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Tag: IPL

  • Hotstar notches up concurrent viewing world record of 8.26 million

    Hotstar notches up concurrent viewing world record of 8.26 million

    MUMBAI: The closely fought Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) playoff game for Vivo IPL 2018 set a new record for India’s leading video streaming service – Hotstar. According to it, the match saw a massive 8.26 million concurrent users logging on to the service, which is a world record for any video app, says its Twitter handle.

    The earlier record was around seven  million concurrent users in the early part of the IPL.

    What helped was the see-sawing of fortunes that both the teams saw during the course of the match. Even as Chennai Super Kings was popping the champagne for restricting the Sunrisers Hyderabad team to just 139 runs, the SRH bowlers put the brakes on the CSK batters when they came to the crease. At one stage the 140 target looked distant as wicket after wicket tumbled to tight bowling on a slowing track at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium. But a last over first ball six saw the MS Dhoni-led team romping home comfortably.

    Hotstar, apparently, has played a key role in helping team Uday Shankar and Sanjay Gupta get closer to their revenues. Sources indicate the  advertising revenues accruing courtesy the Vivo IPL are in the region of Rs 350 crore. Even rivals acknowledge that it is a landmark figure Hotstar has managed to achieve. To top that are the subscription revenues – guesstimated at around Rs 100 crore – that the streaming service has notched up so far.

    With the finals set to be played by end this month, expect a newer record being set. Keep checking indiantelevision.com for updates.

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  • Star spending up to Rs 2 cr on production per IPL match

    Star spending up to Rs 2 cr on production per IPL match

    MUMBAI: After having bought rights for almost all important sporting properties in India, Star India had the massive task to ensure that it sets a new benchmark for cricket. In February, it won the audio-visual production rights for IPL 2018, making it the first time that a broadcaster is producing IPL as till last year, the production rights was with the BCCI.

    Star hired ‘Why Project’ a management company based in London. About 28-32 cameras are being used for every match include drones swooping around all stadiums but Kolkata (where it didn’t get the permission) for the first time. A total of 16 DSNG OB vans are used for the live telecast of a match. Eight vans work on the world feed, four on the Hindi feed and rest on the regional feeds. The English feeds are being transmitted to other countries like the US and New Zealand. Two levels of quality check are done on the feeds, firstly the ground check then comes the Star India’s office and then goes on to uplink.

    Star has added Marathi and Malayalam feeds for the IPL finale as well. On the decision to do so, a Star India spokesperson said, “On social media there was a lot of demand for the Marathi commentary. The attempt is to make the broadcast of the finals available to the widest possible audience. Any region that we felt was potentially underserved by our current offering, we decided to add it to the mix which is Marathi and Malayalam.” Star Pravah and Asianet will be the channels to host the respective languages.

    It also provides tailor-made content for core cricket followers contextualised with a deep and passionate understanding from expert commentators and panellists through Select Dugout on Star Sports Select. It is an experience that extends beyond traditional ball-by-ball commentary, providing fans with a richer analytical experience, interactive demos with experts, before, after as well as during the matches. Star even added new arenas like a gaming experience WatchN’Play as well as virtual reality feeds.

    “We want the IPL finals to be a landmark event in Indian television, 17 channels will be airing it in eight different languages. The production cost of a match in IPL ranges from Rs 60 lakh to Rs 2 crore depending on the match. 700-800 people together are working hard towards the production of IPL 2018 including the regional feeds,” the spokesperson added.

    Being practical, Star doesn’t hope to sell much inventory on the newly added feeds. 

    The IPL finals will be telecast on 17 different feeds across the Star network – Star Sports 1 English, Star Sports 1 HD English, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 HD Hindi, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Select SD English, Star Sports 1 Select HD English, Star Plus SD, Star Plus HD, Star Pravah SD, Star Pravah HD, Star Gold SD, Star Gold HD, Star Suvarna Plus, Star Maa Movies, Star Jalsha Movies and Asianet Movies.

