ITV

Tag: Indian Premiere League

  • Nat Geo takes viewers ‘Inside IPL’

    Nat Geo takes viewers ‘Inside IPL’

    MUMBAI: One of the biggest sporting extravaganzas in the world – which brought together the best of sport, entertainment and state-of-the-art machinery – the Indian Premiere League, will be seen in a different light for the first time in history.

    Beginning 21 February at 9:00 pm, viewers will get the opportunity to get an up-close and personal look into the inside story on the cash rich league, that has taken the country by storm. Nat Geo gears up to bring all the behind the scenes clips from the locker rooms to the management in its new series Nat Geo Inside IPL.

    A six-part documentary series, Inside IPL will feature leading cricket stars and experts from around the world, senior management from the IPL and celebrity team owners, who will be revealing their fascinating insights in exclusive interviews. The scale of stadium production, the clockwork precision of the broadcast crew, the sensitive dynamic between team management and captains, and the revelation of sporting heroes, are just a few of many themes that will be explored across the six episodes of the series. Each one hour long episode will unravel every meticulously planned nuance of the sporting event that has 250 million viewers across 160 countries.

    Talking about the launch of one of the biggest Nat Geo properties of the year, National Geographic and Fox International Channels MD Keertan Adyanthaya said: “The Inside franchise on NGC stands for two things – unparalleled access, taking the viewer where he has never gone before, and a 360 degree view. And Inside IPL is a great testimony to both these points. Fans of this game would get to know a lot more under this comprehensive compilation. Inside IPL is a one-stop show that brings together the talent, the sound business acumen, the brands, and even the machinery that goes into making of this extravagant event.”

    In its inimitable style of taking audiences where they have never been before, Nat Geo ‘Inside’ constantly strives to bring to the viewer, some of the world’s most restricted places and iconic events. And with Inside IPL, classic documentary filming that brings out the glamour and gloss, merges seamlessly with a much more personal observational style, taking audiences into the heart of this two month long tournament, for the first time on television.

    Commenting on the association with Nat Geo, BCCI honorary secretary Sanjay Patel said: “The IPL is a labour of love, and the outcome of a tremendous amount of hard work, and teamwork. We are pleased that Nat Geo has decided to tell the ‘inside story’ of this tournament. ‘Inside IPL’ will definitely provide a 360° perspective on this very unique cricket league.”

    Though the focus is on the sixth season in 2013, the show reveals a more generic view of what makes this league tick. Leading cricket stars from around the world, senior management from the IPL, celebrity team owners, an international commentator who has seen world sports close up and top cricket experts share never before insights in exclusive interviews.

    The story unfolds on Nat Geo’s Inside IPL beginning 21 February at 9:00 pm every Friday for six weeks. So with IPL’s season 7 soon approaching one can get to see what all goes into the making of this gigantic event.

  • Will IPL 2014 have to relocate a la 2009?

    Will IPL 2014 have to relocate a la 2009?

    MUMBAI: Five years ago, the Board  of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)  was forced to host season two of the IPL on foreign shores – South Africa – because the government of India refused to provide enough security on the grounds that the extravaganza collided with the general elections being held around the same time that year.

     

    This year, with the general elections likely to be held in five or six phases between April and May,  a similar situation seems to be staring the BCCI in the face. While it awaits the final election dates to be announced end February or early March, hosting the 2014 edition of IPL in South Africa is out of question, courtesy the soured ties between the cricket boards of the two nations that culminated in an abridged Indian tour to the rainbow country recently.

     

    Cricket administration sources point out that out of the few neighbouring countries in the fray to host IPL 7, it is possible the BCCI may seriously consider the UAE. The  Arab nation will also host a major ICC event for the very first time –  the ICC under-19 Cricket World Cup UAE 2014 (ICC U-19 CWC) being held from 14 February to 1 March. The tourney will be held across seven venues including the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi; Abu Dhabi Oval 1; Abu Dhabi Oval 2; Sharjah Cricket Stadium; Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Sports City; ICC Academy Oval 1, Dubai; and the ICC Academy Oval 2, Dubai.

     

    With the UAE having hosted the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2013 between 15 and 30 November, 2013; the final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2011-13 between Afghanistan and Ireland from 10 to 13 December, 2013 and the Asian Cricket Council U19 Asia Cup earlier this month, the emirate seems well equipped to accomodate a major cricketing event from the BCCI stable as well.

