ITV

Tag: MS Dhoni

  • Zee Media refutes Jindal allegations

    Zee Media refutes Jindal allegations

    MUMBAI: Last week, the Election Commission of India (ECI) had on a complaint filed by Congress member of parliament Naveen Jindal, asked the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) to take action against Zee Media Corporation.

     

    Jindal alleged that Zee News and Zee Business had been airing defamatory, false and misleading news items about him and his company Jindal Steel and Power. Now, the broadcaster has sent petitions to both, the ECI and the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) to restrain Jindal from defaming the channel through social media on a matter that is pending before the NBSA.

     

    The network claims that it is being targeted by Jindal through social media. Another petition was filed to highlight that a section of the media was publishing incorrect and irrelevant information on the matter against Zee Media.

     

    It is also in the process of filing its response to a notice that had been sent to it by the NBSA on request by the ECI for which it had been given a deadline of 14 days.

     

    The company spokesperson stated, “As a responsible media house, we will surely address the issue and will share all relevant information with the NBSA. We will also provide the association with all relevant evidence as and when required by it.” The channel says it had recently covered an incident of a heated conversation between Jindal and local people during his election campaign. 

     

    Zee Media and Naveen Jindal have been embroiled in a fight since 2012 when Jindal accused the channel of asking him for a bribe to not telecast a negative story about him. Recently, Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni also filed a case against Zee Media for airing defamatory remarks about his involvement in the IPL scam.

  • Star India’s Rs 20,000 crore sports gamble

    Star India’s Rs 20,000 crore sports gamble

    MUMBAI: That Star India is betting big on sports is well-known. How big the bet it is placing is now becoming clear.

    The News Corp-owned media and entertainment leader in India today announced that it is committed to invest Rs 20,000 crore in building the sports business in India. The investment will be used to fuel the expansion of sports coverage in the country as well as in building exciting new leagues including the Indian Super League in football, the Hockey India League and the Indian Badminton League over the next few years, it stated.

    Simultaneous with this announcement, the network today unveiled a new brand for Star Sports across six TV channels – Star Sports 1,2,3,4, HD1 and HD2 and its online portal starsports.com.

    The new logo is a metallic silver star with an incandescent swoosh of colours symbolising the authority and passion of sports with the powerful slugline – “Believe.”
    Uday Shankar is investing big in building a sports ecosystem in India

     “Cricket is too big to be confined to just one channel. Today, we are redoubling our efforts to showcase the best of Indian and international cricket to the sports fan. We will cover more of it, have wider coverage, go deeper, use multiple languages and take it beyond television,” says Star India CEO Uday Shankar in a press release. “The new brand is also about showcasing our commitment to other sports. While cricket will be central to our approach, we will also be faithful to our role as a sports broadcaster and bring in the best of local and world sports to India, whether in soccer, hockey, badminton, tennis, F1 or the many other sports that fans in India are deeply passionate about.”

    He adds: “For us, this is not just about being the country’s leading sports broadcaster. We want to build a platform that will help nurture heroes out of the millions of passionate, young sports fans across India. We want sports to be the trigger for creating and nurturing outstanding new opportunities for India’s youth. And today, we are signalling that we are deeply committed to making this transformation happen, through our investments, our ideas and our efforts.”

    As of midnight 6 November, the six channels under the erstwile ESPN-Star Sports umbrella will give way to new brands. Star Sports will be called Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2 remains Star Spots 2, Star Cricket will become Star Sports 3, ESPN will be rebranded as Star Sports 4, Star Cricket HD will become Star Sports HD1 and ESPN HD will be renamed as Star Sports HD2.

    The big change really is with Star Sports 3, India’s first 24×7 Hindi sports channel with content, graphics and shows in Hindi.  It hopes that this push into Hindi will dramatically increase the reach of sports in India where it says less than 10 per cent of the populace understands English and a much smaller number are native speakers. Star Sports has seen success in Hindi commentary with Hindi now accounting for 70 per cent share of all viewership in the recently concluded CLT20 series.

