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Tag: Formula One

  • Sports organisations dive into creating own digital ventures

    Sports organisations dive into creating own digital ventures

    MUMBAI: When cord-cutting started to become a phenomenon, there was a perception that live sports was one of the reasons why people wouldn’t cut the cord. In last two years, however, sports have proved to be a game changer for over-the-top (OTT) services. As a result, several major sports federations are taking initiatives to launch their own streaming services.

    Broadcasters have become frenzied when it comes to bidding for sporting tournaments with everyone letting their purses loose. Traditional broadcasters have led the way till now but sports federations are trying to make a mark of their own for dedicated and new fans.

    Recent reports suggest that La Liga, Spain’s football governing body has planned to launch an OTT service. It aims to secure €1.3 billion a year for the TV rights, but pay-TV operators are not willing to pay such a sum. Football fans across the globe eagerly wait for La Liga matches but yet broadcasters view the amount as a non-profitable sum.

    The availability of OTT platforms is enabling La Liga organisers to stick to the amount they are demanding. Javier Tebas, president of La Liga recently said at a conference in Barcelona, that if the bids don’t meet their expectation they won’t grant the rights. Moreover, the OTT platform La Liga is already working on will be a free multi sports streaming service adding more value to it.

    Another world class tournament, which has a fan worldwide, has a full-fledged plan to launch its OTT F1 TV.  While La Liga’s plan to make its OTT service free, F1 TV is going to be a subscription-based commercial free service. Aimed at core fans of Formula One, its plans to ace digital transformation is definitely a huge one.

    Like many OTT players worldwide, who don’t want non-paying viewers to jump out, the Formula One committee will offer a less expensive, non-live subscription tier, F1 TV Access. It will provide live race timing data and radio commentary, as well as extended highlights of each session from the race weekend. Knowing the fact that streaming live sports with lowest latency might be a challenge, it has relied on Tata Communications for CDN and connectivity services.

    The inclination to reach the global audience through a digital platform touched the Winter Olympics too. One of the main aims of the digital coverage is to engage fans more with the ongoing tournament to keep the excitement high. 2018 was the first year to witness digital coverage of this ancient sporting event. Olympic Channel aired Olympic Games coverage live for the first time on its global digital platform at olympicchannel.com and mobile apps for Android and iOS.

    Such attempts allow sports organisations the opportunity to reach fans on own terms and develop a direct relation with them. Along with coping with change in viewers’ habit, it may help them to evade the complex bidding process.  

    Though the trend seems new, WWE is one of the earliest examples to dive into OTT streaming service in 2013. WWE saw multiple benefits from offering its OTT subscription service to viewers including addition of more than a million active subscribers within a short term according to reports.  Other than that, what they got is data. A spokesperson from the company itself said, they could track when viewers are watching, what device they are using, how long they are watching, etc.

    By using your own OTT app federations can directly know their audience by gathering data. Using this information of viewer’s habit and demographics, the organisations can revamp the branding of the leagues in future. Especially, in such a context when on-demand sports content is a must in the future.

  • BBC World News to showcase major sport events

    BBC World News to showcase major sport events

    MUMBAI: With the FIFA Women’s World Cup beginning in Canada this weekend, BBC World News TV and bbc.com/sport are gearing up to bring audiences a truly global perspective on sports.

     

    From football to Formula One, rugby to basketball and tennis to golf, the BBC’s international news services will be on hand to bring global audiences the action, expertise and analysis as well as capturing the passion of fans.

     

    The channel will showcase popular sporting shows such as Sport Today and Football Focus will have top interviews with former Open Golf champions Tom Watson and Greg Norman and football’s Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal, Chile), plus dedicated previews, highlights and specialist analysis of the most important moments in sport this season.

     

    Meanwhile audiences can also follow all the summer’s action with BBC Sport online with dedicated pages for all the sporting action, live text commentary of all the major events along with video, clips, news headlines, gossip and analysis. People can also follow the best of the sports on offer on Twitter and Facebook.

     

    Football will gear up for the FIFA Women’s World Cup followed by the UEFA Champions League Final and later witness Copa America.

     

    Tennis, on the other hand will showcase the Wimbledon, US Open and recaps from the action at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on BBC World News.

     

    While the channel aims to cater to all sport lovers, it couldn’t have missed the racers. Followers of Formula One can also expect to be kept up to date with every race throughout the summer, including the British Grand Prix from 3 – 5 July.