    According to the numbers provided by the broadcaster, its OTT platform, Hotstar was viewed by 5.5 million viewers in virtual reality (VR) in week six. 30-35 per cent of the viewers watched it live and the remaining watched it in highlights.

    The same team is ensuring that content is being churned out on both TV and digital. Reports suggest that Star may also want to rein in homemakers by airing playoffs and finals on Star Plus.

    It introduced several regional feeds to hook new viewers but sources say that the incremental from there will not be more than 10 per cent. On Hotstar, it found that the highest concurrency in a match was around seven million and it has increased the bandwidth to 10 million. The highest concurrency which Star India has witnessed apart from IPL was in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 of around 5.5 million.

    Nevertheless, any technical work is bound to have some glitches and Star isn’t immune to them. Viewers have mentioned about screens freezing and the DRS review replay being that of a different match. But the agility that Star is known for will ensure it resolves these as they crop up.

  • Star to telecast IPL finale on 17 channels, adds Marathi Malayalam feeds

    Star to telecast IPL finale on 17 channels, adds Marathi Malayalam feeds

    MUMBAI: On the evening of 27 May, Star India wants to ensure you see nothing but IPL on your TV screens, no matter where you are or what language you speak. It has roped in Star Pravah and Asianet movies to add two new language feeds for better reach of the IPL 2018 in Marathi and Malayalam respectively.

    Star Pravah will carry the first ever Marathi language broadcast of the IPL with Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Swwapnil Joshi joining the celebrations on the channel while the Malayalam language feed will be broadcast on Asianet Movies. Star Gold will also join in with the Hindi broadcast.

    The showdown will be telecast on 17 different feeds across the Star network – Star Sports 1 English, Star Sports 1 HD English, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 HD Hindi, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Select SD English, Star Sports 1 Select HD English, Star Plus SD, Star Plus HD, Star Pravah SD, Star Pravah HD, Star Gold SD, Star Gold HD, Star Suvarna Plus, Star Maa Movies, Star Jalsha Movies and Asianet Movies.

    Star Plus will telecast a two-hour prelude Cricket Finals…Party to Banti hai hosted by Ranbir Kapoor. Other celebrities joining the party include Salman Khan, Jacqueline Fernandes, Kareena Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. 

    The Dugout on Star Sports Select will continue to cater to core cricket fans who want to stay ahead of the game. The ball-by-ball coverage of the playoffs will entail predictive and prescriptive analysis – covering deep insights, rich data and video analytics and demonstrations by Dean Jones, Scott Styris, Anil Kumble, Kumar Sangakkara, Darren Sammy, Brett Lee, Mike Hesson etc.   

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  • Oyo becomes RCB’s sponsor till Dec 2018

    Oyo becomes RCB’s sponsor till Dec 2018

    MUMBAI: Oyo, India’s largest hospitality company, has inked its first team sponsorship with Royal Challengers Bangalore for this season of cricket’s magnum opus, T20. With this deal, Oyo becomes one of RCB’s direct sponsors until December 2018 and brings an exceptional opportunity to its customers from across Bengaluru to engage more with their beloved team. 

    Oyo aims to go big on fulfilling Bengaluru’s massive appetite for T20, satiating the sports frenzy among loyal referral customers, by giving away free tickets to RCB matches and hosting screenings across Bengaluru and other cities.

    This partnership brings unique benefits to Oyo’s loyal customer base wherein select cricket enthusiasts will receive VIP tickets to RCB matches. The company has already given out 104 normal and VIP tickets for these matches and 10 more are up for grabs for the customers. Furthermore, OYO is celebrating the RCB relationship by painting nation happy and gleefully red – signage and banners of the OYO-RCB partnership can be seen on various Oyo hotels across the city. For customers not watching the match at the stadium, special match screenings and F&B packages are being arranged across hotels in the city – MG Road, Indiranagar, Koramangala, Electronic City and Shanthi Nagar. Similar screenings are being held in Delhi, Mumbai, Gurugram, Kolkata and Agra. With the reach and mindshare captured during the T20 season, the partnership is sure to yield great results in the days to come and expand Oyo’s reach to the right audience and further brand ties.

