Tag: IPL

  • MIB mandates broadcasters to display ticker for games of ‘national importance’

    MIB mandates broadcasters to display ticker for games of ‘national importance’

    MUMBAI: On 25 April 2018, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) issued a notice mandating all TV channels broadcasting live sports of “national importance” to display a ticker with immediate effect. The ticker would have to state that the match was also available on DD Free Dish.

    The order requires channels to run the scroll—‘This match/game can also be viewed on DD Sports channel on DD Free Dish DTH and DD’s terrestrial network on the free-to-air basis’—in appropriate colour, font and size making it prominently visible every 15 minutes.

    The MIB had earlier this year tried to get Indian Premier League (IPL) matches under the ambit of games of “national importance.” The sports ministry, however, had rejected the proposal after which, Star India agreed to share one IPL match every week with DD with one hour’s delay.

    Games of national importance constitute India playing global sporting events and the finals of top tournaments. The Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007, made it compulsory for private broadcasters to provide access to sporting events of “national importance” to the largest number of listeners and viewers on a free-to-air basis.

    DD National then started getting live feed of Indian cricket matches, the Olympics and other important events and Prasar Bharati shared advertising revenues with the rights holder.

    The private broadcasters went to court and on August 22 last year, the Supreme Court asked Prasar Bharati to air the events only on terrestrial networks or on DD Free-Dish and not on channels like DD 1, which is notified as a must-carry channel for all pay TV (cable and DTH) operators according to the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.

    In March last year, the MIB notified the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, summer and special Olympics, Paralympics and certain tennis, hockey and football events as sporting events of national importance. In October 2016, the ministry declared that all official one-day internationals, Twenty20 and Test matches played by the Indian men’s cricket team, semi-finals and finals of the men’s World Cup and International Cricket Council Championship Trophy as cricketing events of national importance.

     

  • Endemol Shine sees scripted shows as new area of growth

    Endemol Shine sees scripted shows as new area of growth

    MUMBAI: Endemol Shine India (Endemol Shine), best known for producing shows such as Bigg Boss, Master Chef, Khatron Ke Khiladi and Dance India, has a lot going for it this year. The company will produce the second season of The Test Case for Balaji Telefilms’ OTT platform ALTBalaji after tasting success in the first season. Moreover, the production house is planning a slew of originals after securing book rights from Indian authors and publishers.

    In an interaction with Indiantelevision.com, Endemol Shine CEO Abhishek Rege said that while the focus remains on unscripted shows, it is the scripted shows that will help the company grow leaps and bounds. During the conversation, Rege revealed that Endemol Shine could dabble into owning an IP for a show if there is scope for pre-selling the material to broadcasters.

    Recently, the company joined hands with the premium video-on-demand service Viu to produce a localised, ten-episode adaptation of global phenomenon The Bridge. Going forward, the production house has set its sights on producing more original shows.

    Edited excerpts:

    Tell us about your plans for 2018.

    We are discussing the next subsequent series for The Test Case with ALTBalaji. We are also looking at a lot of developments in terms of originals, based on book rights with Indian authors; I think we will be able to make an announcement by May. We have tied up with Indian authors and publishers for the same. It’s still in the development stage; it could be in the international production level as well. We have reached non-scripted shows and will continue to grow with the same format. Having said that, what will help us grow is scripted shows. We treat digital or traditional TV platforms as scripted. Those are the growth areas that we see. As a company, we want to produce more original shows. We are expecting an increase, both in terms of revenue and bottom-line.

    What is your take on production houses retaining show IPs?

    If a project comes by and if we are allowed, we could take that risk but, ideally, not right now. The story should be good enough to take it to the international markets. We could do a pre-sale because we have the backend to do that. We could flip the model a bit, but broadly the same model applies that the Indian broadcaster would be paying much lesser than the cost.

    What do you think about GEC viewership being impacted during IPL season?

    We have probably moved past that thanks to the second screen. Largely, sports and news are already consumed on the phones. At the end of the day, traditional TV still survives because it’s the mass promotion mix. Whatever you do with the IPL, you have to advertise on the screens. Every individual will have their own screen. They have sports, Olympics to watch on one screen, they will have traditional TV to watch for something else. So, Amazon and Netflix are not affected and TV is also not affected.

