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Tag: Nimbus

  • ‘Consolidation good for the sports broadcasting business’

    ‘Consolidation good for the sports broadcasting business’

    2006 has been a rocky year for sports broadcasters. Cricket properties were acquired at humungous prices, SET India decided to walk out of bidding wars, Harish Thawani made his entry into the broadcasting arena and Zee bought 50 per cent in Ten Sports.

     

    ESPN Software India MD RC Venkateish offers his views on the consolidation in sports broadcasting, the challenges broadcasters face in pushing sports other than cricket, the need to come out with sports entertainment programming, and the Cas issue.

     

    Over the past few years we have seen a proliferation of sports channels but 2006 was a year when we saw consolidation. You had Zee buying a stake in Ten Sports while Sony opted out of sports. Nimbus is also in the process of aligning itself. This happened because earlier you had an unsustainable situation where a lot of people jumped onto the sports bandwagon thinking that it was an easy play.

     

    People have realised that it is not that easy to run a sports channel. This is because of the kind of skill sets that are required, the capabilities that are required and also the kind of investments that need to be sustained.

     

    Going forward you will see moderation in the sports business. You will see the crazy escalation in rights prices starting to cool down a bit. People are starting to get more realistic. In terms of overall developments of the business, consolidation is good.

     

    You earlier had smaller players jumping in and bidding the rights prices to crazy levels. There was a destabilising factor in terms of asset valuations. When asset valuations reach a ridiculous level you are bound to have a correction. This sort of a boom-bust cycle is not good for anybody’s business. People who tried to take acquisition prices up, have realised that it is not an easy game to play. Now the players who are standing are serious and committed. The environment is stable with players who are in it for the long haul and looking to increase their brand equity rather than a quick fire in and out situation.

     

    Consolidation means that the model of let me set up something sell it and get out is gone. A stable environment will allow the players to invest in broadcast quality, programme content. We can focus on better quality of coverage for the viewer rather than saying,”Hi I am blowing your brains out on the rights acquisition costs.” From a five-player field it has been reduced to three and possible eventually to two.

     

    Sports Entertainment

     

    Sports is entertainment. There are wrap around shows around content. What we have sought to bring to the viewers is 360 degree spectrum of sports. We have always had magazine programmes, informative shows. We recently launched a lighthearted programme revolving around sports. The main theme, though, will always be live sports. Around that we try to build properties and shows. Anything that seeks to enhance the understanding of sports and inform the viewer provides a different angle.

     

    This space needs to surround the live programming. It cannot act as a substitute. As an exclusive standalone as a channel or as a genre I do not think that sports entertainment will have any legs. Recently, one of the players launched a live sports channel and another channel on sports entertainment. Yet if you see the second channel it too has live sports. They probably couldn’t find enough software. That is not to say they will not create software but it is important to find a proper balance. At ESPN we have added concepts like dream job, Full Toss to the live experience.

     

    Sports federations need to get their act together

     

    International football is doing well with the soccer World Cup and English Premier League. The World Cup gave ratings that have not been seen for a non cricket sport. We had all India ratings of 2.6 and 3.1 for some of the league games. Unfortunately, the ratings for the rest of the stuff has been middling. That has to do with the lack of performance at the international level by sportspeople. I remember that two years ago when Sania Mirza came to the third round of the Australian Open the ratings shot up to 1.1.

     

    Unfortunately she has not been able to maintain that sort of form and the ratings have dipped. Premier Hockey League has given us ratings but because the national side has not been performing their matches have not fared well. Unless you perform at an international level it is hard to capture the imagination of the public.

     

    People want to emulate winners not losers. If you do not do well then there is no new pipeline of young talent who wants to play the sport. Eventually the sport dies out. We are doing our bit to push hockey and soccer. Having said that, sports federations need to have a deep, hard look at themselves. People need to fundamentally overhaul the system. Otherwise it is not going to go anywhere. It has been like this for the last 40 years. It will be like this for the next 40 years. Cricket at the moment does not face challenges. You have a good set of players as well as youngsters who want to take it up. So the pipeline is active.

     

    Certainly in other sports when it comes to marketing it is a challenge. With hockey we have to fight the dice a little bit as the national team’s performance has been bad. If India had won the Asian Games or even finished as runners up, there would have been a positive groundswell of support for the game. Marketing is a lot easier if the national team is doing well. Hopefully, people will put the bad performance of the Indian hockey team behind them and watch PHL for the love of the game itself and not for the satisfaction of one team beating another. In the UK local soccer league games have more viewership than some international matches.