    Oyo chief strategy officer Maninder Gulati says, “Oyo is an urban innovator driven by commitment and passion and continues to create beautiful living spaces as its mission. It is a matter of great satisfaction for us to find a brand that shares the same ethos and energy as ours. RCB is a strong team with consistent performance and we believe this association will help our brand reach more discerning customers in every nook and corner of the country through T20.”

    Royal Challengers Bangalore chairman Amrit Thomas adds, “The partnership finds Oyo in perfect brand synergy with the team RCB, which is led by young skipper, Virat Kohli. Oyo is a brand that appeals and connects with the youth with diverse offerings, including Oyo Townhouse, Oyo Home, Oyo Rooms and Oyo SilverKey, and we are delighted to welcome Oyo on board as our sponsor.”

    Oyo is India’s largest hospitality company operating in more than 150 cities across India, Malaysia and Nepal. With over 75,000 exclusive rooms in its network, Oyo works in close proximity with its hotel partners while exercising full control over the hotels for ensuring a quality experience for travellers. Its network includes major metros, regional business hubs, top leisure destinations as well as pilgrimage towns. 

    The company is backed by leading investors, including the SoftBank Group, Greenoak Capital, Sequoia India, Lightspeed India, Hero Enterprise and China Lodging Group.

  • Burger King partners Mumbai Indians to encourage young girls

    Burger King partners Mumbai Indians to encourage young girls

    MUMBAI: This cricket season, Burger King has partnered with Mumbai Indians for its summer brand campaign ‘Great Burgers at Amazing Prices’. 

    In an endeavour to further strengthen the ongoing partnership and take it forward to a noble cause, Burger King took a step towards fulfilling its “Sixes for Kings” programme. At an event held yesterday in the Churchgate outlet, Burger King pledged three meals for every six hit by the Mumbai Indians to the children of Avasara Leadership Foundation.

    Uniting in the spirit of cricket, Burger King hosted an evening of fun and games for 30 children from Avasara Leadership Foundation with none other than Mumbai Indians legend Kieron Pollard, super player Mayank Markande and the most recent Man of the Match Ishan Kishan. The girls from the foundation were inspired after hearing the cricket stars speak about their own journeys towards achieving success. The engagement sought not only to motivate the young girls to pursue their dreams, but also leveraged the interest in IPL and cricket to raise awareness for the cause.

    Burger King India CEO Rajeev Varman says, “We are happy to have partnered with a team that shares the same passion as ours to drive a noble cause. Each six scored by Mumbai Indians has contributed in working towards a larger cause. Each six that sailed over the boundary will also help the girls believe that no boundary line is impossible to cross.”

    Avasara Leadership Foundation founder Roopa Purushothaman adds, “We are grateful to Burger King for organising such a memorable event for the children and their ongoing support to our organisation. The children truly cherished every moment spent with the cricketers.”

    Burger King believes in setting up responsible models of social responsibility to contribute to the society. In addition to supporting Avasara, Burger King has in the past also supported Rooms to Read. Some of its initiatives include donating Re. 1 for the cause of girls’ education, encouraging in-store donations over the years, to name a few.

  • Ixigo takes a dig at cricket fans in latest campaign

    Ixigo takes a dig at cricket fans in latest campaign

    MUMBAI: At a time when the entire nation has been struck by cricket fever, leading travel marketplace ixigo has come out with an all-new brand campaign that urges people to take a break from their TV screens and travel! The campaign features off-screen friend duo – Gaurav Kapur and Cyrus Sahukar, who humorously debate over their love for cricket and travel. The ad series also includes quirky lines that tie in to the campaign theme of “Koi Match Dekhega, Koi Duniya.”

    Conceptualised and conceived by the Delhi office of Lowe Lintas, the idea was to use the agency’s extensive experience with e-commerce brands and startups to break away from the clutter of conventional category advertising.