    What is your take on mythological shows?

    As they say ‘old is gold’, all the old songs still work. Ten to fifteen years back, 18-20 year olds also watched that. Your grandparents taught you about mythology for your understanding; some are forced to consume these shows, while some willingly watched it. For instance, take a show named Jai Malhar, grandparents forced the youth to watch this show. The youth didn’t go to watch it, it was the pre-teens and the younger lot, in the evening, after coming back from playing or school, their grandparents have the TV on with Jai Malhar.

    What is your thought on content segmentation strategy?

    I don’t think that really exists. It used to be 10 years back. The assumption was that the channel wanted to keep their viewers to them, it was never a fight about the product, it was a fight about the channel. So, the idea behind it was, no one moves to another channel as the control shifts, the housewives will take over or the grandparents will take over…that was the theory earlier as it was channel to channel. Later there were many shows on different channels. So, right now it is more of a psychological thing rather than a strategy.

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  • BARC to measure OOH TV viewership

    BARC to measure OOH TV viewership

    MUMBAI: Advertisers are soon going to get a boost through outdoor TV measurement ratings. The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) is going beyond traditional TV viewing metrics and has launched an out of home (OOH) TV viewership measurement service. It will now be able to report TV viewership that happens in social hot-spots like restaurants, pubs and bars in select cities.

    This is a game changer for the industry as it uncovers a significant share of TV viewership that wasn’t being measured until now. The current OOH measurement service tracks viewing across 900+ establishments in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, using 1500+ meters.

    BARC India’s OOH measurement, which captures the growing trend of TV viewing outside homes, is a pre-subscribed service.

    “With our commitment to measure ‘what India watches’, it was a natural step for us to measure OOH viewing. This is also aligned with our goal of measuring content wherever it plays- irrespective of screen or pipe. Measuring OOH viewing is another initiative towards this objective. The robust technology backbone we have set up allowed us to seamlessly measure out of home viewing. We will continue to offer more such path-breaking services that yields sharper insights to industry,” said BARC India CEO Partho Dasgupta.

    Star has been the first network to subscribe to this service for the ongoing Indian Premiere League (IPL). Since sports is the most popular TV content outside of the house, especially in social gatherings, the addition will give a big thrust to Star for the tournament.

    As per available data, OOH viewing generated a total of 19.4 million impressions for the first eight IPL matches in the three cities. This, if compared to BARC India’s currency panel in these markets, is an additional 10 per cent viewership. The OOH data is a sample study across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. If a study was done for other similar cities one could expect to see a comparable lift in viewership.

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  • No reason for GECs to panic as IPL grabs eyeballs

    No reason for GECs to panic as IPL grabs eyeballs

    MUMBAI: It is that time of the year when general entertainment channels (GECs), across languages, face the jitters over viewership numbers with the Indian Premier League (IPL) beginning its customary summer stint. Moreover, as the league begins a new innings with Star Sports, the host broadcaster has been in marketing overdrive to accrue eyeballs over the length and breadth of the country.

    During the IPL season, GECs usually witness a dip in viewership thanks to the league’s appeal cutting across demographics. It will be worthwhile to review the viewership ratings since this is Star’s first year of airing the league, which is being telecast in English, Hindi as well as Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali. When the broadcast rights lay with Sony Pictures Networks, the coverage was restricted to English and Hindi commentary on Sony Max for a decade.

    Considering the coverage is in six languages this season, the affinity for the league is set to soar with audiences in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka that, hitherto, were compelled to watch the English coverage.

    Commentary in regional language not only multiplies the excitement among the viewers but also increases the entertainment quotient of the game, according to research conducted by Chrome Data Analytics & Media recently.

    There are, however, always two sides to a coin. Historically, GEC viewership ebbs and flows as the tournament progresses. While it may appear all glowing for the viewership of the IPL, as the common consensus is that GECs to lose considerable viewership during this two-month window, it is not all a doom and gloom scenario for the drama makers. Moreover, though the IPL has been geared mainly for the male audience, a huge number of female followers lap it up.

