy a dedicated ‘DreamBox’ satellite decoder receiver (for about 430 Saudi Riyals-[€98.60]). The marketing offer promises that buyers will also receive all of MBC’s (legitimate) sports channels and tournaments like Champions League, Premier League, Fifa World Cup’18, La Liga, Bundes Liga and many more.

  • 15-20% of total WC viewership for SonyLiv was female

    15-20% of total WC viewership for SonyLiv was female

    MUMBAI: FIFA World Cup (WC) 2018 has surpassed the expectation of Sony Pictures Networks India’s digital arm, SonyLiv, by miles in terms of viewership numbers and brand associations. It had just 15 brands on board in the first week but completed the event with a total of 36.

    The matches falling into India’s primetime slot may have worked well in its favour giving it 70 million online viewers. Surprisingly, 15-20 per cent of viewership was contributed by female fans and the remaining by male supporters.

    SPN head-digital business Uday Sodhi noticed some interesting things in this WC. “Firstly, India has become a big football nation globally on digital. Secondly, in the first couple of days of the tournament, we crossed the numbers of entire Euro 16. We have seen a huge growth in terms of advertiser and the approach of brands to digital advertising.” In Euro 16, Sony had just five to seven brands.

    Sodhi believes that football has finally arrived in India. The second big event after Olympics garnered eyeballs from Kerala, Bengal, Pune, Ahemdabad and Lucknow apart from the metro cities. “In terms of traffic and concurrency, we are among the top two platforms in Asia Pacific and Japan, according to Akamai,” he added.

    “The overall complexity that we were handling was very high because of six language feeds, two streams, paid and free feed (with five minutes delay). On an average, a viewer spent close to 15-16 minutes per match and the finals registered 1.5-2 million concurrent users on the digital platform.”

    There were a few hiccoughs. The first match of the WC didn’t go as planned. Instead of a five-minute delay on the ad-supported feed, there was a slightly longer delay of 10-15 minutes. But it picked and surged forward.

  • FIFA legal action against BeoutQ for WC piracy

    FIFA legal action against BeoutQ for WC piracy

    MUMBAI: FIFA will be taking legal action against Saudi Arabia-based BeoutQ, a pirated TV service operating in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which continues its illegal piracy of 2018 FIFA World Cup broadcasts, according to an official statement, carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

    This will be the first time where FIFA has recognised Saudi Arabia’s role in the service. FIFA has urged the authorities of Saudi Arabia and of the different countries where these illegal activities have been observed to support it in the fight against piracy.

    Saudi Arabia has consistently denied its involvement with BeoutQ and the country’s media ministry released a statement last week condemning suggestions that it has been complicit in the operation of the service. However, BeoutQ broadcasts from a Riyadh-based Arabsat satellite.

    According to FIFA’s official statement, “It is observed that the pirate entity named ‘beoutQ’ continues to use illegally the 2018 FIFA World Cup broadcast signal. Accordingly, FIFA has engaged counsel to take legal action in Saudi Arabia and is working alongside other sports rights owners that have also been affected to protect its interest.”

    Although FIFA has now acknowledged the Arab nation’s contribution to BeoutQ, it has also called on other countries to join the fight against piracy. One of the biggest victims of BeoutQ has been Qatar-back broadcasting giant BeIN Sports, which has had its World Cup feeds stolen throughout the tournament.

    Last week, tennis governing bodies also issued a joint statement condemning BeoutQ’s pirated coverage of major tennis tournaments across the MENA region over the past year.

  • BARC week 27: Sony sports cluster captures all top five slots

    BARC week 27: Sony sports cluster captures all top five slots

    MUMBAI: The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia continues its strong run for football viewership in India in its fourth week and guided Sony Pictures Network (SPN) India’s sports cluster to obtain all top five positions in the BARC all India ratings.

    The tournament that is being telecast live on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 3 and Sony ESPN channels and live streamed on SonyLIV app and website.

    According to BARC, Sony Ten 3 is at the top spot with 149384 impressions (000s) sum, followed by Sony Ten2 with 146283 impressions (000s) sum. Sony Six, Sony Ten1 and Sony ESPN were the other channels in the list in week 27 data.

    According to the broadcaster, the network’s sports channel and Sony LIV’s total cumulative reach of the tournament is 192.7 million viewers for 58 matches which includes the viewership of live matches, wraparound shows, highlights, repeats, surround programming of FIFA World Cup for a TG of All India CS2+.

    If the broadcaster’s live streaming numbers are to be believed, Sony crossed 96 million viewers across India on the sports cluster TV channels. The channel has got most of its live traction from West Bengal with 20.4 million reach followed by Kerala with 16.9 million reach. Rural market has also shown some interest in FIFA and clocked 63.1 million viewers

    According to BARC, top three matches till now were Nigeria versus Argentina, Japan versus Senegal and Korea versus Mexico with 5.1 million, 4.6 million and 4.3 million impressions across India for a TG above 2+.