     
    A high decibel promotional campaign has been drawn up featuring MS Dhoni as its first brand ambassador

    In addition to this, the Star Sports network said that it will be showcasing new non-live programming and new shows and formats which will run into more than 5,000 hours of content, including around 200 days of live cricket annually.  Amongst these is a half hour show called Star Power which will give comprehensive updates, insight and analysis and will be telecast twice a day at 8:00 pm and 10:30 pm on Star Sports 3 all seven days of the week.

    On the digital front, Star India is aggressively reaching out to young, ardent sports fans who want to access sports across screens. The digital service offers a variety of sports including cricket, soccer and F1, in HD quality streaming. The service has received exceptionally positive consumer feedback for its revolutionary timeline (a first for cricket anywhere in the world) that gives the fan complete control of how he wants to view his favourite games, whether for live or catch-up.

    A high decibel promotional campaign has been drawn up featuring MS Dhoni as its first brand ambassador. The campaign, says the network, urges India to “Believe” and it outlines the beliefs that have made M S Dhoni one of the most iconic heroes of our time. It will run on the Star network’s 33 channels and rolls out on 6 November when India tunes into watch Sachin Tendulkar play the last series of his career.
    Star has the right pedigree to pull off healthy returns for the huge investments it is putting into sports says Ashish Bhasin

    Star’s sports gamble is getting praise from senior media professionals.

    “It is a very professional and calculated move to get deeper into sports and into developing niche sports.  The channels are already established with viewers as they have been around for a long time and the rebranding and promotion will only deepen the connect with them,” says Aegis Group chairman India & CEO south east Asia Ashish Bhasin.  “Star is putting its money where its mouth is and it has the right pedigree to pull off healthy returns for the huge investments it is putting into sports.”

  • ESPN Star Sports gives English football league the Hindi touch

    ESPN Star Sports gives English football league the Hindi touch

    MUMBAI:  ESPN Star Sports seems to be scoring well with its viewers with the telecast of Barclays Premier League (BPL) this year. And it’s no plain statement. The broadcaster which is airing the football league in both English and Hindi this season says it has seen a 254 per cent jump in its ratings on the inaugural day. Not only this, it points out that it has recorded a 105 per cent increase in the time spent per viewer on the inaugural day.

     

    The league which went on air from 17 August on Star Sports and Star Cricket has also been made available in Hindi for the first time. “We believe there is a huge potential for growth in football viewership and that Indian fans would love to consume non-cricket sports as well if the product is packaged well, communicated and presented in an interesting manner,” said ESPN Software India COO Vijay Rajput.

    It is important to explain the live action in a language and idiom which is clearly understandable by the viewers expounds Vijay Rajput.

     

    According to the data received by Indiantelevision.com, BPL’s viewership in the 15 plus age group of men in the ABC segment rose from the previous season’s 324 TVTs (esimated) to 760 TVTs. Day 1 of the league saw it record a reported 206 per cent increase in its reach. The stickiness among the football crazy fans has also witnessed a jump in the league this time around. Though last year the inaugural matches of BPL recorded 10 minute TSV (Time Spent viewing), this year it went up to 16 minutes – a rise of 105 per cent.

     

    The launch of BPL in Hindi is in-line with the channel’s strategy of pushing multi-lingual content. “The focus on English commentary/graphics by sports broadcasters till date has been a big deterrent in the growth in viewership. For viewers to understand the nuances of football and the league itself, we feel it is important to explain the live action in a language and idiom which is clearly understandable to one and all,” stated Rajput.

     

    The Hindi commentary is in addition to the English commentary which will also be available for all the televised matches from the full season. Under the dual audio feed system,DTH/digital subscribers can choose the language of their preference.

     

    ESPN Star Sports has decided to select two matches every week and telecast them in Hindi and English. “We are targeting to telecast close to 140 matches live with Hindi commentary in this season. In addition, almost 50 matches with Hindi commentary will have delayed telecast. So, overall about 190 matches would be covered with Hindi commentary,” he informed.

     

    The sportscaster caster has identified UK based commentators of Indian origin who will describe the proceedings on the field in Hindi for BPL. The Hindi commentary is being done from the stadium itself. “For viewers to understand the nuances of soccer and the league itself, we feel it is important to explain the live action in a language and idiom which is clearly understandable to one and all.”