     

    2007 A big revenue boost for sports

     

    Sports is event driven. You have the cricket World Cup coming up. So there will be a boost. Then there is the 20/20 World Cup in September. India goes to England and to Australia. We also tour Pakistan. So there is a fair amount of cricket. It compares favourably to this year when there was the soccer World Cup and the Champions Trophy.

     

    Distribution

     

    DTH has been around for quite a while and is a good development. It offers an alternative to the consumer and it is digital telecast. It is good that sports are airing in a format that is clearer to see. We welcome Cas from a technology perspective. The only thing that we are unhappy about is the kind of price regulation that has been forced down our throat. We will get 45 per cent of Rs 5 per subscriber, which is two rupees and forty-five paisa. This is absurdity that defies even basic, cursory logic. It is extremely unfair and we have already appealed to TDSAT. It has always been seen that free market forces are the best even for the consumers eventually.

    To interfere with that is always going to be a recipe for disaster. DTH and Cas address single subscribers and provide content for that subscriber. We are already providing interactive services to both Dish TV
    and Tata Sky. This allows viewers to check out rolling highlights, players statistics, different camera angles. As the transponder capacity goes up, it will afford the opportunity for more data. We have the rights for Euro 2008 and so the DTH service providers will probably come to us to see if we could do something with them.

  • Nimbus signs TV deal with Kenya Cricket

    Nimbus signs TV deal with Kenya Cricket

    MUMBAI: Nimbus Sport has signed a six-year TV rights deal with Kenya Cricket for the management of commercial and television rights.

    In addition to the huge one India Nimbus also has the rights to Bangladesh cricket. Media reports indicate that the deal is worth around $150,000 per year.

    The news comes after the board had spent months trying to persuade people to invest in the national game. The current Cricket Kenya board, which took office in May 2005, had struggled to cast off the legacy of the old regime, but this deal could open the door to more sponsorships and take Kenyan cricket forward after three or four years in the doldrums.

    Nimbus have the rights to the Afro-Asia Cup as well. It managed sponsorship sales for Zimbabwe Cricket for the Zimbabwe-Bangladesh series in 2006.

    Nimbus Sport CEO Digvijay Singh was quoted in reports saying that the firm believes that Kenya has the potential for being an ideal and active cricketing destination. “The combination of picturesque grounds, relaxed ambience and quality cricket along with extremely attractive tourism destinations presents immense marketing potential and opportunities.”

  • Zee, Ten-Infront, Nimbus table ICC global rights bids

    Zee, Ten-Infront, Nimbus table ICC global rights bids

    MUMBAI: The bidding for the audio-visual rights for International Cricket Council (ICC) conducted events from late 2007 to 2015 is certainly not going according to the expected script. For starters, there have only been three global bids tabled and a significant absentee from the list is ESPN Star Sports.

    As it turns out, two of the global rights bidders — Zee Telefilms and Ten Sports-Infront — are acting in consort while the third contender is the now familiar name in all matters cricketing — Harish Thawani’s Nimbus.

    As for ESPN Star Sports, sources familiar with the developments say it has tabled a territory bid that covers the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East.

    Confirmed bids have also come in from DirecTV (North America); a combined bid by Supersport and SABC (South Africa Broadcast Corporation) for the Africa territory; News Corp’s Sky for the UK; Geo TV (for the Pakistan territory); and ARY for Middle East/Pakistan/ Europe and UK.

    Another likely bidder is Channel 9/Fox for Australia.

    ZEE’S GLOBAL BID $ 620 MILLION?

    What seems to be emerging out of all this is that the fears of “crazy bidding” that Set India CEO Kunal Dasgupta expressed, which ultimately kept Sony out of the bid process altogether, might well prove unfounded.

    This is best exemplified by the comments Zee Telefilms CMD Subhash Chandra made in an interview to business news channel CNBC TV18 following that announcement that his company had taken a 50 per cent controlling stake in Taj Television, the Dubai-based holding company that owns and operates Ten Sports.