     

    On the Golf front, Sport Today Extra will be in the presence of golfing royalty this summer as the team interview golfing legends and former Open champions, Tom Watson and Greg Norman on 11 July and 8 August respectively. It will be followed by the 144th Open Golf Championship, live from St Andrews from 16 – 18 July on BBC World News TV.

     

    Some of the events in cycling and cricket get underway in July, with the Tour de France commencing on 4 July and the Ashes series between England and Australia starting in Cardiff on 8 July.

     

    It will also show some Sailing events like ‘The Spirit of Yachting’, some athletics with World Athletics Championships in Beijing and the Diamond League and Rugby events like the Rugby World Cup in September this year.

  • Q3-2015: United Spirits marketing spends up 15.8 per cent

    Q3-2015: United Spirits marketing spends up 15.8 per cent

    BENGALURU: United Spirits Limited (USL) spent 229.75 crore (9.9 per cent of Total Income from Operations or TIO) in Q3-2015 (quarter ended December 31, 2015, current quarter) towards Advertising and Sales Promotion (ASP, marketing). This was 15.8 per cent more than the Rs 198.40 crore (9.1 per cent of TIO) that the Vijay Mallya led UB group company had spent in the immediate trailing quarter (previous quarter, Q2-2015, q-o-q) and 2.3 per cent more than the Rs 225.06 crore (also 9.9 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter (Q3-2014).

    During the nine month period ended 31 December, 2014 (YTD, 9M-2015), USL spent Rs 647.98 crore (10.1 per cent  of TIO) towards ASP, which was three per cent more than the Rs 629.15 crore (9.8 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding nine month period of the previous year.

    Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

    (2) All numbers in this report are standalone, unless stated otherwise

    (3) The UB group owns Indian Premier League  (IPL) cricket team Royal Challengers (RCB) Bangalore and the I-League teams (I-League is an Indian professional  league for Men’s Association football clubs)  Mohun Bagan A. C and the East Bengal F. C. and is the co-owner of the Formula One team Sahara Force India. Mallaya is a member of the World Motor Sport Council representing India in the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile).

    Over the previous eight quarters starting Q4-2013 until Q3-2015, ULS’s ASP spend had been the highest in terms of absolute rupees in the current quarter. As mentioned above the company had spent approximately the same per centage of TIO in Q3-2014. During the eight quarters under consideration, the highest spends by the company in terms of per centage of TIO is 11.4 per cent (219.83 crore) in Q1-2015, while lowest has been in the previous quarter.

    During the eight quarters under consideration in this report, USL’s ASP shows a sharp upward linear trend in absolute rupees and a slight linear downward gradient to flat in terms of per centage of TIO. Please refer to Fig 1 below.

    The company reported TIO of Rs 2318.23 crore in Q3-2015, which was 6.4 per cent more than the Rs 2178.58 crore in the immediate trailing period and was 2.3 per cent more than the Rs 2266.26 crore in the year ago quarter. During 9M-2015 USL’s TIO at Rs 6420.71 crore was almost flat (lower by 0.3 per cent) than the Rs 6441.93 crore in 9M-2015. Refer Fig 2 below For the 8 quarter period under consideration, TIO shows an upward linear trend.

    USL reported PAT for Q3-2015 at Rs 78.81 crore, which was 21.4 per cent more than the Rs 64.92 crore in Q3-2014. The company had reported a loss of Rs 27.83 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.

    The company’s Earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortization (EBIDTA) for Q3-2015 was Rs 238.1 (10.3 per cent of TIO), which was 2.1 per cent more than the Rs 233.29 crore (10.7 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015 and 7.3 per cent more than the Rs 222.07 crore (9.7 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014. For 9M-2015, EBIDTA at Rs 616.49 crore (9.6 per cent of TIO) was 16.6 per cent more than the Rs 739.18 crore (11.5 per cent of TIO) in 9M-2014.

  • Fox Sports rebranded across Asia

    Fox Sports rebranded across Asia

    MUMBAI: Fox International Channels (FIC), the Asian pay-TV network, revealed that it will implement a wide-scale upgrade to its Fox Sports Asia network, effective August 15. It also announced new names for its Asian region channels, except India.

     

    The network rebranded its portfolio of channels, which currently are Fox Sports, Fox Sports Plus HD and Star Sports to ‘Fox Sports’, ‘Fox Sports 2’ and ‘Fox Sports 3’ respectively. This does not include the Star Sports brand in India.