     

    A three-pronged strategy has been put in place to promote the BPL: this includes: appointing MS Dhoni as its brand ambassador, covering select matches with Hindi commentary and have non-live Hindi programming around the tournament to ensure that more and more sports fans sample and understand the league’s nuances, its clubs and its stars.

     

    “We roped in Dhoni as the brand ambassador to excite sports fans who consume a lot of cricket to sample BPL as well with an ultimate objective of expanding the fan base of BPL in the country,” he informed.

     

    ESPN Star Sports has launched a mix of shows based on highlights/goals/review and preview of the latest in BPL which will be showcased week on week through the season.

     

    “We started off with six episodes of a buildup show ‘Superstar Football’ which focuses on multiple facets of the league – famous owners, top clubs and top players in the league etc. We will also showcase highlight shows of BPL in Hindi through the season. This fast paced snapshot of happenings in BPL will make for interesting television,” informed Rajput.

     

    The broadcaster is also looking at magazine shows every week, which will be a review of the season gone-by and a preview of the coming week’s matches. “This show will have colour/ feature stories from BPL.We will also telecast a half an hour show on goals every week. All the Hindi programming around BPL will be produced in India.”

     

    The work done around BPL has helped the broadcaster in not only receiving good ratings, but has also lured in the advertising dollars.   “We have received a very positive advertiser interest for this season. Even before the start of the league, we had monetised close to 85 per cent of the annual available inventory,” he informed. Tata Motors, Pernod Ricard, Adidas, Tata Teleservices, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul) and Nokia India are some of the big names to have come on board as associate sponsors on-air for the live telecast.

     

    ESPN Star Sports tack to go local with Hindi commentary simulcast has found favour with cricket fans by contributing 40 per cent of the overall ratings for the India-Australia test series. The test series delivered an average rating of 2.05 TVR which was the highest average rating for a test series played by India in the past four years. “We also had a very successful inaugural season of the Hero Hockey India League in both Hindi and English, which delivered an impressive reach of 41.4 million.”

     

    With even the on-going IBL which is being showcased in both Hindi and English, the sportscaster is surely eyeing an eyepopping increase in viewership numbers. It clearly is serving (its customers we mean) right.

  • Nargis Fakhri to endorse Reebok

    Nargis Fakhri to endorse Reebok

    MUMBAI: International premium fitness brand Reebok on Monday announced that it has signed up Bollywood actor and fitness icon Nargis Fakhri as its women’s fitness ambassador to reinforce its commitment to women fitness enthusiasts in India.

    Nargis will represent the brand for their ‘Studio’ category, an innovative line of products focused on dance, aerobics and yoga designed especially for the women consumers.

    Talking about the association, Adidas Group India MD Erick Haskell said, “Through our recent association with John Abraham as the brand’s new men’s fitness ambassador and now with Nargis Fakhri coming on board as the women’s ambassador, we aim to engage the customer at every touch point and encourage them to adopt the philosophy of Fit for Life.”

    Sharing her thoughts, Nargis said: “Being fit is not just about working out and looking good, it’s about having a positive attitude, making the right fitness choices and participating in activities one enjoys. I am looking forward to this association and hope to build a positive momentum for the brand and for women’s fitness in India.”

    Reebok’s other high profile brand ambassadors include ace cricketers Captain MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Unmukt Chand, hockey majors Sandeep Singh and Sardar Singh, fitness trainers Piyush Pandey and Dheepesh Bhatt and Bollywood actor John Abraham.

    Studio is a new collection of women shoes which targets fitness freaks who practice dance, aerobics and yoga. Adidas Group India‘s MD Erick Haskell revealed that the new collection symbolises aspiring and fun loving personas and hence Nargis has been signed for this product.

  • Pepsi dominates social media conversations during IPL6

    MUMBAI: Pepsi‘s aggressive Rs 1.5 billion marketing pitch around the Indian Premier League (IPL) seems to be paying rich dividends. The food and beverage major is not only scoring over other IPL sponsors and advertisers on-ground and television but also on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

    According to MEC-GroupM IPL6 Social Media Update report, Pepsi leads the conversations with 93 per cent share primarily driven by #PepsiIPL on Twitter.

