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Tag: PKL

  • Star India mulls adding VR to PKL 6

    Star India mulls adding VR to PKL 6

    MUMBAI: Star India is taking the Indian Premier League (IPL) experience to other sports. After a  phenomenal reception for using virtual reality (VR) in IPL 2018, it is diversifying into Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season six.

    Along with VR, wearable technology is another main attraction for PKL. As the next step, wearable devices, artificial intelligence and smart analytics are needed for seamlessly integrating technology with application to guide the next stage of evolution and to ensure higher relevance to human society.

    Star India spokesperson said, “We may experiment with wearable technology like catapult devices which helps to measure heart rate, distance run, force extracted. We are actually deploying technology at the back end. We have some bit of artificial intelligence which is powering our analytics on cricket and we may use the same thing on kabaddi as well.”   

    Hotstar was viewed by 5.5 million viewers in VR in week six of IPL 2018, out of which 30-35 per cent of the viewers watched it live and remaining watched it in highlights. According to the spokesperson, the viewers almost watched 100,000 hours of VR content. For the IPL, it made Hotstar compatible with VR devices giving people the option of 360-degree rotation to get a view of the entire ground. People can even pick the language and camera of their choice for viewing.

    PwC India partner and leader, entertainment and media Frank Dsouza said, “VR does provide an enhanced experience which is immersive technology but the thing that people are grappling with is sports a community experience or not. Therefore, in a VR situation, it can be consumed singularly. The question remains, at what scale you are going to implement it.”

    With 4K adoption in India being marginal, last mile access is limited. “You need to have the infrastructure and the programming to be able to view on 4K. As we have moved from SD to HD, we can now shift to 4K because the experience has been better in HD. Then the question arrives of pricing,” said the spokesperson.

    US’ Fox Sports will be streaming live 4K video from the US Open using 5G wireless technology, with the help of Fox Innovation Lab, Ericsson, Intel, and AT&T.

    A pair of Fox cameras will transmit 4K HDR video to a nearby production truck, and then 5G, which provides multi-gigabit speeds with low latency, will be used to get that footage out to viewers. In the future, Fox could use this setup to stream live virtual reality from the US Open.

  • PKL franchises retain 21 elite players for season 6

    PKL franchises retain 21 elite players for season 6

    MUMBAI: After five highly successful seasons, the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), India’s biggest domestic sporting league, gears up for yet another season of thrilling action, with the announcement of the ‘elite retained players’.

    The league announced the players who would continue their association with their respective franchises for PKL season six starting 19 October 2018. Marking the first milestone for this edition, a total of 21 players from season five were retained by their respective franchises.

    “The league is strongly in favour of team stability and instituting it at a policy level to enable strong team structures,” PKL commissioner Anupam Goswami said. “The player retention framework has been strengthened to encourage continuity and a longer-term association between player and franchise, to the benefit of both.”

    Franchises were encouraged to retain key players of their choice for the upcoming season.

    The teams with the list of players retained are:-

    Bengal Warriors: Surjeet Singh, Maninder Singh
    Bengaluru Bulls: Rohit Kumar
    Dabang Delhi K.C.: Meraj Sheykh
    Gujarat Fortunegiants: Sachin, Sunil Kumar, Mahendra Rajput
    Haryana Steelers: Kuldeep Singh
    Patna Pirates: Pardeep Narwal, Jaideep, Jawahar Dagar, Manish Kumar
    Puneri Paltan: Sandeep Narwal, Rajesh Mondal, More GB, Girish Maruti Ernak
    Tamil Thalaivas: Ajay Thakur, Amit Hooda, C. Arun
    Telugu Titans: Nilesh Salunke, Mohsen Maghsoudloujafari

    “Squad talent, formation and development have always been top priority for us. Interventions like ‘elite player retention’ and the ‘future kabaddi heroes’ programme will go a long way towards ensuring that Vivo PKL season six offers the highest level of talent and competition for India’s own sport,” he concluded.

