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  • 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.

  • IPL 7 auction: The big winners

    IPL 7 auction: The big winners

    MUMBAI: More than Rs 465 crore were spent during the IPL player auctions as the eight franchises gear up for the seventh season of the cash rich tourney – but bargain buys were hardly the headline makers this time around. While that can still change – money was clearly splashed on the big names in Twenty20 cricket. Here’s a list of the players who were bought for a high price in this year’s auction.

     

    Yuvraj Singh (Rs 14 crore to RCB): The naysayers will say that the Punjab lad has gone for a buck too many, but Vijay Mallya seems ecstatic about the inclusion of another marquee T20 player who will add to the firepower of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, Ravi Rampaul and AB de Villiers. The key contributer to the World Cup and World T20 winning Team India will add more all-round ability to the team – however, the price tag may prove to be a burden if he fails.

     

    Dinesh Karthik (Rs 12.5 crore to DD): The darkhorse in the auction and clearly being rewarded handsomely for his consistency with the long handle in the middle overs and his daredevilry behind the stumps. It was slightly startling that Mumbai Indians didn’t retain him and Mitchell Johnson or used their ‘Right to Match card – but Karthik is certainly laughing all the way to the bank. With 1,741 runs in 92 IPL games, he may be worth all the moolah.

     

    Kevin Pietersen (Rs 9 crore to DD): KP is cricket’s latest ‘lone ranger’ and he doesn’t have to care about the international calendar anymore. His mere presence in the middle will be unsettling enough for bowlers – but now they’ll have to contend with a fit Pietersen for the whole season.

     

    Mitchell Johnson (Rs 6.5 crore to KXIP): The aussie is out to prove a point, but he lets his pace and swing do the talking for him. Johnson is fast, fearsome and in insane form and is very handy with the bat as well. He will certainly add some stability to a fairly young KXIP squad.

     

    Glenn Maxwell (Rs 6 crore to KXIP): The million dollar man from season 6 continues to be a favourite among the franchises. Though he didn’t get much opportunities in the MI camp last season, his poor showing didn’t deter Kings XI from coughing up the cash. He would certainly want to prove a point and justify his worth. And being an all-rounder will help the franchise.

     

    Jacques Kallis (Rs 5.5 crore to KKR): The old man of cricket is certainly worth every penny paid for his services. He’s 38 but will be the knight in a shining armor for the KKR, hopefully once again. He has a staggering 2,276 runs in 90 IPL matches and a strike-rate of above 100. Complimenting his contribution with the bat are the 61 scalps under his belt.

     

    David Warner (Rs 5.5 crore to SRH): Last year’s surprise package – Sunrisers Hyderabad – has added loose-cannon Warner to their side. They’ll be happy to see that side of him on the pitch though, rather than off it. When he’s in the mood, he can devour the opposition bowlers. Also, he had a cracking IPL 6 – scoring 410 runs in 16 matches. His strike-rate was 126.93.

     

    Robin Uthappa (KKR), Murali Vijay (DD), Michael Hussey (MI) and Mitchell Starc (RCB) – Rs 5 crore each: Uthappa’s value has come down a bit but he’s still handy with that bat and a reliable customer. Vijay’s permanent place in the Indian team guarantees quality and Huseey aka Mr Dependable is never a bad pick. As for Starc, a good fast bowler will always cost good money.

  • IPL 7 auctions: Day 2 begins with uncapped Indian players

    IPL 7 auctions: Day 2 begins with uncapped Indian players

    MUMBAI: After all the action on day one of player auctions for season 7 of the Indian Premiere League (IPL), the day two began with the uncapped Indian cricketers going under the hammer for the first time.

     

    The day 2 will see players with base prices ranging between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 30 lakh being auctioned, with only Michael Klinger (batsman) and Ryan Ten Doeschate (all-rounder) at a base price of Rs 1 crore.

     

    The second day of auctions will also witness the unsold players from yesterday going under the hammer once again in the afternoon session. There are a few names from the unsold lot who would certainly give the franchises some exercise after lunch.