    Contrary to the popular notion, even as the viewership for the IPL rises exponentially during the first week of the tournament and the play-offs, the interest in the proceedings unmistakably tapers off during the middle stages of the league. Apart from the enthusiasts, regular fans are keen to just watch the games involving their favourite teams on the allotted days. GECs, therefore, can breathe a sigh of relief as some of the viewers are bound to return to catch up on their beloved TV shows after the initial euphoria of the tournament decreases. Despite commentary in more languages, a similar scenario is likely to pan out this season as well.  

    The IPL still remains a big cause for worry for GECs and broadcasters sounded the alarm in March by strategically launching new shows on their channels and giving them enough lead time to catch the attention of its audience. As a result, eight new shows were launched before the IPL started in a bid to avoid the exodus of viewers to the popular cricketing tournament.

    Star has a big legacy to carry forward from Sony and even create one of its own for the coming years and set the tone for the tenure of its rights. This season, it remains to be seen whether GECs effectively regain their viewership during the inevitable period of lull for the IPL.

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  • DDB Mudra Group creates a new rally cry for team KKR

    DDB Mudra Group creates a new rally cry for team KKR

    MUMBAI: The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata (West Bengal) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team, defined by its ‘Korbo, lorbo, jeetbo’ (Play, Fight, Win) spirit has won the championship trophy twice. At the IPL 2018, the team has already drawn first blood in its match against Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB) and then against Delhi Daredevils (DD).

    Created by the DDB Mudra Group, KKR’s latest anthem #KKRHaiTaiyaar (KKR is ready) shows the city and its die-hard fans gearing up for the 2018 IPL season. Featuring Bollywood celebrity and team owner Shahrukh Khan, the anthem has been crafted to give KKR and its fan-base a distinct, symbolic action in the form of a fist pump, which has the potential to become a ritual during every KKR match. The lyrics give the team’s decade-long war cry – ‘Karbo, lorbo, jeetbo’ a new spin, resulting in an anthem that fans – both old and new, can connect with. 

    Kolkata Knight Riders MD and CEO Venky Mysore says, “Every year our marketing embarks on a research and insight-backed exercise that aims to find the pulse of our fans to arrive at a tagline that rings most true to KKR. This year, along with the creative team at the DDB Mudra Group, the team has come up with #KKRHaiTaiyaar; which truly signifies the mood at our camp.”

    The anthem boldly challenges KKR’s opponents to watch out as the team sets out to destroy every challenge in its path to becoming champions again. The visual representation and the music composition of the anthem captures the pride and passion that drives everyone associated with KKR  – right from the players, to the coaching staff, the groundskeeper, the bat-maker , etc., along with the millions of supporters that live and breathe for the team.

    DDB Mudra Group national creative director Rahul Mathew adds, “KKR has always prided itself on being more than just a team. KKR is an attitude. And you see this attitude in every aspect of their game; be it the auction, the training, the selection, the strategy, the execution of it, their victories and even their losses. Which is why, the KKR fan base spills far and wide outside of Kolkata. Because while Kolkata maybe in the name, the spirit of the Knight Riders is something everyone relates to. It’s this very spirit and attitude that we’ve captured in the work and in our call to arms #KKRHaiTaiyaar.”

    Backed by a strong media strategy, the campaign is being showcased across television channels, radio, digital and print. In the print campaign, the players are shown coming out of moulds, to emphasise their readiness. On the digital medium, the anthem has more than 1.9 million views and 21K shares on the brand’s Facebook page alone, since its launch on 6 April 2018.

  • Rahul Sarangi – Greymatter Entertainment @ Mip Formats

    Rahul Sarangi – Greymatter Entertainment @ Mip Formats

    Mumbai, April 6, 2018: Co-founder & Director, Rahul Sarangi is the First Indian invited to be on the panel of Spot the Talent (Formats) @ MIP Formats – 7th April & 8th April 2018 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres de Cannes in Cannes, France. Rahul will be a panelist amongst renowned industry experts like Matt Steiner, MD, Primal Media, UK; Assaf Gil, CEO, Gill Formats, Israel; Roy Aalderink, Concept Street, Germany, David Flynn, Co-Founder, Youngest Media, UK; Meredith Chambers, MD, Electric Ray, Sony Pictures, USA; Ed Waller, ED, C21Media, UK.