    Asked a direct question as to whether Zee’s bid was above or below $ 750 million, Chandra stated it was well below that. The figure Zee has bid is in the region of $ 620 million, industry sources aver. If that figure proves correct when the tenders are opened on Friday at the ICC’s headquarters in Dubai, it will mark the first serious “correction” in cricket rights bidding since 2000, when Chandra and Rupert Murdoch had fought over the ICC rights.

    It is worth noting that in 2000, Zee’s global bid was an astronomical $ 650 million. This is not to imply that Zee has actually gone lower this time round though. One condition that the ICC has introduced for the current tender is that if a company bids for worldwide rights, then it has to deduct production costs (approximately $ 70 million) from the bid before submission. Add those costs and Zee’s bid works out to $ 690 million or $ 40 million higher than what it bid in 2000.

    Queried by TV18 as to the reasons for his being so conservative when Zee had nothing by way of cricket properties other than BCCI neutral venue event rights, Chandra said: “We would go up to the point where it makes sense and it makes profit. We will not be buying it as a loss leader. If it comes sensibly, then we will take the rights, otherwise we will wish good luck to whosoever buys those ICC rights at a much higher price.”

    If that much higher price is dished out by new channel on the Zee block Ten Sports, it would add yet another angle to the still unfolding equations at play. If the joint bid of Ten Sports and German sports marketing company Infront is higher than that of Nimbus, then one can expect Zee Sports to take the India rights, Ten Sports the Pakistan and Middle East rights and Infront the international rights. On the other hand if Nimbus’ bid prevails, then one would expect Thawani to keep the international rights while ESS would take up the Indian subcontinent / Middle East rights.

    That would be the logical expectation but since nothing in this drama has unfolded according to script there is another possibility that could crop up. Which is of current ICC rights “incumbent” Sony making a late play from the sidelines. Dasgupta did say as much when he earlier spoke to Indiantelevision.com regarding his network’s withdrawal from the bid process: “We believe that the terms (of the tender) are quite onerous. We do not want to put our company at risk so we are constrained to hold back our bid. But that does not take away our right to enter into post-bid arrangements with the winning bidders.”

    Friday is when the financial bids are expected to be opened (going by Chandra’s comments in the interview), so expect some more interesting twists to the tale before the final denouement.

  • Nimbus bags Bangla cricket rights for $ 56 million

    Nimbus bags Bangla cricket rights for $ 56 million

    MUMBAI: About the only consistent aspect of bidding for cricket rights is that no one seems to have a fix on just how high the numbers will go. Test minnows Bangladesh has sold to Nimbus Sport, the marketing rights for international cricket matches held in that country till 2012 for a whopping $ 56.88 million.

    To put some perspective on the matter, $11.75 million is what ESPN Star Sports paid the Bangladesh cricket Board (BCB) last time round when it acquired the rights for a period of five years. Those rights expired in April last year.

    The BCB’s new tender invitation is for the period 1 November 2006 to 31 March 2012. Bangladesh is expected to play 21-23 Test matches and 59-61 internationals during this period.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com earlier, ESPN India MD RC Venkateish had said that his network was certainly interested in renewing the rights.

    Nimbus’ bid was over $ 23 million higher than next in line Zee Telefilms’ tender, newswire Press Trust of India quoted Bangladesh Cricket Board general secretary Mahbub Anam as saying on Friday.
    “We will sign a contract with Nimbus within the next two weeks. All we need now is the government’s seal of approval,” Anam said.

    Two key clauses in the tender document issued by the BCB were:

    * Production the responsibility of the bidder though there are allowable expenses against the winning bid (subject to the board agreeing) including production costs.

    * All revenues will be shared between BCCB and the successful bidder in a ratio of 80:20 in favour of BCCB.

    Nimbus’ telecast of Bangladesh cricket begins later this month with a five-match one-day series against Zimbabwe. After that, Bangladesh plays Bermuda and Canada in early 2007 (two ODIs each).

  • Nimbus looks to push genre frontiers with Neo Sports Plus

    Nimbus looks to push genre frontiers with Neo Sports Plus

    MUMBAI: Your Gateway to the best sporting action! This is the tagline that Nimbus is using to push its second channel Neo Sports Plus. The channel, which Nimbus says is a sports entertainment offering, has launched today. Sister cricket channel Neo Sports had launched a month back.