     

    On day one of auctions, nearly 90 odd players were sold to the eight franchises of IPL. The second day may not spring any surprises like on the first day but it will certainly be interesting to see how the franchises go about using their remaining resources to the fullest.

     

    At the time of writing this, Ryan Ten Doeschate was sold at his base price of Rs 1 crore to KKR and the uncapped Indian player to benefit the most was Rishi Dhawan who went to King’s XI Punjab for Rs 3 crore with a base price of Rs 20 lakh. Another Indian player, Kedar Jadhav was bagged for Rs 2 crore by Delhi Daredevils, which used its right to match card against Sun Risers Hyderabad’s bid.

     

    Keep watching this space for more updates.

  • IPL 7 auction: Day 1 – The haves and the have-nots…

    IPL 7 auction: Day 1 – The haves and the have-nots…

    MUMBAI: It was a long and tiring first day of auctions of players for the Indian Premiere League (IPL) season 7. There was a lot of action prior to the lunch break but mostly fizzled out after it resumed for the afternoon session.

     

    Two of the highest bids for the day were made by Delhi Daredevils as they had the deepest pocket – the entire Rs 60 crore – having decided not to retain any of their players from the previous edition.

     

    Delhi Daredevils were the most aggressive making the day’s both the big strategic acquisitions.

     

    Firstly Delhi Daredevils waited for the hammer to come down on Kevin Pietersen and then reclaimed him from Chennai Super Kings at a high price of Rs 9 crore. This was the first ‘Joker Card’ that was used at the auction.

     

    The swords were drawn when Yuvraj’s name came under the hammer, after some frantic bidding and almost being sold in a state of chaos, the final fight was between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers Banglore. Vijay Mallya had the final say with the highest bid of Rs 14 crore on day one and bag the Punjab boy to play alongside Virat Kohli.

     

    The other overseas player who was sold for a high price was Mitchel Johnson for Rs 6.5 crore to King’s XI Punjab, and Mumbai Indians declined to use its right to match card for the Aussie fast bowler.

     

    The biggest surprise of the day was Delhi Daredevil’s big bet on Dinesh Karthik at a whopping Rs 12.5 crore. The move would have certainly been made on the back of his stupendous showing in the 2013 season. Here again the Mumbai camp declined to use its right to match card.

     

    On day one, a lot of players who went under the hammer saw themselves moving to new teams. A lot of players still went unsold because of either dearth of funds or in anticipation of bagging bigger players on day two. Any which ways, the players who remained unsold today will again go under the hammer tomorrow.

     

    Teams at the end of Day 1 of Pepsi IPL Player auctions:

     

    Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Ashish Nehra, Mohit Sharma, Samuel Badree, Ben Hilfenhaus, Matt Henry.

     

    Budget left: Rs2.9 crore. Squad Strength: 13. Overseas Players: 7.

     

    Delhi Daredevils: M Vijay, Kevin Pietersen, Dinesh Karthik, JP Duminy, Manoj Tiwary, Quinton de Kock, Mohammad Shami, Rahul Sharma, Saurabh Tiwary, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jaydev Unadkat, James Neesham.

     

    Budget left: Rs8.6 crore. Squad Strength: 13. Overseas Players: 5.

     

    Kings XI Punjab: David Miller, Manan Vohra, Virender Sehwag, Mitchell Johnson, George Bailey, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shaun Marsh, Wriddhaman Saha, Thisara Perera, Glenn Maxwell, L Balaji, Parvinder Awan.

     

    Budget left: Rs14.2 crore. Squad Strength: 12. Overseas Players: 6.

     

    Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Narine, Jacques Kallis, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Morne Morkel, Piyush Chawla.

     

    Budget left: Rs9 crore. Squad Strength: 10. Overseas Players: 4.

     

    Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Michael Hussey, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Corey Anderson, Josh Hazlewood.

     

    Budget left: Rs5.15 crore. Squad Strength: 10. Overseas Players: 5.

     

    Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane, James Faulkner, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Brad Hodge, Steve Smith, Abhishek Nayar, Ben Cutting, Kane Richardson, Tim Southee.

