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Tag: Indo-Pak series

  • Ten Sports nets Rs 1.45 billion in ad revenues from Indo-Pak series

    When it comes to cricket there is only one way ad revenues can go, that is up. And if India is hammering the opposition, particularly of the Pakistani variety as was witnessed in the just concluded ODI series, that‘s just icing on the cake.

    And so it has proved for Pakistan cricket telecast rights holder Ten Sports.

    Information available with Indiantelevision.com indicates that Ten Sports, which aired the recently concluded India Pakistan series, managed to net around Rs 1.45 billion for the current series. This is a roughly 21 per cent increase over revenues collected from the landmark India-Pakistan series of 2004 when Ten made around Rs 1.2 billion.

    Big Money Deals: If one sets comparative benchmarks in terms of the recent deals done on cricket telecast, Pepsi, Hero Honda as co-sponsors for the ODI series would have forked out between Rs 80-100 million each. As associate sponsors Maruti, Hutch, HLL would have forked around Rs 75 million each. Sify.com would have paid around Rs 10 million to be associated with the Dartfish package.

    On the distribution front, Ten Sports was able to increase penetration as it added 800 operators into the system. Whatever increases were got in the subscriber base was through new connections. Sources spoken to maintain that there were no increases in declarations from the existing operators like Siticable, Hathway and Incablenet. Prior to the series, declared connectivity stood at 4 million.

    After the series, the Set-Discovery One Alliance took that figure to around 5 million. Ten Sports is expected to have mopped up around Rs 200 million in terms of additional distribution income from this series.

    Since the announcement that DD would not carry live coverage of the test matches came just a few days before the start of the series, the channel could not switch off the existing cable operators who carry it and ask for more declarations. As per Trai regulations a one month switch off period is needed.

    What gains were made happened in the micro interiors and small towns. Many rural networks did deals only for Ten Sports which ranged from a three month period (quarterly) to a year. They had a choice of either three channels or the entire second bouquet. Ten Sports is the driver channel in the SET-Discovery One Alliance second bouquet which is priced at Rs 44 per subscriber a month.

    Ten Sports is said to be targeting a 10-15 per cent growth in distribution on an event to event basis. In terms of events, in addition to cricket, it is also counting on the French Open to help in this regard. Of course its bread and butter property is World Wrestling Entertainment which sees viewers tuning in week in and week out.

    The big question then of course is, to what extent was Ten Sports negatively impacted by the “must share clause” that the government recently introduced? As a result of this (and after much petitioning before the Supreme Court), Ten Sports was forced to share its telecast feed with the national broadcaster.

    To mitigate its losses, the apex court did offer some relief to the Dubai-based broadcaster that was in two parts. Firstly, DD had to pay Rs 150 million to Ten Sports as compensation. The court further decreed that DD must carry the “dirty” Ten Sports feed. What this meant in effect was that it was the Ten Sports logo and signal (ads and all) that was carried in toto on the national network.

    Industry sources maintain that in a best case scenario, if Ten Sports had exclusivity (and enough lead time to sew up distribution deals with cable operators), it would have gained a further $6-7 million (Rs 270-315 million) in a year on a sustained subscriber basis.

    Therefore, the shortfall for Ten on the distribution side (after factoring in the payout of Rs 150 million by DD) was Rs 165 million.

    Upside on ad sales: There was a big upside though, and that was in advertising sales. According to what advertising industry sources have told Indiantelevision.com, total revenues the channel extracted from the five ODIs (shared feed) was 15 per cent more than what it would have achieved had there been exclusivity. The sources note that it is important to keep in mind the fact that not only did DD pay Ten Sports Rs 150 million to carry the feed but it could not put in any ad insertions, not even for Fourth Umpire. Planners say that Ten Sports benefited from DD also carrying dirty feed of ODIs despite the fact that a lot of the deals had been done last year on the exclusivity understanding.