    Commenting on the campaign launch and agency on board, ixigo CEO and co-founder, Aloke Bajpai says, “ixigo has been at the forefront of innovation for online travel in India over the last decade. Our campaign is directed towards building wider brand awareness amongst travellers, enabling us to provide a larger customer base with the best travel planning solutions. We’re looking forward to engaging with a broader audience, who will witness wanderlust Cyrus encourage cricket-lover Gaurav to ditch the couch and plan his next trip. We are happy to be associating with Lowe Lintas and both these talented actors to launch this campaign.”

    Lowe Lintas COO Naveen Gaur adds, “We’re extremely excited about the possibilities that the shared vision of ixigo and Lowe Lintas will unfold. We have used a short format film approach to inspire people to travel and showcase the seamless travel planning experience that ixigo offers.”

    Launched in 2007, ixigo is India’s leading travel marketplace, with a user base of over 100 million travellers. ixigo allows you to compare and book from 120+ travel suppliers and OTAs across flights, hotels, trains, cabs and destinations.

  • Star India to pump $50 million into Hotstar this year

    Star India to pump $50 million into Hotstar this year

    MUMBAI: Speaking during an analyst call focusing on 21st Century Fox’s investments in India, James Murdoch has said that this year’s investment by Star India into its streaming service Hotstar would be $50 million.

    “We’re very comfortable that we’ll hit our $500 million EBITDA target at Star TV,” said James Murdoch. “We had decided, however, from the strong quarter in the year to continue to increase our investment in Hotstar, which for the year will be about $50 million.”

    Murdoch noted that the sports business and the digital business are also growing fast. Hotstar exceeded 140 million users in April alone, he said. The India Premier League’s watch time on Hotstar has grown by 2.5 times as against last year and achieved 7 million live streams during one IPL game, the highest-ever for any streamed sports event anywhere in the world.

    “In the Indian TV business, our entertainment channels achieved significant regional market share growth over the past year and two of the largest regions when launching the number one national free to air in the country, Star Bharat,” Murdoch added.

     

  • Star Plus may telecast IPL: Report

    Star Plus may telecast IPL: Report

    MUMBAI: According to a report by the Economic Times, the last leg of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) may be televised on Hindi general entertainment channel Star Plus in a bid to boost the tournament’s reach on TV.

    The report stated that a highly placed source in Star India said that discussions were on and the “bosses have almost decided” to run the knockout, semi-finals and final matches of IPL on mass channels.

    According to the source, the bosses chose Star Plus over Star Gold.

    “We stated that we will reach 700 million viewers via TV and digital (Hotstar) this IPL. While Hotstar reach is great, on TV, despite being aired on 10 channels, reach is not good enough. Especially in the Hindi speaking markets, where earlier rights holder (Sony) had put the matches on Hindi movie channel, it is 15-20% lower,” the report said quoting the source.

    Last year, Star India won the global media rights of the IPL from the BCCI for five years for Rs 16,347.5 crore.

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  • Kids’ channels undaunted by IPL

    Kids’ channels undaunted by IPL

    MUMBAI: It seems that the kids’ segment of the television audience is immune to the charms of the Indian Premier League (IPL). When the T20 league is back for its yearly jaunt, it is common consensus that general entertainment channels (GECs) suffer the most in terms of viewership. Moreover, especially since the summer vacations are on during the months of April and May, each year the IPL threatens to grab a large chunk of viewership from kids’ channels as well.

    While GECs sounded the alarm in March by attempting to spike viewer interest with show launches, kids’ broadcasters didn’t feel the need to do so.

    Well, this doesn’t mean that the kids’ channels must not be on guard. While few broadcasters do not see the IPL as a big cause for worry, some have readied a differentiated strategy in a bid to retain viewership on their channel.

    Discovery Kids, which recently launched Little Singham, has plans to attract fans by releasing stories on little Singham playing cricket. Discovery Kids head Uttam Pal Singh said that the IPL isn’t a threat to the channel. “What kids do is they have the snippets of the match and then again after a while, they come back to watch their favourite character. We have some interesting strategy in place; let’s see how they pan out.”

    On the contrary, Singh says that the period witnesses growth in viewership because of it being a time of vacations.