     

    Budget left: Rs12.1 crore. Squad Strength: 11. Overseas Players: 7.

     

    Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel, Albie Morkel, Mitchell Starc, Ashok Dinda, Ravi Rampaul, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nic Maddinson, Varun Aaron.

     

    Budget left: Rs1.8 crore. Squad Strength: 12. Overseas Players: 7.

     

    Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, Dale Steyn, David Warner, Darren Sammy, Amit Mishra, Aaron Finch, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Brendan Taylor, Moises Henriques, Venugopal Rao, Jason Holder.

     

    Budget left: Rs8.4 crore. Squad Strength: 13. Overseas Players: 7.

     

  • IPL season 7 auction kicks off with a bang

    IPL season 7 auction kicks off with a bang

    MUMBAI: The stage is set for history to be rewritten. This time around the maximum number of players will be going under the hammer with 514 players in the pool – 219 capped players (169 Indians / 50 overseas) and 292 uncapped players (255 Indians / 37 overseas).

     

    IPL’s official auctioneer Richard Madley says: “The first IPL auction in Mumbai which was held just six years ago but feels like it was held 600 years ago, no one knew what would go down on that day at the Oberoi hotel; it was a historic day for cricket and in my point of view an historic day for auctioning. Today is going to be no different in Bengaluru”

     

    This year’s auction witnessed a full house of the regulars from the franchises. The likes of Ness Wadia and Priety Zinta from the Kings XI Punjab camp; Tom Moody, VVS Laxman and Krishnamachari Srikkanth from Sunrisers Hyderabad; Kolkata Knight Riders is present in full strength with CEO Venky Mysore, Jay Mehta and Juhi Chawla.

     

    Royal Challengers Banglore owner Vijay Mallya was seen sporting a cool Mohawk hairstyle and was beaming after getting Yuvraj Singh for his team for a whopping Rs 14 crore, the highest bid in the morning session.

     

    Mumbai Indians is represented by Nita Ambani and Anil Kumble, Rajhastan Royals has Rahul Dravid at the table along with the team management.

     

    The ones missing from the auction this time are Rajasthan Royals’ Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty and CSK’s Gurunath Meiyappan after being in the news for all the wrong reasons.

     

    This is the first time uncapped Indian players have earned a spot on the auction list. Also, until last year, auctions were done in dollars. Beginning this year until 2017, all auctions will be carried out in Indian rupees. The cap on players’ cumulative salary has got reduced to Rs 60 crore this year from Rs 75 crore. Though the highest base price of players will continue to be at Rs 2 crore ($400,000 last year).

     

    This year’s auction also witnesses franchises exercise the right to match a bid, or use the joker card. Under this provision, a franchise can bid for a player who was in its squad in 2013, but wasn’t retained subsequently. The number of joker cards available with the team depends on the number of players retained – if a team doesn’t retain a single player, it can exercise the right to match three times. If a team retains five players, it can exercise it just once.

     

    Delhi Daredevils, which hasn’t retained any of its existing players, is certainly going to be the most aggressive. Most other teams have retained at least a couple of in-form players. The Delhi franchise has the entire salary amount of Rs 60 intact.

  • IPL auction: Yuvraj goes to RCB for Rs 14 cr; DD bags Karthik (Rs 12.5 cr) & KP (Rs 9 cr)

    IPL auction: Yuvraj goes to RCB for Rs 14 cr; DD bags Karthik (Rs 12.5 cr) & KP (Rs 9 cr)

    MUMBAI: The auction of players for the seventh season of Indian Premiere League (IPL) is currently underway in Bengaluru and it’s certainly got everyone’s attention. The auction this year is the biggest with 514 players in the pool – 219 capped players (169 Indians / 50 overseas) and 292 uncapped players (255 Indians / 37 overseas).

     

    The first player to go under the hammer was CSK’s opener Murali Vijay, opening at a base price of Rs 2 crore. He will now be seen in the Delhi Daredevil’s camp after the team bought him for a cool Rs 5 crore.

     

    Next up for bidding was Sri Lanka’s ‘Mr.Dependable’ – Mahela Jayawardena – who went unsold.