    Also Read:

    IPL 2018 gets a makeover with Star India

    Star India bags production rights for IPL 2018

  • PKL season 6 and 7 dates announced

    PKL season 6 and 7 dates announced

    MUMBAI: The second most watched domestic league in India, Vivo Pro Kabaddi League owned by Mashal Sports and Star India announced the dates of sixth and seventh season.

    The sixth season will begin on 19 October 2018 while the seventh season will commence on 19 July 2019. Both the seasons will maintain the 13-week format, consistent with the format of the fifth season.

    In the last season, the league scaled unprecedented heights having expanded from eight to 12 teams and conducting 138 matches over a duration of 13 weeks. Withstanding intense competition, Patna Pirates, led by Pardeep Narwal, beat Gujarat Fortunegiants to clinch the championship title for the third consecutive time.

    Season five touched new highs in terms of viewership records too. It was viewed by a staggering 313 million viewers with a watch time of 100 billion minutes, with the finals becoming the most viewed non-cricket sporting event on Indian television.

    Vivo Pro Kabaddi League commissioner Anupam Goswami said, “The Vivo Pro Kabaddi season sixth window has been created to keep in mind adequate recovery time for the players post the Asian Games, and adequate preparatory time for Vivo Pro Kabaddi teams to achieve an ideal state of squad readiness for season six. The advance window for season seven will afford forward-looking preparation for squad formation and commercial strategy.”

    International Kabaddi Federation president Janardan Singh Gehlot said, “Mashal has taken India’s sport of Kabaddi from strength to strength with Vivo Pro Kabaddi. We welcome the long term approach which will take it to even greater heights.”

    In its fifth and most successful season till date, Vivo Pro Kabaddi league became the biggest domestic sports league and season six promises to be even more action-packed.

    Also Read:

    Star ushers in IPL’s new era with a bang

    Gautam Thakar new Star Sports CEO

  • Star Sports launches new anthem as Vivo PKL Season 5 nears finale

    Star Sports launches new anthem as Vivo PKL Season 5 nears finale

    MUMBAI: Star Sports, India’s leading sports broadcaster, launched Doompak Doompak, a new anthem dedicated to Vivo Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) as the season five finale draws close. The anthem is created by Star Sports’ creative team and directed by Amol Patil.

    Celebrating the Kabaddi mania that has gripped sports fans across the country, the anthem, released along with a music video, is quirky, vivid and features leading Kabaddi stars.

    With a vision to make Kabaddi accessible and engaging for fans across India, Star Sports has built a strong narrative throughout the season, with a host of innovative and appealing marketing campaigns.

    The new anthem, Doompak Doompak, is energetic, fast-paced and invites fans to participate in the ongoing excitement for the last few matches of the season. Penned by renowned Bollywood lyricist, Amitabh Bhattacharya, the lyrics takes fans into the journey of season 5 and the preparation for the final battle among the 6 qualified teams. The anthem is composed by leading music composer Ram Sampath.

    For season 5 of Vivo PKL, Star Sports moved away from the traditional campaigns to a celebration anthem. The film showcases players, referees, coaches and fans in an all-new avatar, celebrating the spirit of the sport, as the finale of a magnificent season of the game draws closer. The film is scripted in 4 languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali, to ensure that it reaches sports fans across the nation.

    Season 5 of Vivo PKL has received an impressive response over 3 months, and now as the Playoffs are approaching – the penultimate phase of the league – the campaign aims to stir more excitement into the mix.

    Vivo PKL Season 5 Playoffs begin from 23 October to 26 October, from 7:30 PM onwards and the final takes place on 28 October in Chennai. Fans can catch each match live on the Star Sports network.

    Video Link:

  • PKL sponsors and partners cross 100-mark

    PKL sponsors and partners cross 100-mark

    MUMBAI: Star India chairman & CEO Uday Shankar has this uncanny ability to see  opportunity where many do not. For many years, TV broadcasters had only one sport which could be monetised: cricket. Which was a major limiting factor to developing  the overall Indian sports and sports broadcasting ecosystem. Hence, he and team Star India looked around for indigenous sport that could be developed around six years ago.