    SPN India also informed that 47 per cent of the overall viewership is contributed by local language feeds like Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu.

  • Guest column: How brands leverage the reach of FIFA World Cup

    Guest column: How brands leverage the reach of FIFA World Cup

    MUMBAI: The FIFA World Cup is one of the biggest sports events the world witnesses every four years, pitting players from different nations against one another to find out who the new holder of the trophy will be. The FIFA month also sees a lot of different brands, big and small, fight for branding supremacy and exploit the event to grab the attention of the billions glued to the game.

    The official sponsors and partners almost always have an upper hand; apart from garnering visibility on all of FIFA’s digital channels, LED boards, and match tickets they also get to use the name of FIFA in all their campaigns.

    A prime example being Adidas, who has been FIFA’s official football partners since the 1970 World Cup. They released a new commercial for the 2018 games featuring stars players of Football including Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba, David Beckham, Mo Salah and Luis Suarez with celebrities from other spheres like Pharrell, Caroline Wozniacki, Usain Bolt, Von Miller, Damian Lillard, narrating the 90 second plot of the footballers showcasing their skills.

    Even though the official brands get to eat a big chunk of the cake, this does not deter other brands from taking their own fair share. Adidas’ biggest rival, Nike, in response to the former released their own advertisement ahead of the 2018 World Cup centred around Brazil. It featured a mix of Brazilian players and hopeful kids kicking the ball around on various indoor and outdoor pitches, even featuring an appearance by none other than the great Ronaldo (Brazil) himself.

    These head to head battles between two global giants has led to engagement and impressions in the millions, with teams and players eventually opting for either of the two as their kit and boot partners, seldom choosing anyone else.

    But enough about the big boys, FIFA World Cup is also about the underdogs and what they have to offer. Many brands have used creative ways to market their products with the spirit of Football in mind. Vivo, smartphone makers and now a sponsor of FIFA, rolled out their ‘Pass the swag’ campaign which aims to unite football and music fans through a common dance language and the tunes of the Official Song for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The brand is leveraging social media platforms to connect with fans in India.A very famous India paint brand was also quick to jump on the FIFA wagon when they opted to have the interiors and exteriors of three of the stadiums in Russia painted in anticipation of the games. The Kolkata-based MNC has confirmed its imprints on the Rostov Arena, Volgograd arena and the Kaliningrad stadium in their official statement.

    A lot of the restaurants and bars are also rolling out exclusive offers to attract avid fans to their venues. For example some restaurants in Delhi NCR have come up with offers like unlimited beer for 90 minutes, i.e. for one match, at throwaway prices along with free shots for every goal; free drinks for people who show up dressed as a foAnchorotballer, flaunting a quirky hairstyle or wearing a team’s jersey; venues decorated with flags of different participating countries and staff members sporting jerseys of your favourite teams.

    Then there are brands that take their social media game to the next level, keeping track of their customers’ online chatter about matches, constantly creating posts around defining moments and sneakily pegging their products to constantly engage their target audience and increase recall value at every step.

    The World Cup, and other events like it, offer a great chance for every brand to market themselves in front of the world. It requires thinking outside the box; strategizing as a team and hints of creativity and brilliance to score the winning goal.

    The author is director and founder at Scroll Mantra. The views expressed here are her own and Indian Television Dot Com may not subscribe to them.

  • Eros Now launches new app for FIFA fever

    Eros Now launches new app for FIFA fever

    MUMBAI: While the FIFA fever has overtaken the world, over-the-top (OTT) platform Eros Now has launched an app dedicated to football lovers across the globe. The new app called Eros Now Betz has been launched in association with Dab Gaming.

    Eros Now Betz is available across Android and Apple devices. Allowing users to be a part of the on-going matches and experience victory as their teams also win along, it will increase the audience engagement. Users will be able to earn points for every correct prediction that they make while the matches are being played in real-time.

    “With Eros Now Betz we continue to invest in providing contextual and deep engagement to our viewers around the world. Our recent association with IPL RCB provided some interesting data on how we can leverage topical sporting events and the launch of the Eros Now Betz app further extends this into the world of Football. The thrilling and action-packed World Cup just got more exciting for audiences who can now participate real time,” Eros Digital CEO Rishika Lulla Singh commented on the launch.

    Eros Now Betz users will also win a free month of content accessibility to Eros Now’s unparalleled movie library of over 10000 films.

