ITV

Tag: Nokia Football Crazy

  • Football delivers strong ratings for ESS in South East Asia

    Football delivers strong ratings for ESS in South East Asia

    MUMBAI: If there is one area that sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has a strong presence in South East Asia, it is football. The channel has announced that the English Premier League (EPL) is working well for it.

    In South East Asia ESPN recorded a television rating of 11.5 for the Manchester United vs. Liverpool match telecast on 22 January 2006 in the Cable Male 15 + target group (TG). The match touched the top rating of 14.5.

    ESS senior VP, Advertising Sales Charles Less said, ESPN Star Sports strong programming values, formidable team of pundits and interactive elements excite viewers, making them switch on to our networks to watch their favourite football matches and shows. Our remarkable presentation attracts viewers and leads to high ratings. As much as 45 per cent viewing time is added to the viewer-ship of football via viewing of non-live football programming like Nokia Football Crazy, Tiger First Edition and others on our networks.

    ESS says that its marketing efforts has extended the fan-following for clubs beyond the usual top teams. South East Asia has been a traditional stronghold of Manchester United and Liverpool. Though the two clubs continue to rank high in popularity, new favourites in Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa, Middlesborough and other clubs are also emerging. Chelseas great performance in the previous season has also added a lot of fans for the club.

    Viewership for late night matches has also been on the rise. Less adds, Football has no prime time. It is clear that football fans extend their television viewing time to accommodate the matches of their choice. The Uefa Champions League is a prime example of late night or early morning slot attracting high TV ratings. A Manchester United match played at 3:30 am in the morning rated a high 8.2 among the young upscale male TG, capturing a channel share of 83 per cent. Across the Male 15 + TG also the rating was a high of 3.2.

    The Manchester United vs. Fulham match on 4 February 2006 got a 6 TVR and the Chelsea vs. Liverpool on 5 February got a TVR of 10.1. The highest rated match so far in this season though continues to be the Manchester United vs Chelsea game played on 6 November 2005, which registered a high of 12.6 TVR and peaked at 15.5 TVR.

  • ESPN Star Sports to showcase soccer show ‘Kick Off’

    ESPN Star Sports to showcase soccer show ‘Kick Off’

    MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports has launched a soccer based show called Kick Off. The game show based on a quizzing format features two popular ex-EPL players; Lee Sharpe and Les Ferdinand. The show will be hosted by the presenter of the popular soccer show Nokia Football Crazy, Andy Penders.

    Kick Off will launch on 21 February and air every Tuesday and Thursday at 9 pm. The show will run concurrently with the EPL and the UEFA Champion’s league.

    The end of the show will coincide with the end of the 2005-06 season for both the popular leagues and will also telecast live and exclusive on ESPN Star Sports.

    Kick Off is an affirmative step by ESPN Star Sports towards providing innovative sports entertainment content to viewers across Asia.

    Kick Off will showcase competition among 20 teams participating from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

    These 20 teams will quiz against each other in an interesting game show format. 40 member participants comprising the teams were selected by inviting entries via Nokia Football Crazy and Here We Go. These participants will be specially flown into Singapore to shoot for Kick Off.

    Highlighting a unique aspect of the game show, ESPN Star Sports senior VP Huw Bevan said, “Kick off is poised to be a very exciting program. Contestants from countries like Singapore and Malaysia where the EPL is so popular and contestants from countries like India where EPL’s popularity is still growing will come on a common platform to compete for the first time.

    “It will be an interesting contest among the SEA country teams as well, where each country vies for the title of the most knowledgeable soccer-nation. On the other hand there will be a contest between SEA countries and India where SEA will come with their exposure of EPL against Indian teams’ insatiable hunger for quizzing and game shows, popularity of EPL not withstanding.”

    Huw added, “As a network we continue to increase our strength by acquiring new sports properties. Simultaneously, our efforts will now focus on creating interesting sports entertainment programs like Kick Off to increase viewer involvement.”

    Each episode of Kick Off will be 30 minutes in duration and feature two teams. The teams will be captained by Les Ferdinand and Lee Sharpe and named after popular EPL and UEFA Champions League clubs.

    Andy Penders will present the show. Penders, in his inimitable style will challenge the captains, competitors and the audiences alike to make the show lively and competitive.

    The penultimate chapter of Kick Off on 9 May will be a unique episode, shot with the soccer pundits of ESPN Star Sports. This show will pitch two teams comprising of John Dykes and Andrew Leci, captained by Lee Sharpe and Paul Mansfield and Jamie Reeves captained by Les Ferdinand against each other.

    The final of Kick Off has been scheduled for 11 May, two days before the final of the FA Cup, which will be telecast live and exclusive on 13 May at 10 pm on Star Sports.

    Winners of Kick Off will be presented a unique gold trophy and the runner-up team will receive the silver Trophy. Besides the title both the winners, with a companion will have a chance to go on a five-day trip to UK to see an EPL match of their choice in the 2006-07 season. Through a special, ‘Name the Goal’ contest viewers will also get a chance to win an attractive Nokia mobile phone.

  • ESPN Star Sports effects time changes for 3 shows

    ESPN Star Sports effects time changes for 3 shows

    MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has announced new time slots for three of its originally-produced programs SportsCenter Asia, Tiger First Edition and Nokia Football Crazy. Effective from today, the altered schedule will be applicable across the Asian region, including India.

    The changes are initiated based on a study undertaken on the viewing pattern and programming preferences prevailing across Asia, states ESS in an official release.

    As per the new schedule, SportsCenter Asia will air every weeknight live at Hong Kong time 7:30 pm, 10 pm and 12:30 am. SportsCenter at 7:30 pm will be followed by a football game every weeknight. Nokia Football Crazy will telecast every Thursday, live at 8 pm. The programme Tiger First Edition is slotted for Fridays, live at 9 pm.

    Announcing the time change, ESS VP marketing and corporate communications Stephenie Vasko said, “ESS Sports has undertaken a detailed viewing pattern and programming preferences exercise across Asia. This exercise has helped us map changes in viewership trends as well as identify time bands preferred for viewing sports. These time changes herald the start of a new programming and scheduling strategy for our channels across Asia which will develop stronger appointment viewing opportunities as well as attract even more viewers in the longer term.”