    One of the properties that popped up was kabaddi, a highy underdeveloped sport, which was being pushed by a company called Mashal Sports and industrialist Anand Mahindra. Shankar saw a lot of promise in the venture and today he can be rightfully be pleased with what has been achieved.

    “When we started out, it was difficult to get corporations to own franchises,” says Shankar. “Anand used his personal charm to get folks on board. But this year, when we added four teams, a large number of top corporates and individuals were very keen. We had a problem of plenty. “

    Not just owners. Even brands have been hopping on board to back the Vivo Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL)  as it has been gaining viewership from the first season to the ongoing fifth season. 

    The need for looking at the commercial aspect of sports and supporting it for the sake of business and branding, packaging and cultivating viewership were some of the ideas which have been proven on the ground — by Star India and the Kabaddi franchises.

    In Season 1, PKL hardly had any sponsor and partner, but, with the traction it has got for the past couple of seasons, it has managed to cross 100-mark in Season 5 including individual teams sponsors and partners.

    Talking to Indiantelevision.com, Unilazer Sports CEO Supratik Sen said, “All the sponsors including jersey sponsors, on-ground, and title sponsor for UMumba has a range of Rs 8 million to Rs 20 million which is generally applicable for all the other teams.”

    Vivo PKL Season 5 has seen many late-entrant brands as sponsors and partners. Brands are aware that PKL is the only major non-cricketing event dominating in the present times.

    Corporates, of course, support events for the sake of building their brands. Given the demographics in India, advertising was done for more visibility. “For the sake of going the whole hog into sports promotion,” an analyst says, “the complete supply chain would need to be looked at – from scouting for talent to sports good manufacturing etc. to CSR.”

    Remarked Sen: “The team performance helps to get the brands on board. From Season 2, we were pretty much close to breaking even, but it was notional. But now, the reach of sports has become more important instead of breaking even (and profits),” Sen said.

    The recently added sponsors and partners for PKL as well as the teams are: Title sponsor Vivo signed a Rs 3 billion ($ 45 million) deal for five years with the league a couple of months ago.

    The associate sponsors are — Gillette, TVS Motors, Mutual Funds, Bajaj Electricals, Nissin, Royal Challenge and RR Kabel are the partners. Recently, Ultratech Cement has been roped in as an associate sponsor.

    Dabang Delhi has roped in ISME (Indian School of Management and Entrepreneurship) and ISDI (Indian school of Design and Innovation) as its jersey sponsors and the new partners are Gold gym’s, zoom car and Insidesports.

    UMumba has shifted its title sponsor from Nise Gel to Zandu Gel. The team is powered by Manforce. Bangaluru Bulls has roped in Karbonn Smartphones as the title sponsor and Kent RO and Gem Paints as the principal sponsor.

    Puneri Paltan has got Force Motors as the principal partner and Syska as the new associate partner. Jaipur Pink Panthars has pocketed Muthoot Finance and Performax Activewears as the new associate sponsors.

    Tamil Thalaivas  was the only team with no sponsor in the beginning of Season 5 but it has now attracted Muthoot Fincorp as the title sponsor, powered by Maha Cement and associate sponsors are — Agni Steels, Nippon Paint, Smartron and Admiral.

    Telugu Titans has Greenko as its title sponsor and UP Yoddhas has roped in Karbonn Smartphones as its jersey sponsors.

    The sports sponsorship market in India witnessed a healthy growth trend in the last couple of years from Rs 51.9 billion in 2015 to Rs 61-65 billion in 2016 as per KPMG FICCI Frames 2017 report.

    The fifth season is touted to become one of the biggest league tournaments as one sees traction from several brands as sponsors and partners.