    Most advertisers did deals before the mandatory sharing was announced. So for them it was a brilliant ROI that DD also aired the ODIs. It gave them reach in areas where Ten Sports may not have been present at no extra cost.

    At the same time, clients that had not done deals earlier would have paid a premium for spots i.e. around 30 per cent more. Ten Sports sold anywhere between Rs 350,000 to 450,000 for a 10 second spot on the ODIs depending on the day, consumption and the client. Extending that logic therefore, for the test series too if DD had carried the dirty feed Ten Sports would have made 15 per cent extra.

    To conclude, despite the lack of exclusivity, the Indo-Pakistan series has given Ten Sports significant ramp-ups on the ad sales side and a moderate rise on the distribution front. Add the court-decreed Rs 150 million that has gone into its coffers and the income picture only gets brighter.

  • Indo-Pak series: Exclusivity will see Rs 200 million ramp-up in distribution revenues

    MUMBAI: It’s time to bring out the calculators for the SET Discovery channel distribution bouquet. Ten Sports, the sports channel in its second bouquet, will not have to share content with pubcaster Doordarshan for live telecast of the three India-Pakistan Test matches.
    One benefit of this: SET Discovery is now looking to increase the subscription revenues it expects from the Indo-Pak Test series by anywhere between Rs 150 million and Rs 200 million, according to senior executives in the sports broadcasting business.
    The growth will come from smaller cable operators and Ten Sports will also be able to increase its penetration across the country. Besides, One Alliance (the brand name under which SET Discovery operates) will be able to streamline outstandings and improve its collections from the ground.
    “There is potential to make Rs 150-200 million from the series even if it may have to share the one-dayers with Doordarshan. The business will get securitised over 15 days of live and exclusive coverage of Test cricket,” a senior executive of a leading sports broadcasting company said.
    One Alliance, however, will not be able to ramp up subscribers from most of the multi system operators (MSOs) who have existing deals till March-end. The increase will, thus, come from the smaller operators.
    Commenting on the developments in the Supreme Court today, Set Discovery president Anuj Gandhi said, “We are extremely happy. But there was undue ambiguity which should have been cleared earlier.”
    One Alliance, in fact, will have just two days as the series starts 13 January. This will give the company little time to ramp up deals with cable operators. Additionally, Ten Sports cannot threaten switch-offs to put pressure on cable networks for paying more since according to the existing directives from broadcast regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), a channel has to give a month’s notice before any such action. If the Supreme Court’s decision had come earlier, it would in all likelihood have helped SET Discovery generate more revenues from cable operators.
    Having said that, it is clear that Ten Sports will improve visibility and further grow revenues from ad sales.

    Also Read:
    DD to air only Indo-Pak Test highlights

  • Nimbus Sport’s in-stadia hoardings all sold out for Indo-Pak series

    MUMBAI: Even as D-Day for the start of the historic tour of Pakistan by the Indian cricket team draws nearer, one of the players hoping to make a killing out of the series has completed it’s bookings.
     

     
    Nimbus Sport (a division of Nimbus Communications Ltd), which had won the marketing rights for the unrestricted 60 per cent quota of in stadia advertising of the forthcoming series, has signed on six sponsors.

    Sunil Manocha, senior V-P, Nimbus, confirmed to indiantelevision.com that the six sponsors who had taken up in-stadia hoardings were Airtel and Idea (both cell phone services), Central Bank of India, Manikchand and Baba (both chewing tobacco brands), and, get this, a political party that shall remain unnamed.

    Nimbus Sport paid $ 1,287,000 for the rights and had stated at the time it announced the deal that it expected to garner revenues in the region of $ 3 million from the contract.

    Manocha, while not commenting on how much Nimbus had raked in from the deal, said: “We’ve achieved the target we set for ourselves.”

    Nimbus Sport has also secured the telephony rights for the series (for India only) for which it paid $ 102,000.

    The rights for the remaining 40 per cent of in stadia advertising is reserved for companies incorporated in Pakistan or products marketed in Pakistan by companies incorporated in Pakistan. These rights are with Sam Balsara’s Madison Outdoor Media Services (Moms). $383,800 is what Moms paid for the rights.