    “The World Cup is all about the entire world celebrating football together and we are delighted to be able to partner with Eros Now to bring betting for just the fun of it to their truly global audience. Eros Now Betz enables players to experience all of joy and buzz of betting and winning on World Cup matches without any of the pain of losing. We all think we know a bit about football, now Eros Now subscribers can prove who knows the most without having to line the bookies pockets,” Dab Gaming chairman Ben Walmsley said.

    Earlier this year, Eros Now made its debut in IPL as the title sponsor of Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore. The leading OTT platform which is mainly famous for its movie library has associated the brand name with two major sports events of the year.

  • Dineout launches FIFA contest for fans

    Dineout launches FIFA contest for fans

    MUMBAI: India’s premier table reservation platform, Dineout, has just made the 2018 FIFA World Cup more exciting for football fans in India who couldn’t make it to Russia for the games by presenting the ‘Dineout Predict and Win’ contest.

    It requires users to simply download the Dineout app, make their daily score predictions and win daily Dineout Earnings. Instead of points and coupons with fine print, a user can win Dineout Earnings of up to Rs 1500 every single day during the World Cup. For the uninitiated, Dineout Earnings can be used to pay your restaurant bill at top restaurants in any city where Dineout’s services are available.

    To add more, Dineout Earnings can be used to pay up to 50 per cent of your restaurant bill. Besides this, it can also be used to earn your entry to watch the World Cup matches at top restaurants in the cities where Dineout’s services are available. Dineout will have a special listing of top restaurants screening the FIFA World Cup matches in the cities where Dineout is present.

    To participate in ‘Dineout Predict and Win’ contest, users need to download the Dineout App and click on the Football icon to start playing. Users win even if their team loses despite their prediction.

    To top it all, the user with the most number of accurate predictions and the highest earnings stands to win a ‘free trip to Spain for two – powered by Paytm Travel.’

  • How Sony is bringing the FIFA World Cup 2018

    How Sony is bringing the FIFA World Cup 2018

    MUMBAI: Sports broadcasting is no ordinary business. Just ask Star India and Sony Network Pictures (SPN) India – who often slug it out against each other for the rights of premium sporting properties. The two high rollers of Indian sports broadcasting play by one simple rule: high risks, high rewards. From bidding for and executing marquee sporting events, the gamut of sports broadcasting is fuelled by the compulsion of making bold plays.

    That’s exactly what SPN has attempted with its coverage of the ongoing FIFA World Cup. The N.P Singh-led broadcaster has upped its game to boost consumer engagement through studio-driven innovations that involve a high impact sports analysis screen and acclaimed football pundits who give a local perspective to the football field action in Russia.

    SPN’s panel of experts includes Sunil Chhetri, Bhaichung Bhutia, Luis Garcia, Louis Saha and David James, Ashley Westwood, Gurpreet Singh, Robin Singh and Novy Kapadia.

    The channel’s coverage of the World Cup also comprises shows like Football Extraaa and Kick-Off for match build-up and analysis.

    SPN studios are housed in its headquarters in the northern Mumbai suburb of Malad. Designed by an in-house team, the 14-camera facility was erected in just 85 days.

    Indiantelevision has learnt that the company has invested heavily in the floors and shooting gear (guesstimates are upwards of Rs 30 crore going up to about Rs 100 crore). With noiseless air-cooling and conditioning systems, the experts seated in well designed sets give viewers insights through the pre, mid and post match shows.

    Piero, a 3D software delivering high impact sports analysis for TV broadcasters  on a 85-inch touch screen, is being used by the in-studio experts to explain the teams’ strategy to viewers. Piero can mark and track players, draw off-side lines on the pitch, and produce a unique ‘virtual view’ of the match from a viewpoint where an actual camera could never be used.

    Piero can also extract the players from the pitch, allowing them to be placed in a ‘virtual stadium’ model that can be seen from any location, to give the best viewpoint to talk about the game.

    Using Piero, the football experts can break down complex positional plays by moving the players as they like on the screen. All this happens live, with a person in the production control room (PCR) as a back up. ,

    The downlinking of the world feed happens either in Mumbai, Chennai or Singapore, while the uplinking of signals is executed from Singapore, Hong Kong or Germany.

    The studio has European (Stype) and Japanese (Shotoku) technology working in tandem to offer an easy, seamless and in-depth experience to viewers.

    Shotoku’s full range of robotic gear comprises of fully robotic pedestals, height drives, pan/tilt heads and control systems for live studio production in traditional or VR/AR applications.

    Stype provides camera tracking hardware, software and integration for real-time augmented reality and virtual studio broadcasting.

    The Stype kit (system for tracking the camera position in 3D space), the company’s flagship, is currently being used by global sports broadcast leaders such as Fox Sports Australia, the BBC, Sky, Viasat sport and many others.