    MIPFormats is the incubator for big ideas, the next wave of must-see formats. Taking place two days before MIPTV, MIPFormats is where the world’s leading producers, commissioners, buyers and distributors discover the very best in entertainment formats.

    Spot the talent – Indies Around The World – A platform to discover exciting formats that have just been commissioned (or are about to be) in this special spotlight, featuring independent format creators and producers from around the world.

    About US

    Greymatter Entertainment is a young media company that offers 360 degree media solutions. We produce LIVE sports, TV shows, digital content and focus on IPR creation. One of the few Indian companies to have sold original formats globally. Our energetic core team brings to the table over 60 years of corporate experience with companies like IMG, TWI, Sony Entertainment Television, MTV, Ten Sports & Viacom 18. With significant knowledge and experience of having produced shows all over the world, we thrive on pushing the evelope!

    Rahul Sarangi, Co-Founder & Director, Greymatter Entertainment

    Rahul has nearly a decade’s experience as a television professional. He has worked for top-of the-line media brands like Synergy and Contiloe in production and Colors and MTV Networks India. Rahul has been associated with shows like Roadies – India’s no.1 youth reality show, Fame Gurukul, Bluffmaster, Splitsvilla, MTV On the Job, MTV Style Awards, Music Awards Asia and many more.

    Apart from producing shows, Rahul also directs live events and has directed international events like the Shakira Concert, Roger Waters Live, the Standard Chartered Marathons, IIFA Celebrity Cricket Live, IPL Funfeed – Live on Youtube and Horse Racing among others.

  • Crompton Greaves eyes growth in air cooler market

    Crompton Greaves eyes growth in air cooler market

    MUMBAI: Come summer and fans and air conditioner category has its sleeves rolled up to create brand visibility and awareness. It is the time when sales boost up by at least 3 times for fans, air conditioners and coolers. 

    This summer, another electrical company has launched its new products in the category, the brand – Crompton Greaves. A legendary brand in India since 1878, the company recently unrelieved its ‘Air 360’ fan and the ‘Tricool’ window cooler.

    In 2016, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd (CGCEL) decided to demerge itself from its consumer business to form a separate entity. That’s when the brand decided to target younger consumers in order to keep up with changing times. The company manufactures and markets a wide spectrum of consumer products, ranging from fans, lamps and luminaries, to pumps and household appliances such as water heaters, air coolers, kitchen appliances, etc. Crompton has steadily grown at the rate of 30 per cent year-on-year over the last few years. 

    Keeping in mind the consumer need of fanning a larger area, Crompton has launched its new range of fans which have a unique elevated blade design that claims to deliver air to over 50 per cent more room space than regular fans. Targeted at the urban youth, the fans are semi-premium (lower end of the premium) and are priced between Rs 2375-Rs 2575. Crompton’s market share in fans category was only 24 per cent in 2016 but has now reached 28 per cent and 90 per cent of the gain in market share is due to the company’s premium fans range. But, the company still faces stiff completion from Havells, Orient, Usha and Bajaj in the category.

    The company also launched its new window cooler which claims to deliver 60 per cent better cooling than a standard plastic cooler and is priced at Rs 12500. The new range of coolers and fans will be available at leading counters in select markets. Although it is a tough and cluttered business, CGCEL CEO Mathew Job says that south India is the company’s strongest market in terms of market share for fans category. But that isn’t the case for coolers. The company only has a small market share in the category but wants to expand it in the coming years.

    The average television spends, which were at a mere Rs 8-10 crore prior to the demerger, has now swelled to Rs 50-60 crore annually, which is roughly two per cent of the company’s total annual revenue. Since the ads have been launched during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, Job says the company will adopt a robust marketing strategy and will spend big on television as it helps in building awareness for this category. Although the campaign broke on IPL, it will expand to other general entertainment and news channels in the coming weeks. This will be eventually followed up by digital and in-store marketing.

