ITV

Tag: Prasana Krishnan

  • Sony Six woos early morning audience with NBA treat

    Sony Six woos early morning audience with NBA treat

    MUMBAI: Indian viewers are set to see more basketball on their screens with NBA and Sony Six concretising their plans. ‘NBA Mornings on Six’ will televise up to 14 matches per week back to back every day. Flagging off on 30 October, the first match will be current champions Miami Heat facing off against the Chicago Bulls at 5:30 am IST followed by the LA Clippers against the LA Lakers at 8:00 am. A total of 300 live regular season games will be shown along with NBA All Star, Playoffs and the finals.

    The channel also plans to create basketball-centric programs including a lifestyle one that will show the game off the court along with added local content. The show will be aired once a week at primetime. Digital and social media are also being tapped through apps, games and contests.

    “This enhanced offering will give the fans a chance to watch their favorite team and stars consistently throughout the season. We are confident that our approach will open up an enormous opportunity in the ‘Breakfast’ time space for capturing viewership,” says Sony Six business head Prasana Krishnan.

    An NBA Slam Dunk app on Facebook will reward people for answering questions. A trivia contest will run across TV, digital and social media, the winner of which will get a trip to the 2014 NBA All Star as well as get featured on a show.

    NBA and Sony Six tied up earlier this year in a multi- year deal to promote the game in India. “This new, expanded programming will increase fan access to NBA basketball on multiple platforms,” says NBA India managing director Yannick Colaco.

  • Sony Six appoints Neo’s Prasana Krishnan as Business Head

    Sony Six appoints Neo’s Prasana Krishnan as Business Head

    MUMBAI: In an early morning announcement, former COO of Neo Sports Broadcast Prasana Krishnan has been brought into MSM’s sports channel Sony Six as their new Business Head. Krishnan was also previously associated with Nimbus Media, Times of India and Arthur Andersen.

    Talking about this new development MSM India COO N P Singh says, “We are optimistic that Prasana’s appointment will further strengthen and grow Sony Six’s position in what can be called as one of the most competitive broadcasting markets in the world. We look forward to a long and fruitful working association with him.”
    Prasanna Krishnan is confident that the channel will grow consistently to the leadership position in this space

    Prasana, who is delighted about his new role with Sony Six, says “I look forward to take up this challenging role and work towards ensuring that the channel grows consistently to the leadership position in this space.” Krishnan has over 17 years of experience in the media and consulting sectors.

    In 2006, Krishnan joined Neo Sports and in 2009 was elevated to chief operating officer.

  • Neo bolsters French Open coverage with a dual feed

    Neo bolsters French Open coverage with a dual feed

    MUMBAI: The Neo Sports Network will debut a dual feed broadcast plan for the tennis Grand Slam the French Open. The tournament runs from 26 May-9 June.

    The aim of this effort is to ensure that tennis fans do not miss out on any top stars playing simultaneously at the French Open as the network‘s two channels, Neo Prime and Neo Sports, will have live feeds from separate courts.

    This is the first time that anybody has done this for a tennis Grand Slam where two channels were used to broadcast separate feeds through the course of the event.

    This initiative means that fans will have access to 225 hours of live content on the Neo Sports Network, which is almost twice as much as the 130-140 hours that are typically set aside for live coverage of a Grand Slam across broadcasters.

    Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasana Krishnan said, “The attraction of the French Open is extremely high and Neo‘s coverage is taking it to significant new landmarks. Last year, the reach of the event was a third better than Wimbledon and nearly equal to the other two Grand Slams put together. This year, we will be taking this to greater heights with dual feed coverage and nearly doubling live coverage to 225 hours, which is in line with our strategy to bring in more novelty with non-cricket properties.”

    The dual feed will ensure at least 45 additional hours of live content in prime time, providing a win-win situation for both viewers and advertisers.

    There will also be live updates and contests on the Neo Prime Twitter handle (@neoprimetv) through the two week period to add to the interactive experience.

    ZenithOptimedia managing partner Navin Khemka though doesn‘t feel that the dual feed will make much of a difference in terms of the ad revenue that the event gets. “The sport is too niche. A crore or two more isn‘t going to matter much. The rate isn‘t that high. I think that the aim is more about keeping the two channels alive.” A tennis Grand Slam makes around 3-5 crore in ad revenue.