     

    ‘Fox Sports’ will be the flagship channel, airing the most popular sporting events for the local audience, namely La Liga soccer matches, Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), tennis Grand Slam semifinals and finals and the main Formula One races.

     

    Star Sports which will now be Fox Sports 2, will provide coverage of golf majors, European and Asian soccer league, Major League Baseball (MLB), Indian Badminton League (IBL) and International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) events.

     

    While, Fox Sports Plus HD rebranded as Fox Sports 3 will air adrenaline sports, such as motor sports, combat and extreme sports like F1, MotoGP, One FC and Extreme Games Asia.

     

    Fox Sports News and Fox Football channel HD will remain unchanged, while Fox Sports Play and Fox Sports Mobile will continue to be the network’s non-linear play with additional fitness and yoga content.

     

    The change takes effect in all territories across Asia where Fox Sports network channels are available.

     

    Late last year, News Corp had revamped the Star Sports bunch of channels in India as Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 3, Star Sports 4, Star Sports HD1 and Star Sports HD2.

  • Sony Six to broadcast Redbull Air Race World Championship

    Sony Six to broadcast Redbull Air Race World Championship

    MUMBAI: Sticking to its promise of providing its viewers with a diverse offering of sports; Sony Six, has acquired the broadcasting rights to the Red Bull Air Race World Championship.

     

    Being one of the fastest and most exciting motorsport on the planet, the event will feature on the channel possessing sole television rights across the subcontinent. The acquisition also marks the inaugural broadcast of the series for the first time ever across Indian television screens. As the onset to the sport going live for Indian viewers, the series leads to its maiden visit to Croatia this Sunday 13 April 2014.

     

    Speaking to indiantelevision.com Sony Six business head Prasana Krishnan says: “This is a great opportunity for sports fans to witness something that has never been telecast before on Indian screens. We look at it as an essential addition to our diverse sports offering.”

     

    The fastest and fiercest global motorsport series, Red Bull Air Race utilises the most agile, lightweight racing planes. This one-of-its-kind air sport combines speed, precision and skill, as the competing pilot’s race in high-performance airplanes, between 15 and 25 meters above the ground, navigating a challenging obstacle course of Air Gate pylons at speeds of up to 370kph.

     

    “It’s a great lifestyle product to have on board, and it serves the aspirational quotient in sports enthusiast. Everyone likes fast sports like a Moto GP and a Formula One, we are targeting those individuals with this event,” adds Krishnan.

     

    The World Championship features 12 pilots from across the globe. The reigning champion from the last world championship Paul Bonhomme of the United Kingdom is also in the mix and will be looking to defend his title.

     

    An exciting feature of the 2014 Red Bull Air Race World Championship is the debut of the Challenger Cup that will give a new generation of talented pilots from around the world a chance to experience the thrills of the sport.

     

    The Roving race is set to be an electrifying follow-up to the season opener in Abu Dhabi and ardent followers of the Red Bull Air Race will be able to catch the action unfold exclusively on Six at 07:30 pm on 13 April.

  • Star Sports on a route to ‘glocalise’ Hockey

    Star Sports on a route to ‘glocalise’ Hockey

    MUMBAI: It wasn’t very long ago when the News Corp-owned media and entertainment leader, Star Network, committed to invest Rs 20,000 crore in building up the sports business in India. So while the investment was intended to fuel the expansion of sports coverage in the country, there were plans of building exciting new leagues including the Indian Super League (ISL) in football, the Hockey India League (HIL) and the Indian Badminton League (IBL) as well over the next few years.

     

    Star India head of sports business Nitin Kukreja says: “Well, we at Star believe to put money where our mouth is.”

     

    In a strategic announcement today, Star has pledged to push the envelope for the promotion of Hockey – India’s national sport – with an unprecedented investment of over Rs 1,500 crore over the next eight years. This is a never seen before commitment to Hockey, which would see Hockey India, International Hockey Federation (FIH) and Star India embark upon a journey to promote the game.

     

    “The idea is to look at sports other than Cricket and try and bring a change in the sporting landscape. For the transformation in any sport to really come about it requires time, investment, innovations, ideas and the coming together of the ecosystem,” adds Kukreja.

     

    The sports broadcaster is set to create a new global benchmark in Hockey broadcasting with the telecast of the second edition of HIL. Showcasing ‘The New Face of Hockey’, Star Sports’ has invested over Rs 100 crore in the promotion (Rs 50 crore) and production (Rs 50 crore) of the second edition of HIL which starts on 25 January, 8 pm onwards.