  • Sourav Ganguly to host special Indo-Pak series on Aaj Tak

    MUMBAI: As a precursor to the India – Pakistan cricket series, Aaj Tak has roped in Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly for a five-episode series titled Sourav ka Sixer.

    The five episode series of 30 minutes each will be aired on Saturdays at 8:30 pm from 29 January onwards. The theme of the series will be the Indo-Pak cricket series, and the programme would have Ganguly as the Aaj Tak expert who will shed light on the ‘rivalry’, the psyche of the players during the matches, the various on-ground and off-ground issues that will have a bearing on the game and the future of cricket between the two countries based on his experience.

    The show has been conceptualised as a studio show comprising an Aaj Tak anchor, Ganguly and inputs from cricketing experts in the midst of an involved audience. It will not only showcase the cricketing legacy between the two countries, but also provide insight into the cricketing relationship between the two nations. Ganguly would also reflect upon the pressures and attitudes that affect a player’s performance on the field and the team’s strategy for the forthcoming series.

    This series will cover various aspects of the Indo-Pak cricket. Episode one will focus on what makes the cricket matches between the two countries so special – the traditional rivalry between the countries gets transferred to the cricket field. Episode two, on the other hand will look at the re-emergence of the Indian team from the shadows to take on the indomitable Pakistan team with special reference to the 2004 series in Pakistan. Episode three titled ‘Indo-Pak greats’, will have Ganguly speaking about players from the two countries who have inspired with their play. Episode four will compare the bowling strengths of the two teams and episode five will analyse the two teams.

  • BCCI invites DD to bid for telecast rights of Indo-Pak series

    BCCI invites DD to bid for telecast rights of Indo-Pak series

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Supreme Court is hearing cricket-related cases, the Indian cricket board has asked Indian pubcaster Doordarshan to make a bid for the telecast rights of the forthcoming India-Pakistan series.

    A senior official of Prasar Bharati, which manages DD and All India Radio, today admitted that a request has come from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) urging DD to bid for the Indo-Pak series.

    The official indicated that considering the controversy telecast rights have got entangled in, the pubcaster stands a good chance of bagging the rights; albeit by default.

    Though the official confirmed that DD would put in a bid, after doing some revenue projections, he refused to indicate any figures.

    The Prasar Bharati official also said that from the just-concluded cricket series featuring India,South Africa and Australia and the lone one-dayer against Pakistan, revenues worth approximately Rs 1 billion had been mopped up by DD.

    Considering that BCCI would be paid Rs 820 million as a rights fee — after taking into account reduced number of actual playing days due to truncated Tests on some controversial pitches — DD claims to have ended up making some profit.

    SC RESUMES HEARINGS IN BCCI CASE

    Meanwhile, the Supreme Court today observed that election of president for BCCI should be held in such a manner that it should be acceptable to the general public considering the importance of the Board.

    According to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report, this observation came from a bench headed by N Santosh Hegde, which was hearing a petition filed by the BCCI challenging a Madras High Court order restraining the newly elected Board from functioning, and appointing Justice S Mohan as an interim administrator.

    The apex court had stayed the Madras High Court order allowing BCCI president Ranbir Singh Mahendra to resume function, but had restrained former president Jagmohan Dalmiya from becoming the patron-in-chief.

    BCCI counsel A M Singhvi argued that Board had committed no irregularities by preventing certain so-called representatives of the state cricket associations as their legally nominated representatives took part in the election held at Kolkata.

    Earlier, BCCI informed the Supreme Court that Dalmiya is discharging functions as the president of the Board as the old Board headed by him has not ended its tenure.

    Appearing for BCCI, senior advocate A M Singhvi said as the AGM of the Board at Kolkata on September 29 and 30 could not be concluded due to an interim order by a Chennai civil court, the old Board under Dalmiya still continues to function.