    Neo Sports Plus will offer content from a variety of sports like soccer, badminton, motorsports. As Nimbus chairman Harish Thawani says, “Some of the recent Indian sporting achievements have come from sports disciplines like golf, tennis and motor racing, to name a few. On the back of these developments we believe that there is potential in building sustained consumer interest in sports beyond cricket amongst Indians in the medium to long term through strategic content and marketing initiatives.”

    On the soccer front Neo Sports Plus has acquired content from Italy, Germany, Brazil and Argentina through leagues like Bundesliga, Serie A, Copa Suda Americana and Copa Libertadores. In motorsports it has got V8 Supercars and Superbike World Championships. Additionally, the channel is also focussing on badminton through properties like the Sudirman Cup, The Thomas Cup, The Uber Cup and The World Badminton Championship. Thawani says that the sport, despite strong grassroots support in India, has not got the backing of a channel to realise its potential.

    Neo Sports Broadcast CEO Shashi Kalathil says that the aim is to build up passion for different sports in the long run. It has sports entertainment concepts on the drawing board. Some shows have gone into production. The channel is looking at chat shows, reality shows, sports serials, game shows, quizzes etc.

    Further Neo Sports Plus will also air India cricket in dubbed languages like Hindi. This initiative kicks off this month with the Duleep trophy. Kalathil says that search has been done into what kind of sports entertainment concepts the Indian viewer will like and dislike.

    It has already come up with some entertainment shows. One of them is Unbreakable. This focusses on a memorable performance of a batsman or a bowler or a partnership that refused to buckle under pressure. Then there is Test of Strength. This is a daily show that focusses on India’s great cricketing moments. When India Beat looks at victories by the Indian cricket team. Neo Sports Rewind provides a crisp look at classic ODIs. Mission Impossible is a one hour show that looks at some of the finest cricket matches. The anchor takes viewers through the match and sees how an individual made the impossible possible.

  • Nimbus looks to push genre frontiers with Neo Sports Plus

    Nimbus looks to push genre frontiers with Neo Sports Plus

    MUMBAI: Your Gateway to the best sporting action! This is the tagline that Nimbus is using to push its second channel Neo Sports Plus. The channel, which Nimbus says is a sports entertainment offering, has launched today. Sister cricket channel Neo Sports had launched a month back.

    Neo Sports Plus will offer content from a variety of sports like soccer, badminton, motorsports. As Nimbus chairman Harish Thawani says, “Some of the recent Indian sporting achievements have come from sports disciplines like golf, tennis and motor racing, to name a few. On the back of these developments we believe that there is potential in building sustained consumer interest in sports beyond cricket amongst Indians in the medium to long term through strategic content and marketing initiatives.”

    On the soccer front Neo Sports Plus has acquired content from Italy, Germany, Brazil and Argentina through leagues like Bundesliga, Serie A, Copa Suda Americana and Copa Libertadores. In motorsports it has got V8 Supercars and Superbike World Championships. Additionally, the channel is also focussing on badminton through properties like the Sudirman Cup, The Thomas Cup, The Uber Cup and The World Badminton Championship. Thawani says that the sport, despite strong grassroots support in India, has not got the backing of a channel to realise its potential.

    Neo Sports Broadcast CEO Shashi Kalathil says that the aim is to build up passion for different sports in the long run. It has sports entertainment concepts on the drawing board. Some shows have gone into production. The channel is looking at chat shows, reality shows, sports serials, game shows, quizzes etc.

    Further Neo Sports Plus will also air India cricket in dubbed languages like Hindi. This initiative kicks off this month with the Duleep trophy. Kalathil says that search has been done into what kind of sports entertainment concepts the Indian viewer will like and dislike.

    It has already come up with some entertainment shows. One of them is Unbreakable. This focusses on a memorable performance of a batsman or a bowler or a partnership that refused to buckle under pressure. Then there is Test of Strength. This is a daily show that focusses on India’s great cricketing moments. When India Beat looks at victories by the Indian cricket team. Neo Sports Rewind provides a crisp look at classic ODIs. Mission Impossible is a one hour show that looks at some of the finest cricket matches. The anchor takes viewers through the match and sees how an individual made the impossible possible.

  • Nimbus pegs 2-channel package price at Rs 58

    Nimbus pegs 2-channel package price at Rs 58

    MUMBAI: With the Conditional Access System (CAS) controversy continuing unabated at the broadcasters’ level, Nimbus Sports Broadcast has quoted a premium price for two of its channels at Rs 58 to the sector regulator.