    In terms of chatter around TV commercials of sponsors, Pepsi‘s Ranbir Kapoor and Oh Yes Abhi ads dominate with 62 per cent share of conversations. Vodafone‘s Zoo zoos follow with 22 per cent while Godrej (Aamir Khan) and Samsung are distant third and fourth at 4.3 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively.

    Powered by GroupM‘s Social Hub, the weekly update will present analysis of the social chatter around the IPL. The study covers the complete spectrum of social media – Twitter, Facebook, blogs and message boards.

    MEC India MD T Gangadhar said, “Multi-screen engagement is a reality today and social media chatter is a terrific indication of how invested we are in premier TV events like the IPL. This study throws up interesting insights with regard to teams, players and brands and can be enormously useful for advertisers seeking to ride the IPL wave.”

    When it comes to IPL franchises, Mumbai Indians dominate the conversations with a 22 per cent share of buzz, followed by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with 19 per cent. IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders has just 5 per cent share of the conversations on Twitter.

    When it comes to player buzz, CSK skipper MS Dhoni leads the popularity chart with 22 per cent share. Three out of the top five most discussed are foreign players Kieron Pollard (15 per cent), Chris Gayle (11 per cent) and Dale Steyn (9 per cent).

    At fourth position is Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid with 10 per cent share followed by Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar with a 7 per cent share.

    The report says that the IPL 6 got off to a tepid start on until the CSK Vs MI which just 43 per cent of IPL chatter that week (April 2 to April 7) happened on the day of the CSK-MI game.

    MEC national director – Social Media and Insights Karthik Nagarajan said, “In India, prime-time television is becoming prime time for social media as well – with sports, news and reality television driving maximum chatter during ‘air time‘. Nothing demonstrates this more than IPL6, where platforms like Twitter and FB are becoming conversation capital and virtual stadiums during the game. The opportunities for advertisers to join these conversations organically are priceless.”

  • Reebok to launch “Live with Fire” campaign

    Mumbai: Reebok is all set to launch its new, fully-integrated marketing campaign – “Live with Fire”, continuing the brand‘s mission to change how people perceive and experience fitness.

    With this campaign, Reebok shows how living an active lifestyle can inspire people to live their lives with passion, intent and purpose – and inspire others to do the same.

    In addition to featuring Reebok‘s core pillars of training and running, the campaign reinforces Reebok‘s commitment to women‘s fitness through the introduction of its Dance and Yoga collections, as well as a renewed focus on walking.

    The campaign builds off the brand‘s 2012 campaign, “The Sport of Fitness Has Arrived,” which featured CrossFit as a symbol of the rapidly changing fitness landscape. The campaign illustrated how CrossFit builds community and confidence and fosters a spirit of competition and camaraderie.

    Reebok India brand director Steve Mc Phereson said, “In a recent study we undertook to discover Fitness Trends with Indian consumers, it was found that while Indian males are actively pursuing running and “Gymming”, women were fulfilling their fitness needs through dance, yoga, aerobics and walking. The Reebok House of Fitness addresses all these categories and more through specially designed product and marketing. Through our attitude of Live with Fire we intend to ignite all of these categories and build sustainable success stories.”

    “Live With Fire” campaign rolls out with a 360 degree launch plan covering TV, Out of Home, Digital, Print and Events and Activations.

    Reebok‘s core technology product – Realflex – positioned as the ideal training footwear is the main product focus of the campaign which is scheduled to go live soon.

    Reebok‘s new marketing campaign takes innovation a notch higher with exciting initiatives packed across all media tools. While the brand intends to cut the clutter through impactful and larger than life moving shoe cut-outs in outdoor and one-of-kind fitness activation on digital, it is also engaging the target audience through associations with gyms like Fitness First and Sport Fit by MSD.

    Also, Reebok will be launching an Online Flash Mob “Ignite the Fitness Fire” – a mobile application that will encourage users to step into a Fitness Zone like Gyms/Parks and win rewards while competing with MS Dhoni and beating him in the challenge.

    The app will be available on Apple and Android devices as well as online on Facebook.

  • Pepsi launches ad campaign with new brand ambassador Unmukt Chand

    MUMBAI: Pepsi has launched the second leg of ‘Oh Yes Abhi!‘ ad campaign featuring the Under-19 Indian Cricket Team captain Unmukt Chand as its new brand ambassador.