     

    Such a big investment hasn’t been made earlier by a broadcaster in any local league, the exception being the Indian Premiere League (IPL). However, Star Sports intends to showcase Hockey like it has never been experienced before whether in India or globally.

     

    Kukreja says: “In terms of making the right noise around the second edition of HIL, we are already getting a good response from advertisers. We already have Micromax, Dr. Ortho and Denver Deos as our sponsors and we are in final stages of discussions with other advertisers. We will certainly be having lot of spot buyers once the tournament kicks-off.”

     

    Star Sports’ wants the HIL broadcast to be an immersive, engaging and pleasurable viewing experience for the Indian hockey fan. The idea is to take the consumer closer to the game and make them understand the game better. Star Sports has hired International Management Group (IMG) to produce the second edition of HIL. Israel-based specialised sports agency Prometheus has been entrusted with the responsibility of developing cutting edge graphics suitable for Hockey broadcast. The broadcaster will use as many as 20 cameras for the very first time in the history of the sport for each and every match during the league – covering every piece of action on the Astroturf.

     

    “It gives us immense pleasure to be the home for the 2018 Hockey World Cup telecast. We will surely push the envelope in match coverage as well as get into in-depth pre and post match analysis to engage the consumer better,” expounds Kukreja.

    Additionally, the viewing experience will get batter because Star Sports is treating HIL at par with international cricket. The league will be showcased not only in English on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports HD1, but will also be showcased in Hindi on Star Sports 3. Starsports.com will stream all matches live of the tournament for Hockey loving fans across the world.

     

    Star Sports has erected a world class set for pre and post shows of the league. The studio team in English will be led by former BBC presenter Michael Absalom; while in Hindi, Star Sports has roped Vidya Malvade (of Chak De India fame) as the lead anchor.

     

    The channel’s experts and sports commentary team comprises some of the most eminent names of Hockey. English studio team: Michael Absalom (anchor), Viren Rasquinha and A.B Subbaiah (experts); English commentary team: Ashley Morrison, Adrian D’souza and Amar Aiyama (lead); Sandeep Somesh, Ashish Ballal and Solomon Casoojee (experts); Hindi studio team: Vidya Malvade (anchor), Harender Singh, Tahir Zaman (experts) and Hindi commentary team: Sunil Taneja, Ravikant Singh and Mohit Gang (lead); Salman Akbar and Sameer Dad (experts).

     

    “We are investing time and money in the hockey commentators to make them TV compatible,” says Kukreja, and further adds, “The Indian Hockey loving fan has always missed out on the kind of telecast quality that is generally experienced only in Cricket; well all that is about to change with this path breaking production standards that we have adopted for the very first time ever in the game of Hockey.”

     

    Just looking at this edition of HIL, this will be the first time that 30 out of the 34 matches will be played at 8 pm which is the prime time viewing. The six teams that will be featuring in the tournament are: Dabur Mumbai Magicians, Jaypee Punjab Warriors, Ranchi Rhinos, Delhi Waveriders, Kalinga Lancers and Uttar Pradesh Wizards.

     

    Kukreja further adds that nearly 70 per cent of the viewership comes from the Hindi Speaking Markets (HSMs) and the time spent (which generally shows the strength of the content) on the Hindi channel (Star Sports 3) is about 40 per cent higher, thus clearly indicating a higher stickiness quotient among these markets.

     

    Star Sports along with IMG and Prometheus has already rolled out team specific music videos with peppy tunes and eye popping visuals capturing the essence of the cities the teams belong to. It is not just grabbing the attention of viewers, but is also creating the right noise with the tournament just a couple of days away.

     

    “We believe that we have done our bit in the promotion of the sport and it’s now time that the entire ecosystem comes together and make the sport even bigger and reach a wider fan base. I really don’t see a reason why can’t India regain its glory in the sport that brought in loads of medals and recognition on the global platform,” Kukreja concludes.   

     

    Star India is certainly betting big on promoting the sports culture in the country. Now it’s only a matter of a couple of days to see how the viewers respond to this big gamble played out by the broadcaster. Play on!

  • Laureus ambassador Nico Rosberg swaps his Formula One

    Laureus ambassador Nico Rosberg swaps his Formula One

    MUMBAI: Young people from the Laureus-supported Magic Bus project in India have enjoyed a day they will never forget with Formula One star Nico Rosberg at the Indian Grand Prix.