    Crompton has a strong dealer base across the country and a wide service network that offers robust after sales service to its consumers. The company’s distribution has increased from 50 per cent in 2016 to now being 80 per cent across India. By 2016, Crompton fans were available only in 40 per cent of the stores across India but are now available in over 60 per cent of stores across the nation.

    Though an age-old brand, the company is coming up with ways to entice the younger customers and stay relevant to them using modern marketing techniques.

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  • Star’s BCCI rights bid not as astronomical as we all think

    Star’s BCCI rights bid not as astronomical as we all think

    MUMBAI: Star India has made history by making two of the biggest bids for acquiring cricket rights in India—for the coveted Indian Premier League (IPL) along with the Indian cricket team’s home matches. After Star India successfully bid Rs 6,138.1 crore for the home matches, the question on everyone’s mind was whether the broadcaster would be able to recover and subsequently make a profit.

    To acquire the IPL media rights, Uday Shankar agreed to pay Rs 16,347.5 crore for five years. For the first 10 years of the league,  Sony Pictures had paid nearly half that amount to the BCCI for double the period.

    The BCCI rights were conducted through e-auction, which went to Star India after three long days of competitive bidding between Star India, Sony Pictures and Reliance Jio.

    The Indian team’s future tours programme (FTP) for the current five-year cycle includes 102 matches with 22 tests, 45 ODIs and 35 T20Is. Meanwhile, the next four seasons of the IPL, along with the ongoing year, will constitute 300 T20 matches.

    When calculated by hours of mandated play, the 300 matches in the IPL add up to 900 hours while the home matches have a tally of 1080 hours. Star India paid Rs 54.5 crore per match for the IPL rights and, after protracted bidding, paid Rs 60.1 crore per match for the 2018-23 home rights across five years. This was nearly a 50 per cent increase from the Rs 40.1 crore the broadcaster paid for the 2012-18 cycle cycle when it bid Rs 3851 crore for 96 matches. The 96 matches included 33 tests, 48 ODIs and 15 T20Is with 1371 hours of mandatory play.

    In the current FTP, the number of test matches has reduced by 11 and the sport’s most sellable format, T20I, has increased by 20 matches.

    Interestingly, the 2012-18 cycle had more test matches and fewer T20Is compared to the 2018-23 cycle and, therefore, the per hour rate has doubled in the current cycle. In the 2012-18 cycle, the per hour rate was Rs 2.80 crore as compared with Rs 5.88 crore in the ongoing cycle.

    For the first 10 years of the IPL, Sony Pictures Network coughed up Rs 12.69 crores per hour of play as compared to Rs 18.16 crore being paid by Star India to the BCCI for the IPL between 2018 and 2023.

    Analysts in many quarters felt that Star India paid a hefty premium per match for the BCCI rights thereby making it hard for the broadcaster to recover money leave alone profit. However, an analysis of the per hour rate of mandated play reveals that the company didn’t overstretch its bid. Armed with its regional feeds along with production rights, it seems that Star India may still gamely monetise the rights.

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  • Delhi HC directs Airtel to modify IPL ads

    Delhi HC directs Airtel to modify IPL ads

    MUMBAI: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel, under instruction from the Delhi high court, has agreed to modify its ongoing ad campaign of promising “live and free access” to the coverage of the Indian Premier league (IPL).

    The change reflect the fact that the “free access” to the IPL would actually cost consumers the price of the data consumed while streaming the matches. In other words, the “free access” is not free after all.

    Airtel’s assurance was given in the court of Justice Yogesh Khanna after its newest competitor, Reliance Jio, moved court to ensure that a “large number of unsuspecting” consumers are not lured by the “misleading” campaign.

    Airtel committed to the court to make it abundantly clear that the service would cost them. It said it would include a bold disclaimer that only subscription to video-streaming platform Hotstar would be free and that data charges, according to the subscriber’s plan, would apply.

    Jio claimed that the advertisements “falsely proclaim” that Airtel was offering “live and free” access to T20 cricket coverage and “falsely represent that a subscriber need only to obtain a 4G sim from the defendant company and download the Airtel TV app to obtain a virtual season pass i.e live and free access to T20 coverage.”