    Viacom18 kids entertainment cluster head Nina Elavia Jaipuria agreed with his point. “Summer is the most important quarter in the year for the kids’ genre given that it is a holiday season for kids.  The summer quarter is brought alive for kids by Nickelodeon through some high-decibel and immersive engagement activities, a robust content pipeline of new episodes and made for television movies etc. of kids’ favourite characters like Motu Patlu, Shiva amongst others,” she said.

    This also translates into high advertiser interest in the kids’ category in the April-June quarter, given the increased engagement opportunity with kids as well as parents.

    The recent addition, Sony Yay, has spruced its line-up with a host of new shows and movies. It too believes that IPL doesn’t heavily impact the genre because of its late evening timing giving kids the whole day to watch.

    Sony Yay head Leena Lele Dutta said, “The original time slots that we have is 9.30 am in the morning and during summer it is 12.30-1.30 pm in the afternoon. We aim to thrust everything during the time when they have the remote in their hand.” Viewership does taper off in the evening but by this time, much of the content has been consumed by the kids.

    Kids broadcasters are confident that IPL does not impact viewership but have ensured that kids can make the most of the day time during their summer vacation.

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  • IPL team owners don’t expect much from mid-season transfers

    IPL team owners don’t expect much from mid-season transfers

    MUMBAI: For the first time in its history, the IPL will witness mid-season transfers introduced by the governing council, allowing players to switch to a new team. There are, however, certain conditions for a player to be eligible for the transfer window.

    The transfer window is currently active and started from match 28 till match 42—which will culminate in each of the teams completing half their IPL campaign with seven games. During this period, all the players who haven’t got the chance to play or have played up to two games are eligible.

    A team owner who didn’t want to be quoted said, “At least this season, I don’t think anything like this is going to happen. Why would somebody want to loan the players out when you know he is going to be a part of all your important strategic meetings and knows how the team is going to play.”

    Teams willing to buy or sell a player will be allowed to negotiate and buy their desired players, just like clubs do in football. Players to be transferred can be uncapped, capped or foreign.

    In the previous seasons, teams would struggle to keep up with the demanding fixtures. In 2016, Rising Pune Supergiant lost Kevin Pietersen, Steve Smith, Faf du Plessis and Mitchell Marsh to injuries leading to a bottom of the table finish.

    Delhi Daredevils CEO Hemant Dua said, “It will become effective only when you have a lot more players sitting on the bench whether it is international or Indian, capped or uncapped players. It’s a good move in that direction but it needs more wings. There might not be a lot that will happen this year but if more players are added in the future then it will probably work.”

    This year, too, many overseas players haven’t played a single game because of injury. Big names such as Pat Cummins (MI), Kagiso Rabada (DD), Mitchell Starc (KKR) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (RCB) have been replaced by Adam Milne, Liam Plunkett, Tom Curran and Corey Anderson, respectively. The ICC’s ban on Steven Smith (RR) and David Warner (SRH) made a place for Heinrich Klaasen and Alex Hales in the team. Indian player Kedar Jadhav got injured in the very first game of this season after a winning knock and was replaced by England all-rounder David Willey.

    Going by these guidelines, some big names who will be available for a swap in this transfer window are Adam Milne, JP Duminy (both MI), Sandeep Lamichhane (DD), Carlos Brathwaite (SRH), Moeen Ali (RCB) and David Willey (CSK).

    Player like Jofra Archer (RR), Faf du Plessis (CSK), Tim Southee (RCB), Alex Hales (SRH), Marcus Stoinis (KXIP), Chris Jordan (SRH) who have played one or two matches and performed well are likely to be retained by their respective franchises.

    MI captain Rohit Sharma has publicly supported the transfers. “The mid-season transfer window will give the teams an opportunity to see what they need in the squad and other teams will also be looking at what players they can get. It completely depends on the franchise if a situation comes when we need to get a player or give a player. It is good for the tournament and will add even more value to it,” he told the Financial Express recently.

    Also Read :

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    Star India lines up innovation filled IPL 2018