    Also Read :

    PKL 5 advertisers grow three-fold, sponsorships rise 320%

    How brands are reaching out to wide PKL audience

     

    PKL: sponsors adding up even as matches start

  • FTA Star Sports First zips PKL up the viewership ratings ladder

    MUMBAI: Vivo Pro Kabaddi, an initiative by Mashal Sports and Star India, has touched great heights in terms of viewership. The sport that has an involvement of teams from India has managed to far surpass cricket – both of the international and local variety, in terms of viewership.

    Star India’s newly launched and the only FTA sports channel in India-  Star Sports First has been ruling Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly top 5 Sports channels lists (All India (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals) right from the first week that it was launched – week 30 of 2017 (Saturday, 22 July 207 to Friday, 28 July 2017. The channel was officially launched on 21 July 2017. It stood first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Sports channels in week 30 with 148.506 million impressions. Further, in its very first week, the first Pro Kabbadi League (PKL) match between the Hyderabad and Chennai teams on 28 July 2017 garnered it third place in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) list of top 5 Sports programmes with 4.464 million impressions.

    Over all, with only 23 matches being played till 11 August 2017, PKL has garnered 328 million Impressions across all eight channels it is being aired. Compare this with the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) – across 24 matches the local cricket league could garner a modest total of 9.16 million impressions for the three channels it was broadcast on – Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD and Star Sports Tamil. Or compare the numbers garnered by the first and the second Test cricket matches between India and Sri Lanka – the first test match that was pared to just 4 days (26 July to 29 July) because of team India’s superlative performance scored a total of 1.86 million impressions for the three channels it was aired on – Sony Six (SD + HD) and Sony Ten 3. Test 2 ratings were a tad better – 1.86 million impressions during the four days it was broadcast on.

    According to BARC data, over four weeks (weeks 29 to 32) viewership share of Sports Networks on the basis of impressions was Star Sports Network 63 percent, Sony 35 percent and others 2 percent. BARC data for the top 5 channels in the Sports genre for four weeks (29 to 32) indicates that Star Sports was the most watched Sports channel with 563.555 million impressions that it garnered over 3 weeks since its inceptions. Its network peer – Star Sports 1 Hindi was the second most watched channel with combined 419.219 million impressions over 4 weeks, followed by Sony Ten 1 with 357.229 million impressions also over 4 weeks at third place. Star Sports 2 with 276.826 million impressions over 4 weeks was at fourth place followed by Sony Six with 218.41 million impressions also over four weeks.

    It was only the final game of the Women’s World Cup Cricket Final match between India and England on 23 July 2017 that managed to draw a large viewership vis-à-vis PKL during the start of the four week period under consideration – the event had 5.922 million impressions on Star Sports 1 Hindi and 5.31 million impressions on Star Sports 2, or a total of 11.232 million impressions across the two channels.

    ALSO READ :

    PKL rural telecast exceptionally propels Star Sports First to top

    PKL: sponsors adding up even as matches start

    PKL effect: New difference between Star Sports First’s viewership & nearest competitor is 7X

    PKL 5 aids Star Sports First top chart in maiden week

  • PKL rural telecast exceptionally propels Star Sports First to top

    PKL rural telecast exceptionally propels Star Sports First to top

    MUMBAI: Star Sports First, primarily on the strength of PKL viewership in urban as well as rural areas, has again retained its lead with almost double the ratings as compared to BARC week 32’s second position-holder. 

    In contrast, Star Sports 2, which is telecasting the Vivo Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL) and other sports only in the urban areas, garnered less than one-third of the leader’s impressions and came at the fourth position. Only PKL games appear in the top five programmes according to BARC week 32 with 4907, 4872,  4530, 4172 and 4167 Impressions (000s) sum. 

    At the top, Star Sports First garnered 206695 Impressions (000s) sum whereas, at the second spot, Star Sports 1 Hindi collected 109284 Impressions (000s) sum. Sony Ten 1, again, mainly on the back of India-Sri Lanka tour’s popularity, retained its third position with 79429 Impressions (000s) sum. 