     

    It was around September 2013 that the alarm bells were raised regarding a clash with the election dates, and the BCCI had then stated that the options being considered were Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. Its official web site iplt20.com was silent on the relocation of some of the matches at the time of writing. The BCCI had then said it did not want to do things at the last minute like it was forced to do around five years ago.

     

    Relocating the 2009 edition of IPL had then proved a logistical nightmare for the cricket board, what with over 10,000 cricketers and other staff flown from India to South Africa within a span of a few weeks. Not to mention the approximately US$100 million injected into South Africa’s local economy plus the additional expenditure which had to be incurred on the live television telecast to Indian viewers by the BCCI and its telecast partner Multi Screen Media.

     

    Needless to say, the board and team owners would want IPL 7 to be hosted entirely in India but if at all a few matches need to be shifted elsewhere, UAE could well prove to be the ideal location in terms of both logistics and economies of scale.

     

  • ‘Why would BCCI want its biggest new property on a new channel?’

    ‘Why would BCCI want its biggest new property on a new channel?’

    Looking at the larger perspective, what have been the big challenges the broadcast sector faced and will face, going forward?
    The pathetically slow pace of digital rollout (Cas) has been the biggest challenge for existing players. Though I do believe digital distribution will come into play from 2008 onwards.

    Combating all these new players will be the big upcoming challenge. The (leadership) pecking order will have to be reestablished. Star is not complacent in its position of number 1. Even Zee as a challenger is not complacent. Everybody will face challenge. The whole media business will face challenge.

    The industry is seeing huge churn now. The channel explosion is going to further fragment audiences. We will soon have 9/10 channels in each of the genres – news, sports and movies.

    You say pathetically slow digital rollout on the cable front is the biggest challenge for the new players as well as the existing players. But if we look at 9X, the numbers they are drawing are not due to cannibalization, but due to new viewers.
    It’s not cannibalization of GEC but other genres like music.

    So you don’t believe that people have an inherent desire to consume entertainment content but may have been tuned off by the lack of variety presently on offer so they are trying out channels like 9X?
    Its not just 9X. Even Bindass is getting new viewers. 9X is making a lot of noise but give me a name of one show that stands out. On NDTV Imagine also, nothing will stand out.

    What do we have in 2008. BCCI’s Indian Premiere League will take off and what else?
    I don’t know on which channel it will take off. I hope it is on ours.

    But as you yourself said, there will be new sports channels launching and we should expect bids from new players.
    They can of course bid but why would BCCI want its biggest new property on a new channel? Its not just money, they (the cricket board) have to make it successful.

    New players should enter digital distribution in the cable front. More people are required, more funding is required

    We do have an example of Ten Sports, which launched with World Cup Soccer in 2002.
    There were only two channels – ESPN and Star Sports – then. Today there are seven channels (DD Sports, Ten Sports, Zee Sports, ESPN, Star Sports, Star Cricket, Neo Sports). Additionally, Max is half a sports channel.

    Each time you launch a new channel, the space will get further fragmented. There is too much out there. There is going be a blood bath.

    What about a platform proposition, like in the case of Sky in the UK? For a rights holder, could IPL potentially become as critical as EPL was to Sky?
    Firstly, in India no exclusivity is being allowed. Secondly, the new guys bidding for the rights are channels which are not yet launched. If platforms like Dish TV or Reliance were to buy the rights, then I would understand but the guys buying are unknown people. They are all startups. They are doing it for their business valuations. They are not bothered whether IPL succeeds or not. Whereas BCCI wants IPL to succeed. IPL will collapse with new players.

    Coming back to the year ahead, how do you see 2008 for your network and the industry?
    As far as the industry is concerned, we would want to see the Reliance launches happening. It’s a very big thing. Then IPL should succeed. New players should enter digital distribution in the cable front. More people are required, more funding is required.

    As for ourselves, we will take some other new initiatives and continue to build our business. We need one hit show. Saat Phere was the starting point for Zee. I need one hit show from Monday to Thursday. That is my perspective. I have no problem in any other area of my business except that. We need to build up, which is not happening.

    Each channel is doing its own thing and so are we. In the meantime, I am doing syndication and international distribution. I am doing everything right except getting that one hit show.