    This would disadvantage other service providers such as Jio who have also come up special packages for the IPL season but by openly declaring the tariffs.

  • Hotstar packs a punch with IPL 11 opening week user numbers

    Hotstar packs a punch with IPL 11 opening week user numbers

    MUMBAI: No longer do people have to stand outside shops on the streets to catch the cricketing action when they’re not at home. Technology has brought all the action to people’s palms. In 2015, Star India won the digital and media rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL) making viewers stick to matches through its over-the-top (OTT) platform Hotstar.

    Late last year, Star won the broadcast bid for the tournament in a mega auction worth $2.55 billion for five years, beating Sony Entertainment Television by a huge margin. The ratings are keenly awaited since it is being broadcast in Hindi, English, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali; the coverage was restricted to English and Hindi on Sony Max for a decade.

    Hotstar saw 42 million users during the opening of the tournament, which was held on 7 April 2018, with 4 million users in peak concurrency. The OTT is leveraging Akamai Technologies, a cloud delivery platform, for the IPL. For the match between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on 10 April 2018, Hotstar garnered 5.5 million concurrent viewers.

    This is the largest on the Akamai platform for any live sporting event in the world and the largest for any single event online by a broadcaster. This is ahead of the previous high on the Akamai platform of 4.8 million peak concurrent users, established by Hotstar during the India and Pakistan ICC Champions Trophy Final in June 2017.

    Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan said, “Crossing five million on a live sporting event is like breaking the 10-second barrier in the 100-metre dash. We are proud that we are the first to get here. But, of even more importance, we are excited that fans have embraced the immersive sports experience on Hotstar that has brought together live streaming, the expression of fan emotions and an interactive always-on game.”

    The IPL has been streaming on Hotstar since 2015 but this year it witnessed a sudden spike in viewers. One of the reasons for the increasing number of viewers is the innovations that Star added this year. Among these is Watch’NPlay, a skill-based game wherein a user gets to test his/her cricket knowledge and expertise with millions of other users tuned into the match. The feature takes the Indian cricket enthusiast’s innate behaviour of providing running commentary on player performance and strategy.

    Watching sports is a lean-back consumption method. Unless you’re playing a sport or a game on electronic devices, one is not leaning forward. One might be leaning back and having a glass of your preferred beverage, relaxing and watching sport. Whereas, OTT is a lean-forward and individual consumption method, where one has a phone or tablet and the viewer is watching it.

    In 2016, Hotstar had more than double its reach (unique viewers) for IPL. For all the games played until the playoffs (between 9 April and 22 May), 80 million people used the service, compared with 35 million a year ago. Whereas, in 2015, the app had recorded more than 110 million views for the IPL 8 till date. In comparison, the entire 2014 edition of the tournament registered 62 million views on starsports.com, last year. With 13 million views for Pepsi IPL 2014 at a similar point in the tournament last year, Hotstar has registered an 8.5X growth in viewership.

    The inaugural match of the 11th season played between the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings registered viewership on television of 6,355,000 impressions (India urban, males 15+ AB, according to Broadcast Audience Research Council data). This equals to growth of 37 per cent over last year’s opening game. These are simulcast ratings of the original telecast aired on Saturday April 7th at 8 pm across 10 Star channels—Star Sports 1; Star Sports 1 HD; Star Sports Select 1 SD; Star Sports Select 1 HD (English); Star Sports 1 (Hindi); Star Sports 1 HD (Hindi); Star Sports 1 Tamil along with Suvarna Plus (Kannada); Jalsha Movies (Bengali) and Maa Movies (Telegu).

    BCCI CEO Rahul Johri said, “The Indian Premier League has once again proven that it is the largest media property in this country. This is IPL’s first year of partnership with Star India and I am delighted to see with the innovations that we have introduced, viewership has set new records and the tournament is set to reach a wider audience globally than ever before. It’s setting up to be a great tournament with some fantastic cricketing action for the fans who can enjoy the games in 6 languages, live across TV and Digital for the first time.”

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