    At the next position, Star Sports 2 pocketed 68738 Impressions (000s) sum whereas Sony Six, at the fifth position, bagged 53743 Impressions (000s) sum.

    Also Read: 

    PKL: sponsors adding up even as matches start

    PKL effect: New difference between Star Sports First’s viewership & nearest competitor is 7X

    PKL 5 aids Star Sports First top chart in maiden week

     

  • HUL, PKL, Paytm, Indian Accent & Oppo among Marquees award-winners

    MUMBAI: Minster of textile, information & broadcasting Smriti Irani, addressing a gathering of media, advertising and marketing industry stalwarts, said: “All I implore today to the industry stalwarts is that we now, in a systemic fashion, build a platform that takes care of those who need help, specially from the creative faction of the industry. I hope that, one day, on this stage, some of us will stand here to applaud an Indian media company that has made it at the global stage.”

    The Advertising Club (TAC) India hosted the inaugural edition of the unique ‘Marquee Awards’ in Mumbai. Presented by News18 India, powered by Colors and MTV and partnered by One India, the event was flagged off by Irani as the chief guest of honour.

    Hindustan Unilever won the coveted Green Marketer Award, which honors brands that have strived and conquered, by keeping a close focus on environment sustainability. The Special Award for “Conquering an impregnable fortress” was won by Bira 91. Pro Kabaddi League was recognised as the brand that “Traversed unchartered waters” and Paytm was recognized for “Riding on an emerging wave”.  Honda Motorcycle & Scooter was awarded for “Breathing new life into a category”, Indian Accent was recognized for “Creating a Global Impact” while Oppo was recognized for “Carving out a Niche” for themselves in a highly competitive category.

    Making a special mention of the ‘Global Impact’ category, Irani said,  “Having been a part of this journey, I have just one appeal this evening – while we sell dreams to the nation and world, there are many amongst us who wither away with the passage of time. We now build a platform that takes care of the creative faction so that the world does not accuse us selling dreams but living a lie.”

    The Advertising Club president Raj Nayak said, “Marquees 2017 has emerged as the gold standard in marketing awards. I thank the minister Smriti Irani for gracing the maiden edition of Marquees 2017.”

    Marquees 2017 chairman and BARC India CEO Partho Dasgupta said, “The debut edition of Marquees has set a new benchmark of excellence by recognising brands that have challenged the communication archetype in the industry, thus appealing to the evolved consumer of today. These awards through their differentiated scope, right from the jury panel to representation to categories, has ensured that they are a marketer’s dream.”

    A+E Networks | TV18 managing director and Network18 president Avinash Kaul said, “At News18 India, we identify with the spirit of celebrating brands that drive positive change. News18 India, as a brand, has also undergone a transformation after the rebranding exercise and the results are visible. This only re-affirms our association with Marquees which has today honoured path-breaking marketing campaigns that have inspired change.”

    S. No

    Category

    Winner

    1

    Durables

    LG ELECTRONICS

    2

    Auto: 4 Wheelers

    MARUTI SUZUKI

    3

    Auto: 2 Wheelers

    Royal Enfield

    5

    Food

    WAI WAI NOODLES (CG GLOBAL)

    5

    Banking

    HDFC BANK

    6

    Personal Care

    LIFEBUOY (HINDUSTAN UNILEVER)

    7

    Insurance

    LIC

    8

    Telecom Services

    BHARTI AIRTEL

    9

    Home Care

    VIM (HINDUSTAN UNILEVER)

    10

    E-Commerce

    AMAZON INDIA

    11

    Beverages

    FROOTI (PARLE AGRO)

    12

    Telecom Handset

    XIAOMI SMARTPHONES

    Special Categories

     

     

     