    The newly launched Neo Sports, which debuted on 1 October in some parts of the country, is likely to turn pay ahead of the January 2007 cricket series. This company has priced this channel at Rs 40.

    Even, the yet-to be launched Neo Sports Plus holds a price tag of Rs 40. The company has specified a bundled price of Rs 58 for the two channels.

    The proposed prices are yet to be accepted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), which in the normal course takes about one month to issue procedural clearance. Interestingly, rival sports channels ESPN and Star Sports are priced at Rs 38 per subscriber for the two-channel bundle.

    The rates at which the two Neo Sports have been pegged are in line with what Nimbus Communications chairman Harish Thawani had told indiantelevision.com in a recent interview: “We are looking to charge a premium price. Broadcasters so far have not had the guts to charge the price that they feel reflects the true value of their product. What I can confirm is that our pricing will be considerably higher than ESPN Star Sports.”

    TDSAT had earlier directed that the rates of the channels available on the direct to home platform (DTH) will cost half the price of what is charged to cable platforms (exclusive of taxes).

    This benchmark judgment was issued with respect to Dish TV vs Star India, wherein the two were haggling over price. The reason for the verdict was attributed to DTH being an addressable system where loss of revenue down the value chain is negligible if not zero.

    The distribution rights for all Nimbus’ sports channels are held by Rupert Murdoch’s Star India and run till 2010. The Star-Nimbus distribution deal will apply to the two sports channels that will be launching by the end of the year as well as any future sports channels from the Neo Sports stable (a sports news channel is also in the pipeline scheduled for debut in the second half of 2007).

    Although Nimbus has proposed the prices of its channels to Trai, it has already created doubts in the minds of the various stakeholders, whether this would be easily accepted by the regulator and if yes, whether it will go down well with the industry.

    Under the CAS notified areas, the two Nimbus channels will be charged as per the ceiling price fixed by Trai.

  • BCCI, Nimbus look to give domestic cricket a facelift

    BCCI, Nimbus look to give domestic cricket a facelift

    MUMBAI: For many years domestic cricket in India suffered from neglect by the administration (read Board of Control for Cricket in India – BCCI). However, the Indian cricket board, along with its television partner Nimbus, are looking to turn things around. The plan calls for rebranding of domestic cricket events as well as telecast of domestic cricket not just in India, but also abroad.

    The season kicks off from 1 October and runs till April 2007. The matches will air on Neo Sports, which is being positioned as the Home of Indian Cricket on TV. Neo Sports launches on 1 October 2006.

    BCCI VP and marketing subcommittee chairman Lalit Nodi says, “It has been a dream for us to make sure that domestic cricket is given as much importance as international cricket. We have given brand names to domestic events.

    “So the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy will now be known as Challenger Series for the NKP Salve Trophy, the Ranji Trophy – Elite Division is now titled the Super League for the Ranji Trophy, The Ranji Trophy Plate Division is now known as the Plate League, and the Deodhar Trophy is now known as the All Star Series for the Deodhar Trophy.

    “The Inter State One Day Knockout is now known as the Premier Cup. This initiative is the first of a series of exciting plans that we have in store. While we are looking to get players of the Indian national side to play, the aim is to have many stars emerge from domestic cricket. Why should there be only 11 cricket stars? We can easily have 300. We will monitor innovations as we go along. We are also looking at the mobile to promote domestic cricket. Mobile is a viral medium courtesy features like SMS and this is an area that we are looking to tap into. This will provide a value add for fans who want to follow their team.”

    Nimbus Chairman Harish Thawani says, “This has been a three month process of us working with the BCCI so that our goals were aligned. When we telecast the Challenger Trophy last year on a recently launched network (Zee Sports) it managed TRPs of 1.93. This shows that television does bring in an audience for domestic cricket.

    “What we are doing though is not just a branding exercise. We worked with the BCCI on the scheduling. A lot of time went into working on the logistics. The aim is that domestic cricket should not overlap with the days on which the Indian national side is playing. The one day matches will be day/night fixtures. Over 80 per cent of ODI matches will be day/night encounters.

    “We have also managed to persuade licensees globally to air domestic cricket. So domestic cricket will be seen in the UK on Sky Sports, in Australia on Fox Sports, in Malaysia on Astro and in Africa on Super Sport. On the net it will be webcast on www.willow.tv. We are also expecting to announce a deal in the US.”