    Chand features in the ad-film that brings alive the ultimate face-off between him and the captain of the Indian cricket team MS Dhoni along with Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina. The fun and entertaining campaign captures their impatient moments and promises to leave the audiences engaged like never before.

    PepsiCo India senior director – marketing (Colas, Juices and Hydration) Homi Battiwalla said, “Pepsi is known to be the first brand to identify youth icons early in time and tap talent with tremendous potential and credibility. We are proud to associate with Unmukt Chand, who truly reflects Pepsi‘s Oh Yes Abhi! attitude and are confident that he will lead the next-generation of players who personify the same philosophy. He is eager to be a part of the Indian cricket team and is performing consistently to achieve his goals… we wish him all the best and look forward to an exciting journey with him”.

    “Our latest campaign takes forward the ‘Oh Yes Abhi‘ philosophy and brings alive Unmukt‘s impatient moments in his first ever ad-film with MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina. The film showcases the young emerging star impatient to be a part of the Indian cricket team which exemplifies our positioning in a fun and exciting manner,” he further added.

    The TVC brings alive Pepsi‘s youthful irreverence and demonstrates the â€?Oh Yes Abhi!‘ moments of these Pepsi brand ambassadors and youth icons.

    Chand is shown waiting impatiently, all anxious to get hold of a Pepsi bottle, while Dhoni, Kohli and Raina are also waiting to get their hands on it. What one sees next is an entertaining war of words between the youth icons and the rising star.

    The campaign has been created by Pepsi‘s creative AoR JWT.
    JWT India ECD Surjo Dutt said, “The young cricket star Unmukt shows his impatient side in a refreshing and cool manner, bringing alive the philosophy of Oh Yes Abhi!.”

    The campaign takes forward Pepsi‘s new journey in India with a refreshed new positioning and belief – “Oh Yes Abhi!”. To bring it alive for consumers, the brand had launched a mega campaign starring Ranbir Kapoor, Dhoni and Priyanka Chopra last month that captured their impatient moments.

  • Saina enters big league with Rs 400 mn endorsement contract

    MUMBAI: Saina Nehwal has added another feather to her cap. After becoming the first Indian badminton player to break into the Rs 10 million endorsement bracket, the badminton sensation has inked a multi-million rupee deal with Delhi-based sports management company Rhiti Sports, which also manages the lucrative endorsement contract of Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni.

    As part of the three-year endorsement contract valued at Rs 400 million, Rhiti Sports will now manage Saina‘s endorsements and brand associations, corporate profile, patents and digital rights, images and all other commercial rights exclusively.

    The deal will catapult the world number 4 ranked badminton player into the big league of celebrity endorsement market dominated by the likes of Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

    Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures (DCSV), the sports vertical of crisis-ridden Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL), was the incumbent agency managing Nehwal‘s sponsorship. DCSV had in 2009 signed a three-year contract with Saina which ended on 1 September.

    According to Indian Express, the deal will make Saina the highest earning badminton player in the world ahead of top badminton players like Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei who earn Rs 128 million and Rs 87 million respectively.

    “I am very happy to be associated with Rhiti Sports and look forward to starting a working relationship with them. With Rhiti‘s background and credibility, they know how to balance things and that is a big plus point,” said Saina.

    “The strides Rhiti has taken in the Sports industry in recent times made it an easy choice for me. I would like to also thank, Mr Vinod Dhawan, Vice President Badminton Association of India, who played a key role in helping form this association,” she added.

    Currently, Saina has nine endorsements in her kitty which includes Airtel, Yonex, Fortune oil, Indian Overseas Bank, Whisper, Emami Fast Relief, Herbalife, Jaypee Cements and Top Ramen noodles.

    Rhiti Sports President & MD Arun Pandey said: “We are delighted to have Saina on board, who has brought great pride to the nation with her exploits. We are proud to be associated with someone who is not only a youth icon for women in the country but has also done a lot for Badminton as a sport.

    “She has placed India on the World Map for Badminton and changed the outlook of people in India towards the sport. We will use all our knowledge and expertise, and make this partnership a very fruitful one indeed,” he added.