     

    After having been shunned by the national side – England – the South African-born Kevin Pietersen was next under the hammer and after some frantic bidding went for a high price of Rs 9 crore to Delhi Daredevils as the team used its right-to-match after Sunrisers won the bid.

     

    The biggest bet was for Yuvraj Singh. After the bid for Yuvraj went past Pietersen’s value, Banglore entered the scene and almost got him for Rs 10 crore. KKR then entered the fray and RCB had to finally make a winning bid of Rs 14 crore for the Punjab lad.

     

    The surprise package was Dinesh Karthik, who just about managed to steal Yuvi’s thunder with a cool bid of Rs 12.5 crore from Delhi Daredevils. 

     

    Other highlights are:

     

    # CSK bags Kallis for Rs 5.5 crore. But, the Kolkata Knight Riders have matched the bid.

    # Virender Sehwag to KXIP Rs 3.20 crore.

    # David Warner goes to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 5.50 crore.

    # Brendon McCullum to CSK for Rs 3.25 crore.

    # Mumbai Indians get Michael Hussey for Rs 5 crore.

    # Sunrisers Hyderabad reclaim Amit Mishra using their right-to-match card. They get him for Rs 4.75 crore.

    # Mumbai Indians win the bid for Zaheer with Rs. 2.6 crore.

    # Aaron Finch goes to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 4 crore.

    # Robin Uthappa sold to KKR for Rs 5 crore.

    # Rajasthan Royals win the bid of Rs. 2.40 crore for Brad Hodge.

    # KXIP get Shaun Marsh for Rs 2.20 crore.

    # Manoj Tiwary to Delhi Daredevils Rs 2.8 crore.

    # Dwayne Smith goes to Chennai Super Kings for Rs 4.5 crore.

  • Starsports.com: YouTube of sports in India?

    Starsports.com: YouTube of sports in India?

    Barely a year old and starsports.com could well qualify as an example of the limitless possibilities of the World Wide Web.

     

    Ever since its launch in June 2013, starsports.com, has been drawing nearly 28 million unique visitors every day with as many as 45 minutes spent per match. These numbers – comparable to television – are the highest ever on a digital platform.

     

    starsports.com’s meteoric rise is not for nothing as the website has always been about giving sports fans a rich, immersive video experience a la YouTube and becoming a one-stop shop for them.  

     

    Star India digital head Ajit Mohan puts it well when he says: “The philosophy of the design and the service itself was to make video the hero; we believe we have become the YouTube of sports.”

     

    Drawing attention to how sports coverage has evolved from print to radio to television and now the digital medium, Mohan says: “The idea was to create a new immersive experience around sports on digital for fans. The best way to attract the viewers was to add a lot of video elements that allowed getting data and analytics into the experience in a very meaningful manner. So we wanted it to be fully relevant to the digital medium, rather than what consumers were being served.”

     

    Starsports.com has a 20-strong content development team and leverages the network’s production and broadcast team. Explains Mohan: “The idea is to keep delivering content on-the-go and report as events take place. The team creates video stories as well as columns and articles, but the point is to create a lot of video during the course of a live match as people would love to listen to someone’s point of view on the state of the match, thus driving home our point of an immersive experience.”

     

    Speaking of design, starsports.com isn’t cluttered with irrelevant content like other sports sites. “We have kept the design experience for the consumer in mind where it becomes easy for viewers to discover a live match. Having said that, we have had a lot of learning over the past 12 months and we want to further improve on the experience for consumers,” says Mohan. “We work with a lot of world-class platforms and partners to help out with execution on the video as well as platform development.”

     

    Apart from content and design, the revenue model too has evolved with time. At the time of the beta launch in December 2012, the streaming was free and had a little delay but post the launch, the live streaming experience was taken behind the pay-wall. “Just to give an idea about the conversion rate, it’s been in the range of three to five per cent – depending on whether on the web or the mobile app or any other operator service. Looking at the current subscriber base, if we exclude the telecom world, we probably have one of the largest subscription base of content subscriptions in the digital world,” says Mohan. “We are currently in a dilemma trying to figure out what services to charge for and what to keep free access for. So if we are asking people to pay, then there has to be something really exceptional and a high value proposition.”