    The world feed for all 64 matches is being produced on the basis of a 34-camera plan with increased coverage, content and features in HD 1080p, in UHD and 4K HDR.

    SPN’s production investments have been made keeping in mind its OTT strategy for the quadrennial event. The second screen experience (prediction, emotion meter, polls and contests), a marriage between the company’s OTT platform SonyLIV and TV, is bound to boost fan engagement.

    Also Read :

    Sony partners with Markscan to tackle illegal streaming during FIFA World Cup

    SPN’s digital play for the FIFA World Cup

    SPN launches first campaign for FIFA WC 2018 Russia

  • Sony bets big on 2018 FIFA World Cup

    Sony bets big on 2018 FIFA World Cup

    MUMBAI: With the 2018 FIFA World Cup set to kick off on June 14, Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI) is gearing up for the company’s most-anticipated event of the year. Banking on the rising popularity of football in India, the formidable FIFA brand and a viral ad campaign, the sports cluster of Sony Pictures is aiming to double up its viewership this year.

    While the football viewership in India on the rise, FIFA events tend to enjoy a further spike in the television rating as they draw both fans and fringe-viewers to the screens. In a bid to heighten the excitement around this edition of the World Cup, Sony has opted for a fan-centric campaign instead of a player-centric one.

    “When we looked at data, we saw that there is a football audience and there is a FIFA audience, wherein the FIFA audience is far greater than football audience. People follow FIFA since we don’t have our own country’s participation it and it was a challenge to drive communication around it,” says Sony Pictures Networks senior VP of marketing and OAP of sports Kedar Teny.

    Titled ‘Meri Doosri Country’, the campaign aims to encourage Indian fans to cheer for an ‘adopted’ country. The campaign idea took shape over a cup of coffee between Sony and agency Culture Machine. Sony was clear about what it wanted – a campaign that goes beyond clichés of football to make it relevant for the fans.

    While Sony was part of the creative process, it did not interfere with the creative freedom of the agency.

    The campaign was shot at various locations in Mumbai, Kolkata and Goa and an enormous cast of over 800+ actors. Interestingly, the last (closing) shot itself featured over 300 people.

    The campaign has adopted a 360-degree approach and is spread across TV, digital, print, and radio and will be telecasted in English, Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam.

    The world feed in English will be on SONY TEN 2 SD and HD channels, the Hindi feed will be aired on SONY TEN 3 SD and HD channels while Bengali and Malayalam feed will be available on SONY ESPN SD channel.

    The company is aggressively advertising and marketing the tournament on television and various digital platforms. Soon after launching the first campaign, Sony has launched a series of short format content on television and digital.

    Sony’s partnership with FIFA has been a successful one, claims the network. Some of their previous collaborations with the world football’s governing body include the 2014 FIFA World Cup, FIFA U-17 WC India, FIFA Confederates Cup, FIFA U-20 World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup.

    “The association with FIFA has been good for business for Sony Pictures Networks. Our viewership numbers have exceeded our expectations in all events and we are extremely proud of our association,” highlights Sony Pictures Sports Networks president of sales and distribution Rajesh Kaul.

    Sony is confident of having a successful tournament. Given the instant success of its promotional campaign, one cannot fault the management for being in a buoyant mood ahead of the showpiece event. Now, all they can hope for is an exciting tournament that will keep the fans glued to their television sets.

  • Volleyball Federation of India announces partnership with Baseline Ventures

    Volleyball Federation of India announces partnership with Baseline Ventures

    MUMBAI: The Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) has announced a ten year partnership with sports marketing and branding firm Baseline Ventures to promote and build Indian volleyball.

    The agreement was concluded on the sidelines of the 66th Senior National Volleyball Nationals at Calicut with the core committee of the VFI in attendance. The first project on the anvil for the partnership is the Professional Indian Volleyball League with franchises in major cities to be held in October 2018. The league in India will have franchises owning both men and women teams.

    The bid documents for the franchises for the new league are expected to be released by the middle of April 2018.

    VFI general secretary Ramavtar Singh Jakhar said, “Volleyball is an extremely popular sport around the country, and India has always been competitive at the Asian level. We feel it is the right time to partner with professionals to take the game to the next level in India and continue to grow its appeal, especially with the new generation.”

    Baseline Ventures MD Tuhin Mishra said, “We have been working with the top sporting brands including FIFA and the ATP for sponsorship and marketing and have been evaluating all Indian sports for opportunities. As the 6th largest sport in the world, with around 900 million people playing globally, Volleyball has huge potential in India. We see this as an opportunity to really grow Volleyball and help realise its value.”

    Also Read:

    U-20 & U-17 FIFA ’19 bidding for host launched, Sony to telecast U-17 in seven countries

    Twitter, Snapchat to stream Fifa 2018 shows, highlights in US