    Rhiti Sports had in 2010 signed a Rs 2.1 billion three year endorsement contract with Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni which took him ahead of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who had signed Rs 1.8 billion deal with Iconix, which has since then become a part of World Sport Group.

  • Pepsi rolls out new ad campaign with Ranbir Kapoor & MS Dhoni

    MUMBAI: Being one of the global sponsors of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 Sri Lanka, Pepsi has launched its latest campaign that aims to celebrate the nation‘s zeal for the sport and more so the format.

    The campaign has been created and conceptualised by Pepsi‘s creative agency, JWT.

    The new commercial for Twenty20 cricket brings Ranbir Kapoor and Mahendra Singh Dhoni together on-screen. According to the official statement, the campaign revolves around the “passion” of the cricket fans who enjoy watching the format with the same irrepressible and unorthodox fervour reflected in the cricketers‘ game on-field. A cricket fan himself, Ranbir shows the cricketers, including Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina the ‘Na Tameez‘ the irreverent and zany side of T20 fans.

    The campaign shows that Twenty20 is not played by the rules. It says- Yeh T20 hai boss… na tameez se khela jaata hai… na tameez se dekha jaata hai!

    PepsiCo India senior director – marketing (Colas, Juices and Hydration) Homi Battiwalla said, “Pepsi is strongly associated with cricket in India and we are delighted to be one of the global sponsors of ICC World Twenty20 2012 Sri Lanka. Our ‘Change the Game‘ campaign last year celebrated everything unorthodox about the way the sport is played; this year, we take forward the same philosophy and extend it to the millions of cricket fans in our country. In true Pepsi style, the campaign is irreverent and the Indian cricket fans, led by Ranbir Kapoor show how they Change the Game off-field”.

    “Our latest commercial for Pepsi focuses on the excitement and thrill with which the sport is viewed by millions of its fans in India and celebrates their passion in a never seen before manner. Just the way the Twenty20 format has bent the traditional rules; Indian cricket fans have bent the rules to watch the sport in their own irreverent style. Ranbir and Dhoni for the first time together is the added bonus and if I may add… their chemistry is sizzling”, JWT India executive creative director Surjo Dutt added.

    The ad film opens with the shot of a bus taking the cricketers breaking down in a busy neighbourhood. Suddenly, Ranbir Kapoor appears from top of the bus and starts interacting with the cricketers. They are taken by surprise when other fans in the area also join Ranbir to demonstrate their fun response to the cricketers‘ playing format and some of their favourite shots. Witnessing the absolute craziness of the fans around, Dhoni finally asks Ranbir – “yaar yeh kya tameez hai?” to which the young actor responds in a quirky manner, ‘Yeh T20 hai boss, na tameez se khela jaata hai and then he‘s joined by the fans who say, ‘na tameez se dekha jaata hai‘.

    Additionally, the brand is launching a contest on Facebook wherein they will be asked to answer two questions to be eligible to win passes for the ICC World Twenty20, scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka from September 18. 39 lucky winners will get opportunity to watch the India matches live.

    Several initiatives on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Mobile are being launched with an aim to change the way the consumers watch, cheer and listen to the sport. In addition, Pepsi had also launched a branded smart phone application in India.

    The media agency working on the account is Mindshare.
     

  • India England series averages 3.09 TVR

    India England series averages 3.09 TVR

    MUMBAI: With India whitewashing England 5-0 at home during the ODI series the ratings showed a big improvement compared to the away series in England where Dhoni‘s boys had lost 3-0.

    TAM data (c&s4+ all India) shows that the five matches at home averaged a TVR of 3.09 on Neo Cricket. Compared to that the ODI series in England on Star Cricket had averaged at a 1.79 TVR.
     
    For the series at home viewership grew as the series progressed. This could be attributed to some initial pessimism about how India would perform. The first two matches averaged 2.50 TVR. After that the interest picked up in a serious manner. The third ODI which saw India wrap up the series fared the best by getting a TVR of 3.64. The last three ODIs each managed a TVR of over 3.

    MPG India senior director R Venkatasubramanian said that while the delivery was okay given the price paid he was disappointed that the ratings did not touch at least five. “Given that India dominated the performance should have been better. However if India‘s performance continues to improve then viewers will get back into cricket,” he said.