    Thawani, however, adds that it will take one season to see what impact the push being given to domestic cricket has had.

    BCCI member IS Bindra was frank enough to admit that it was the BCCI’s fault that domestic cricket has languished to the extent that hardly any people come out to watch matches. “There was a time when a Deodhar Trophy match would have 70,000 people in attendance. One of the failings of the BCCI in the past has been the lack of attention given to domestic cricket. We are looking to correct this. Television coverage by Nimbus will attract people to the arena. It will give viewers the feeling that something of importance is happening. Last year when the Challenger Trophy was telecast we had a 70 per cent attendance on the ground. For the final it was 100 per cent full. In Australia often the finals of the domestic season have a better attendance than some international one day matches.

    “In England the tickets for the final matches of the domestic season are booked a year in advance. I don’t see why we cannot approach that level with proper marketing of our product. Aggressive marketing helps and a good example is the BCCI rankings for domestic cricket which will be launched next month. We have managed to raise 10-15 times more than what the ICC has managed for their rankings. We are on the brink of a revolution as far as domestic cricket is concerned.”

    Thawani adds that Nimbus is looking to sell daily news packages of domestic cricket to news channels.

    One important issue is that of advertising. It is no secret that viewers are unhappy about the sheer volume of ads in a match. Often one sees five balls in an over instead of six as the channel has gone for an ad break at the fall of a wicket. Thawani says that an automated playout system is being put in place so that not a ball is lost. There will be no manual override.

    Modi says that this issue is being taken seriously by the BCCI. It has in fact mandated that it cannot happen. “If ads are put in when a wicket falls instead of a channel showing replays of the wicket taken and a ball is lost then it is a breach of contract,” Modi asserted.

  • Arvind Agarwal to head finance at Neo Sports

    Arvind Agarwal to head finance at Neo Sports

    MUMBAI: Neo Sports the upcoming cricket channel from Nimbus has appointed Arvind Agarwal as senior VP – finance.

    Agarwal will oversee the finance, accounting and secretarial functions and also be a part of the core think tank on strategic planning, acquisitions, distribution and regulatory matters. He comes to Neo Sports from Star where he was VP finance, heading the budgeting and treasury functions for Star.

    Neo Sports CEO designate Shashi Kalathil said, “As we build the ‘A’ team of sports broadcasting, we are fortunate to have found in Arvind an outstanding fit given his domain expertise in broadcasting and capabilities that go well beyond the finance function. Arvind typifies the culture of Neo Sports which has become a magnet for top talent in the industry.”

    Agarwal says, “I am excited about the new enhanced role at Neo Sports. Nimbus has a vision of becoming by 2010 India’s first globally operating billion-dollar revenues company in the sector & I look forward to combining my experience in broadcasting with my passion for sport to contribute significantly to the realisation of that vision.”

  • Nimbus appoints Shashi Kalathil as CEO of Neo Sports

    Nimbus appoints Shashi Kalathil as CEO of Neo Sports

    MUMBAI: Nimbus has appointed Shashi Kalathil as Chief Executive Officer of its sports broadcasting business Neo Sports. This will be effective from October this year.

    Kalathil comes to Nimbus from the Tata Group and brings with him experience from the FMCG and telecom sectors. Prior to this he has served at Pepsi as executive director-marketing and has also had a stint with VSNL.

    In addition to Shashi, Scott Ferguson has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer and will be based in Singapore. Within the next few days, Nimbus expects to make more appointments in its sports broadcasting business.

    Commenting on his induction, chairman Harish Thawani said, “I have known Shashi over the years as a client (when he was at Pepsi) and apart from his obvious pedigree as a cutting-edge professional, above all he brings with him a level of integrity and values that are universally admired.”

    Shashi added, “My mandate will be to lead a world class and passionate management team that has amazing depth of sports expertise, to greater consumer focus and to deliver outstanding value to Neo Sports’ advertisers and viewers through innovative use of technology.”

    As previously disclosed, Nimbus shall be launching the first of its Neo Sports channels in the last quarter of 2006. Nimbus is constructing a state-of-the-art production and broadcasting facility in Mumbai’s western suburbs and expects to use several technological innovations to enhance the quality of sports broadcasting in India and be ready with interactive services by early 2007.