    Rafael Nadal is gunning for an unprecedented eight title, Roger Federer is hunting for that 18th Grand Slam, and Novak Djokovic is just a trophy away from completing a career Grand Slam.

  • Euro 2012: First 27 matches notch 0.76 TVR

    Euro 2012: First 27 matches notch 0.76 TVR

    MUMBAI: The first 27 games of the Uefa Euro 2012 has notched an average viewership of 0.76 TVR for CS M 15+ ABC TG Six Metros, a growth of 27 per cent over the previous edition, Neo Prime said.

    The broadcaster quoting TAM asserted that the total television tune-ins for the tournament has seen a 33 per cent growth over the last edition. The total tune-ins for the current edition is 19 million compared to 14.3 million in 2008 Uefa Euro, which was telecast by ESPN Star Sports.

    The viewership in the business end of the tournament has further surged registering a growth of 63 per cent in the average rating of the Quarter Finals as compared to the group stage.

    Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasana Krishnan COO commented, “The exponential growth in ratings during the business end of the tournament is in line with our aggressive viewership forecast. I expect the ratings to further propel as the 4th Quarter Final witnessed an intense and hard fought battle between Italy and England and the Semi Finals will see the 4 best teams compete against each other. This edition of Uefa Euro 2012 has been a win-win for the fans, advertisers and us.”

  • Neo Cricket set to rebrand as Neo Prime

    MUMBAI: As part of its strategy to focus on non-cricket sports, Neo Sports Broadcast has rebranded its cricket focussed channel to a premium all-sports channel.

    Consequently, Neo Cricket will have its name changed to Neo Prime starting 3 June.

    With reduced live cricket property and a surge in volume in multiple sports, NSB believes two all sports channel is the current need of the hour.

    Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasana Krishnan said, “Neo Prime is the prime feed of a premium all-sports channel. The channel will showcase HD ready sports content and will shortly launch its HD offering.”

    The decision to rebrand Neo Cricket is twofold. One, the broadcaster doesn‘t have live cricket to run a dedicated cricket channel. Two, a lot of Neo Sports properties were overlapping creating scheduling conflicts.

    “The network will shortly announce a slew of big ticket acquisitions and multiple all sports channels will ensure scheduling conflicts are addressed to maximise the network viewership,” Krishnan said.

    As part of a long term strategy, Neo has been acquiring sporting events including Uefa Euro 2012, French Open, World Series Hockey, Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, Copa America and Rugby World Cup in addition to the existing bouquet of Asia Cup, German Bundesliga, Davis Cup, US PGA Tour, BWF Badminton Super Series, and Fed Cup.

    Neo Cricket was born in the wake of the BCCI rights which now reside with Star India. Neo has adopted a strategy that would run with primarily other sports like football, hockey, tennis and badminton.

    Also read: Neo Prime begins its journey as all sports channel

  • Neo positions West Indies series as ‘Return of The Big Guns’

    Neo positions West Indies series as ‘Return of The Big Guns’

    MUMBAI: The West Indies cricket team‘s tour of India consisting of three Tests and five One Day Internationals begins from 6 November 2011 on Neo Cricket. The series is just after India‘s successful whitewash of the English team.

    Moreover the series sees big names returning after a layoff due to injury like Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh. In addition the biggest attraction of the series will be the high possibility of Tendulkar scoring his 100th century in the international cricket. 
     
    Keeping all this in mind, Neo Cricket, the official broadcaster has launched a 360-degree marketing campaign with the positioning ‘Return of the Big Guns‘. The budget is around Rs 40 million and will focus on print, television and digital platforms. The focus of the campaign is that some of the big names who have not been seen for a while will be back in action.

    Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasana Krishnan said, “The Indian team is on a victorious spree and there is a positive rub off on the India West Indies series with all the big stars returning. The series could mark several milestones including the biggest cricketing record – Sachin‘s 100th hundred. It has been proven time and again that there is no substitute to live India cricket when the team is showcasing a spectacular performance.”