    The bench said “that means de jure today Ranbir Singh Mahendra is not the president of BCCI,” PTI reported.

    The bench also told the counsel: “When we permitted the new office bearers’ functioning, you had not brought this to our notice.”

    Arguments relating to this case are likely to continue tomorrow also.

  • Trai washes hands off DD-Ten Sports telecast tussle

    Trai washes hands off DD-Ten Sports telecast tussle

    MUMBAI: You can’t accuse Prasar Bharti CEO KS Sarma of not having tried. But by the looks of things Sarma looks to have run out of cards to play as far as getting terrestrial telecast rights for the upcoming Indo-Pak series is concerned.
     
    Sarma’s last ditch attempt in appealing to the broadcast regulator to intervene has fallen flat after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today said it has no jurisdiction in the matter.

    “I don’t think we have powers to do anything in this matter……there is no legal provision within the country to help us solve this issue,” the Press Trust of India quoted Trai chairman Pradip Baijal as saying in New Delhi.

    In a letter to Trai dated 13 February, 2004, Prasar Bharati Corporation, while seeking the regulator’s intervention in the matter, had argued that a public broadcaster cannot be held to “ransom” by the telecast rights holder over commercial considerations.

    “It is our firm view that the rights holders cannot hold us to ransom by not giving access to terrestrial rights merely on commercial considerations,” Sarma had stated in the letter — a copy of which is available with indiantelevision.com — to Trai chairman Pradip Baijal.

  • Pehla to air Indo-Pak series in Middle East

    Pehla to air Indo-Pak series in Middle East

    MUMBAI: India and Pakistan are meeting on home ground after 15 long years of cricketing on neutral venues and Arab Digital Distribution, along with ARY Digital Network and E-Vision, is airing the series live on Pehla Network in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

    The series comprising 5 one day internationals (ODI) and 3 test matches would be played at different venues in Pakistan. Prior to this series, India and Pakistan have played cricket only in neutral venues like Sharjah and Canada and in tournaments like the World Cup.
    The schedule for the one dayers and test matches is as below:

    Date    Match
    13 March    1st ODI- Karachi
    16 March    2nd ODI – Rawalpindi
    19 March    3rd ODI- Peshawar
    21 March    4th ODI- Lahore
    24 March    5th ODI- Lahore
    28 March to 1 April    1st Test Match – Multan
    5 April to 9 April    2nd Test Match – Lahore
    13 April to 17 April    3rd Test Match – Rawalpindi

    ARY Digital Network president and CEO Salman Iqbal was quoted in a company statement saying, “Our coverage is a sort of homage and tribute to all those fans who have waited all these years for this very clash of the titans. Our commitment to making this series a success is total. This is part of our exclusive deal with Pakistan Cricket Board worth $42 million. This is the third series following the Pakistan versus Bangladesh and Pakistan versus South Africa series. “

    In India, the series will be telecast live by ten Sports.

  • Madison Outdoor pockets remainder instadia rights for Indo-Pak seriesMadison Outdoor pockets remainder instadia rights for Indo-Pak series

    MUMBAI: It’s Pakistan ahoy for Sam Balsara’s Madison Outdoor Media Services (Moms). The outdoor marketing and management firm has pocketed the instadia rights for 40 per cent of the total available space at the various venues that the matches will be played from the Pakistan Cricket Board. Harish Thawani’s Nimbus Sport has the right to hawk the remaining 60 per cent space at the stadia.
     
     
    “We are very excited by Moms foray into sports marketing,” says Madison chairman Sam Balsara, who reveals that five agencies were bidding for the same tender. “Sports marketing is a high potential business and this is a small step which we hope will be a precursor to many bigger steps.”

    Moms has an association with Pakistan’s leading outdoor company, Sign Source, with offices in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, which will help the Indian firm in the words of a press release issued a short while ago “ensure efficient and speedy on–the- spot services to advertisers.”