    1

    Breathing new life into a category

    HONDA MOTORCYCLE & SCOOTER

    2

    Creating a global Impact

    INDIAN ACCENT

    3

    Green Marketer

    HINDUSTAN LEVER

    4

    Riding on an emerging wave

    PAYTM

    5

     Carving out a niche

    OPPO

    6

    Reimagining for the better

    GOOD EARTH

    7

    Traversing unchartered waters

    PRO KABADDI LEAGUE

    8

    Conquering an impregnable fortress

    BIRA 91

    Also Read:

    Ad Club announces nomination list for ‘Marquees 2017’ 

    Minister Smriti Irani to be Marquees 2017 chief guest

    Marquees 2017: Ad club appoints HUL’s Sanjiv Mehta as jury chair

  • PKL effect: New difference between Star Sports First’s viewership & nearest competitor is 7X

    MUMBAI: Star Sports, the official broadcaster of Vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 5, reinforced its stature, by continuing to draw remarkable viewers — for the second time in a row.

    Star Sports First in BARC week 30 registered 148506 Impressions (000s) sum and, this week, it recorded 208354 Impressions (000s) sum leaving behind the second best channel this week by 93431 Impressions (000s) sum, according to BARC’s all-India data analysis.

    The Star India’s channel which recently became free to air with sports content lead the pack last week. Star Sports First managed to pocket as much as 148506 Impressions (000s) sum in BARC India week 30 beating the second best channel by around 14000 Impressions. Star Sports First had gathered the viewership from Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL) season 5 which has helped it to reach to numero uno position in sports genre.  

    According to fresh data provided by Star Sports, across Genre: All India (U+R): 2+ Individuals, at the end of 13 games, the gross impressions are 376 million and the cumulative reach stands at 132 million (16.9 per cent). 

    The Kabaddi tournament has received a stirring response from both urban and rural markets with rural regions generating a reach of 90 million and urban markets contributing with a reach of 42 million. Star Sports First accounted for 28 per cent (36.3 million) of the total viewership generated during week 1 of the tournament.

    The Star Sports press release added: Across Genre: All India (U+R): M15+AB, There has been a significant increase across all core markets with Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka registering a 40 per cent, 34 per cent and 52 per cent growth in viewership, respectively.

    Riding on the rising popularity of Star Sports 1 Tamil and Star Sports First channels, Tamil Nadu witnessed a six-times increase in viewership while Uttar Pradesh doubled its viewership. Post 13 games, Vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 5 rated 59 per cent higher than the first 13 games average of Pro Kabaddi Season 4.

    public://week30.jpg

    public://week31.jpg

    ALSO READ :

    PKL 5 aids Star Sports First top chart in maiden week

    Star India’s PKL 5 telecast via 12 channels in five languages starts today

    Muthoot associates with PKL Jaipur Pink Panthers

     

  • Muthoot associates with PKL Jaipur Pink Panthers

    MUMBAI: Muthoot Finance, a gold financing company and financial services brand, has partnered with Jaipur Pink Panthers team of the Pro-Kabaddi League as its associate sponsor for the League’s ongoing Season 5 which began on 28 July, 2017.

    Owned by film-star Abhishek Bachchan, Jaipur Pink Panthers was the winner of the Season – 1 of the Pro Kabaddi League and runners up in the last season in 2016. In the current season, of the total 130 matches that will be played, the Jaipur Pink Panthers will play at least 22 matches in 12 cities. The three month-long season – 5 will conclude on 28 October, 2017. As part of the association, tickets of all the matches played by Jaipur Pink Panthers will also be sold at the 4500+ branches of Muthoot.

    Muthoot Finance deputy managing director Alexander George Muthoot said, “Muthoot Finance has always supported sports and celebrated the spirit of sportsmanship. While in the past we have been associated with several other sports like cricket and football, Kabaddi is particularly significant to us owing to its rural appeal, as Muthoot Finance has more than 60 per cent of its branch network in rural and semi urban areas of the country.”

    Jaipur Pink Panthers spokesperson and film star Abhishek Bachchan said, “With its wide network of branches pan-Rajasthan and India, our association with Muthoot Finance will definitely give a fillip to the popularity of brand.”