     

    Mohan believes the site’s success owes to two big leaps: firstly, high quality streaming of an even higher standard than YouTube or a comparable platform and secondly, advertising which allows a deeper engagement with sports fans on the back of very high quality video and content created exclusively for starsports.com.

     

    “We have provided a much customised backbone to serve a very good video experience in live viewing. The response for the streaming quality has been very good and users find it very reliable and of high quality. So if the user has access to even a 1 mbps net connection, the video is of HD quality. That is something that is unprecedented and no other sports company has managed thus far,” Mohan exults. “We already had Adidas and Red Bull being associated with Starsports.com and within the next four to six weeks, we are sure to get more brands on-board with the announcement of the IPL streaming rights. Also, we will be having a lot of action for fans with the Asia Cup, the ICC T-20 World Cup in March and moving onto the IPL in April and May. So with a fully packed calendar for the next three and a half months, advertisers are keen to come on board.”

     

    On the subject of IPL streaming rights, Mohan believes that despite the five-minute delay in streaming, IPL is sure to generate a lot of viewership on the digital platform.

     

    “There is a habit of watching the event on the mobile and other portable devices, so the idea is to leverage our platform and provide a much better consumer experience and advertising solution and deploy it for IPL where there is already a habit and increase the numbers even more as against last year,” says he.

     

    Again, IPL isn’t the only such property available on starsports.com; the site also streams as many as six to seven matches of the Barclays Premiere League (BPL) at one time. “We also show Sierra and La Liga matches along with F1 and the Australian Open. During the grand slam, we witnessed a spike of 200,000 users in a day coming on the back of the Open. Cricket will continue to be our cornerstone but we will also generate focus and engagement in other sports,” says Mohan.

     

    Any discussion on the success story of starsports.com would be incomplete without a reference to ‘The Sachin Memory Project’, one of the website’s biggest and most innovative online campaigns around cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar.

     

    “The idea was to be distinctive at the same time connect the master blaster with his fans. So starsports.com believed that the best way to create that connect would be to make a timeline of all the major events of Tendulkar’s career and best innings with the support of archival videos,” recalls Mohan, pointing out that the engagement reached such levels that people tried to think back and see where they were when Tendulkar broke a certain record. “The reason for calling it ‘The Memory Project’ came across well and we achieved what we had set out for!” he exclaims. Starsports.com had nearly four million visitors during the India-West Indies series, largely on the back of this innovation.

     

    Mohan is happy with the way things have shaped up. “We have already made strides on unchartered territory and it would be really difficult for anyone to find a digital service on sports that has created a great video player and gives HD quality output,” says he. Currently, the site has video content across cricket, football, tennis, hockey and F1 but is looking at what consumers want and intends to bring back discontented sports fans who aren’t satisfied with the digital content provided by others. “We will add new sports and improve the consumer experience, and try and reach out to people with lesser bandwidth as well and provide equal quality of content,” says Mohan of the company’s future plans.

     

    Plans are afoot to provide short clips which allow consumers to pick up the best moments in the match which they either missed or would love to relive. Providing ample visibility for advertisers is also on the cards. “We do believe that going forward, a lot of the brands will be looking to build traction on the digital platform and we want to provide such a platform where advertisers feel their products and brands will get proper visibility and the right value,” he signs off.

  • 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.

     

  • Star India partners with Times Internet to distribute IPL on digital in India

    Star India partners with Times Internet to distribute IPL on digital in India

    MUMBAI: Star India has licensed the digital distribution rights for IPL 2014 from Times Internet, the digital arm of the Times of India Group. Star India will offer streaming and video on demand on starsports.com, the Star Sports app, and on mobile operator services powered by Star Sports. Times Internet will distribute IPL streaming and video on demand on its cricket destination on web and mobile, powered by a starsports.com video player. Both companies will market the joint proposition, and Star India will be solely responsible for monetisation, including advertising sales.