    Basically, Moms’ 40 per cent share means that it can vend the instadia space to multinational advertisers whose products are available in Pakistan or companies incorporated in Pakistan. “Only brands of multinational companies which are be available in Pakistan can take up the space through us,” clarifies Balsara.

    The Moms press release say the Pakistan Cricket Board has split up the rights between Moms and Nimbus “with a view to granting special concession to products and services sold in Pakistan by multi-national companies or local Pakistan companies.”

    Balsara adds that Moms is working on drawing up a rate card for potential advertisers who meet the qualifications in the next two to three days. And Moms’ Arunangshu Ghosh is the contact point in Moms for the same.

  • Ten Sports gets its press drive going on Indo-Pak series, uncertainty notwithstanding

    Ten Sports gets its press drive going on Indo-Pak series, uncertainty notwithstanding

    MUMBAI: It is shaping up to be the cricket series of the year and could be even bigger than last year’s World Cup. The schedule of India’s face off with Pakistan on the cricket grounds in March may not have been finalised, but Ten Sports has initiated the publicity campaign around the event.

    On Sunday it released it put ads in major publications. The ad highlights the fact that the broadcaster has live and exclusive coverage of the event. The distribution contact details have been given.

    There have been concerns expressed some of which are justified. The players are keen on the tour to be delayed by a week. That is because they will suffer fatigue after a gruelling tour of Australia. While that is fine the personal security concerns raised by some senior players in some media pub lications, none of which has been attributed directly to any player, has raised some questions as to the motives behind the “whisper campaign”.

    Meanwhile, a report in Pakistan’s The Daily Times stated that in order to put fears to rest the Indian cricket board would send a team of security experts to Pakistan next month to review arrangements. The Pakistan Cricket Board has already guaranteed tight security for Indias tour in light of last week’s bomb blast near an Anglican cathedral in Karachi. If the Indian board is satisfied then the tour should proceed as scheduled.

    A possible change in the itinerary could be that the the tour will start from Lahore. India will play three Tests and five one-day internationals between early March and mid-April. The last time we visited our neighbours was way back in 1989-1990. The Bukhatir broadcaster is firming up marketing and promotional plans.

    Another report in Sify has stated that India, Pakistan and world champions Australia are expected to play a triangular series in Holland in August. This will act as a prelude to the Champions Trophy in England in September. Max will have live coverage of the Champions Trophy. If the Holland event proceeds as scheduled expect a round of fierce bidding from rival broadcasters.

  • Madison Outdoor pockets remainder instadia rights for Indo-Pak series

    MUMBAI: It’s Pakistan ahoy for Sam Balsara’s Madison Outdoor Media Services (Moms). The outdoor marketing and management firm has pocketed the instadia rights for 40 per cent of the total available space at the various venues that the matches will be played from the Pakistan Cricket Board. Harish Thawani’s Nimbus Sport has the right to hawk the remaining 60 per cent space at the stadia.

     

     
    “We are very excited by Moms foray into sports marketing,” says Madison chairman Sam Balsara, who reveals that five agencies were bidding for the same tender. “Sports marketing is a high potential business and this is a small step which we hope will be a precursor to many bigger steps.”

    Moms has an association with Pakistan’s leading outdoor company, Sign Source, with offices in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, which will help the Indian firm in the words of a press release issued a short while ago “ensure efficient and speedy on–the- spot services to advertisers.”

    Basically, Moms’ 40 per cent share means that it can vend the instadia space to multinational advertisers whose products are available in Pakistan or companies incorporated in Pakistan. “Only brands of multinational companies which are be available in Pakistan can take up the space through us,” clarifies Balsara.

    The Moms press release say the Pakistan Cricket Board has split up the rights between Moms and Nimbus “with a view to granting special concession to products and services sold in Pakistan by multi-national companies or local Pakistan companies.”

    Balsara adds that Moms is working on drawing up a rate card for potential advertisers who meet the qualifications in the next two to three days. And Moms’ Arunangshu Ghosh is the contact point in Moms for the same.