    The highlight of the visit came when Laureus Ambassador Rosberg, who drives for the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One™ team and won the Monaco and British Grands Prix this year, personally welcomed the 20 youngsters in their bus as they headed for the Buddh International Circuit.

    Nico, who has won three Grands Prix since he joined Formula One in 2006, said: “Sport is so effective in inspiring young people and giving them hope for the future. Nowhere is this more true than in India where so many children have to struggle from the day they are born.

    “The work Laureus does around the world to support projects like Magic Bus is wonderful and I was pleased I was able to meet the guys and talk to them. I took the chance to show them around on my working desk in the team’s garage. I think they were amazed by the whole day and I hope they will be inspired by the visit and become role models for the other young people at Magic Bus. I certainly found it moving listening to some of their stories about what life has been like for them and how they have been given support and direction by the project and now have much more hope for their future.”

    Nico led a question and answer session with the young people, and also donated footballs which were loaded into the bus for the youngsters to take back to the project.

    Since its inception Magic Bus, which originated in Mumbai, has reached out to 250,000 children. Through activity-based learning issues such as gender equality, health and hygiene, the programme aims to build a poverty-free future for children. The project works with children and their communities for up to ten years on a journey from childhood to livelihood. Their work helps to ensure that they create a new generation of economically independent citizens who are fully equipped to participate in, contribute to and, even, shape tomorrow’s India.

    Nico Rosberg is a Laureus Ambassador, a select group of current and retired sportsmen and sportswomen, who, along with the members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, support the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

    Mercedes-Benz and IWC Schaffhausen are Global Partners of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. IWC Schaffhausen is the Official Engineering Partner to MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS.

    Since its inception the Foundation has raised more than €60 million for projects which have helped to improve the lives of over one-and-a-half million young people. Laureus currently supports more than 140 projects in 34 countries.

  • Infiniti building on sponsorship of Formula One

    MUMBAI: Luxury motoring brand Infiniti says that it is currently enjoying success in the sporting arena, through their sponsorship of Formula One construction team Red Bull Racing.

    By forming a two-way promotional deal, the manufacturer claims to have received increased exposure and year-on-year sales increases, and the Red Bull team‘s use of Infiniti parts led to their victory in the Constructor‘s Championship last year.

    The partnership was formally announced at the Geneva Motor Show in 2011, and will continue through the 2012 Formula One season. Through the collaboration, Infiniti will provide high-performance engines for Red Bull team cars and have a strong brand presence at every race. The Japanese manufacturer‘s logo will be prominently displayed on the body of each car, driver uniforms and other race equipment, guaranteeing Infiniti visibility at the track and throughout live television coverage.

    Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel also acts as a global brand ambassador for Infiniti. As one of the championship-winning Red Bull Racing team‘s drivers alongside Mark Webber, Vettel is already sponsored by the brand, and is their first ever ambassador. To promote the manufacturer‘s range, Vettel has driven the Infiniti G37 convertible in a global music video this summer, and has also taken the starring role in a short film that forms part of the brand‘s 2012 advertising campaign. Infiniti will also add an exclusive Sebastian Vettel version of the FX to their roster later this year.

    Infiniti senior VP Andy Palmer commented, “Over the mid-term, Infiniti will be simultaneously expanding its global presence and broadening its product range. Given these twin ambitions, it is clear that Formula One offers us an unrivalled global communications platform, complementing Infiniti‘s ethos of Inspired Performance.”
     

  • Puma and BMW Motorsport form partnership

    Puma and BMW Motorsport form partnership

    MUMBAI: With motorsports forming a key part of marketing strategy, German sportswear brand Puma has entered into a new multi-year partnership with BMW Motorsport to become the Official Supplier of team and racewear for all BMW Motorsport racing operations.

    This new partnership, effective from 1 February 2012, will see Puma benefit from prominent branding locations on all BMW Motorsport racing cars and all Race and Teamwear for BMW Motorsport technical staff.

    Additionally, Puma will also develop BMW Motorsport licensed products for global sales and distribution with existing motorsport markets in Europe forming a key focus for this distribution.

    The company said that a strong emphasis will also be placed on expanding sales performance of BMW Motorsport products in emerging markets, particularly in Asia Pacific and the Americas.

    In 2004, Puma first partnered with BMW Motorsport, through its involvement with the BMW Williams Formula One team.

    This relationship continued when BMW acquired Sauber F1 to become BMW Sauber F1, and after BMW ceased its Formula One activities in 2009 to reorganise its activities. Puma and BMW Motorsport have once again joined forces with this new deal.