     

    Last year, IPL online witnessed a 56 per cent growth in unique visitors, with over 200 million video views. This year, India’s largest media houses will co-distribute IPL, offering unparalleled reach and viewership.

     
    The move deepens Star’s commitment to dramatically shape the sports experience on digital. Launched in June 2013, starsports.com has become the go-to destination for following the best of international sports. It has redefined the sports experience through a revolutionary video timeline that is a first of its kind in the world of sports, and allows the viewer to keep track of live sports as well as catch up on games with ease. The company has also built an advanced technology infrastructure that enables HD quality streaming across multiple devices.

     
    “At a time when more and more fans are following sports across multiple screens, our aim is to deliver an experience for them that is even better than what is on television. This partnership signals our continuing efforts to transform sports and the digital experience, ”said Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Operating Officer of Star India. “We want to make IPL the world’s largest sporting event on a digital platform this year.”

     
    Satyan Gajwani, Chief Executive Officer of Times Internet, said, “We have been offering our users IPL for three years, and it continues to be a major driver in consumption and brand, recognized as one of the largest online video events worldwide with rapid growth. Our partnership with Star will enable an even larger reach for the property across digital devices.”

     
    starsports.com is India’s first multi-sports digital service with availability across the web and mobile. Powered by live and video rights, it covers the best of world sports including major cricket tournaments, BPL, La Liga and Serie A in football, F1, hockey and tennis.

     
    Times Internet is the largest Indian online media entity, with over 40 million monthly visitors across its numerous digital destinations. Its portfolio includes news, lifestyle content, entertainment, ecommerce, mobile VAS, music & movie streaming, and local services.

     

  • The year of big movie acquisitions

    The year of big movie acquisitions

    By Neeraj Vyas

    If we were to reflect on the landmark moments of 2013, we could proudly say that it has been an impactful year with many highs. To start off, Indian Cinema celebrated 100 years of diverse and distinctive movies. It is a momentous occasion for the world’s largest producer of feature films with over 1200 releases a year in more than 25 languages. The casts got bigger, the designing of the film got more glamorous, the locations more exotic and the technical values are at par with anywhere else in the world.  

    On the flip side, most of this additional cost was passed on the broadcaster and acquisitions became hugely expensive. Surprisingly, these high costs have not deterred many broadcasters from acquiring big banner films at pre-production stage even though it is almost impossible to gauge how well the film will be received by television audiences. In future, movie deals will probably be governed by the revenue generated at the box office.

    On the digital front too, the channel focused on building its brand equity and connect, apart from trying to keep strengthening the positioning of the brand.With competition within channels heating up to garner maximum viewership, the stakes attached to such upmarket films has evolved to be much more complicated than it has been in previous years. Marketing budgets for the television premiers of these films is something which has seen a huge increase with each channel upping the level of spends and trying to be distinctively innovative with each premier. For Aashiqui 2, the biggest romantic musical of the year, at MAX, we raised the bar for marketing innovations across all mediums of communication. The channel engaged with its viewers across all platforms – print, online and outdoors raising to a crescendo with the stars of the movie engaging with some lucky viewers thereby creating a much required stickiness for the brand. The main aim was to attract fresh viewers and entice older ones to watch the film again.

    The digital space is constantly evolving and our endeavour is to customise everything we do on the digital platform. Some of the innovations on the social platform were the IPL Jhumping Jhapak app. Also, MAX was the first Hindi movie channel to integrate live tweets on Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

    From an overall industry perspective, I feel the highpoint was the rollout of digitisation across the country in phases. Although much delayed and slower than anticipated, it opened out a whole new opportunity for channels to increase shelf space. The proposed ad cap pushed many networks to launch new channels to adequately maximise their inventory supply. At MAX, our focus was to consciously deliver better films and energise the brand to engage with our loyal viewers.  

    Looking forward, the film channels will also need to re-evaluate the way advertising is sold so that the true value is gained in return for the delivery of this product to large chunks of audiences.

    (Neeraj Vyas is senior VP and business head, Sony Max. The views expressed in the above article are the author’s personal views)