Tag: Rajesh Sethi

Ten Sports Network to broadcast season 2 of UBA live

MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprise Limited’s (ZEEL) sports network Ten Sports Network, United Basketball Alliance (UBA) to bring India’s first Professional Basketball League to Ten Sports Network. Season 1 of the league was played in Hyderabad in July and saw participation from India’s best basketball players. A grand opening for Season 2 of the UBA was held in Pune and broadcast LIVE on Ten Sports Network channels. The league will span over a month, kicking off in Pune and then moving to Hyderabad for the playoffs and the semi-finals. The league will culminate with a best of 3 games final from 1^st to 3^rd April at the Gachibowli stadium in Hyderabad.

Ten Sports has partnered UBA to broadcast 5 seasons of the League. Season 2 will have a minimum of 36 LIVE matches with International quality HD production. Broadcast veterans Paul Crane and Victor Howell will lead the broadcast coverage for Season 2 on Ten Sports. Announcing the deal, Ten Sports Global CEO Rajesh Sethi said: “We are delighted to partner with UBA for India’s first Professional Basketball League. I am confident that UBA will change the face of Indian professional Basketball forever. There is a lot of participation in Basketball among younger audiences and through the UBA, Ten Sports will offer the best of Indian Baskbetball to our viewers. With increased opportunity to take up the sport professionally and with the training camps, we will see more talent coming through the ranks which will enhance the quality of play. Ten Sports will offer the best of programming on UBA through LIVE broadcasts, studio and wrap-around shows and other educational content.”

The UBA Pro League sees participation from eight franchisees – Bengaluru Beast, Chennai Slam, Delhi Capitals, Haryana Gold, Hyderabad Sky, Mumbai Challengers, Pune Peshwas and Punjab Steelers. Chennai Slam was the winner of Season 1 defeating Pune Peshwas in the final. Nine top players from Season 1 were taken to the USA for a training camp where they trained among present and former NBA stars. “The players were trained just as pro athletes train in the US, every day with very little time off. The first week they struggled, but in the second week, their strength and ability saw significant increases. We know with continued programs, the players can reach elite levels,” says Jody Basye, US Coaching Sr. Manager. A documentary titled ‘Inside the UBA’ on the rigorous training camp and the life of these to be stars was filmed and airing on Ten Sports Network channels. The UBA plans to make these training camps for the best players an annual affair and provide them the much-needed exposure to improve the standard of the game in India.

UBA Season 1 saw celebrities including Abhishek Bachchan, Evelyn Sharma attend matches while Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Telangana State’s Honorable Sports Minister, T. Padma Rao were also special guests. UBA will continue working towards involving celebrities in the game and the league. Tommy Fisher, President of Fisher Industries and CEO of UBA said: “The response of Bollywood, local and central government agencies has been extremely positive. In the weeks, months and years ahead, we plan on working hand in hand to help develop basketball as a superior sport and form of entertainment in India.”

Matches are broadcast LIVE on Ten Action and Ten HD on 2 slots – 16:30 hours and 19:00 hours. Primetime coverage on Ten Sports Network channels will ensure maximum coverage and reach for the UBA Pro League.

Schedule of UBA Pro Basketball League 2016 (Season 2)

Match No.	Date	Time	Match	Venue	Live/Delay
	Regular Season
1	Thursday, 18 February 2016	16:30	Punjab Steelers v Delhi Capitals	Pune	Ten Action/HD
2	Thursday, 18 February 2016	19:00	Mumbai Challengers v Haryana Gold	Pune	Ten Action/HD
3	Friday, 19 February 2016	16:30	Chennai Slam v Hyderabad Sky	Pune	Ten Action
4	Friday, 19 February 2016	19:00	Bengaluru Beast v Pune Peshwas	Pune	Ten Action/HD
5	Saturday, 20 February 2016	16:30	Delhi Capitals v Haryana Gold	Pune	Ten Sports/HD
6	Saturday, 20 February 2016	19:00	Hyderabad Sky v Pune Peshwas	Pune	Ten Action
7	Sunday, 21 February 2016	16:30	Chennai Slam v Bengaluru Beast	Pune	Ten Sports
8	Sunday, 21 February 2016	19:00	Punjab Steelers v Mumbai Challengers	Pune	Ten Action (Delay)
9	Monday, 22 February 2016	16:30	Punjab Steelers v Chennai Slam	Pune	Ten Action
10	Monday, 22 February 2016	19:00	Bengaluru Beast v Pune Peshwas	Pune	Ten Action
11	Wednesday, 24 February 2016	16:30	Mumbai Challengers v Bengaluru Beast	Pune	Ten Action
12	Wednesday, 24 February 2016	19:00	Delhi Capitals v Hyderabad Sky	Pune	Ten Sports/HD
13	Thursday, 25 February 2016	16:30	Hyderabad gold v Punjab Steelers	Pune	Ten Action/HD
14	Thursday, 25 February 2016	19:00	Delhi Capitals v Mumbai Challengers	Pune	Ten Action/HD
15	Friday, 26 February 2016	16:30	Chennai Slam v Pune Peshwas	Pune	Ten Action/HD
16	Friday, 26 February 2016	19:00	Hyderabad Sky v Bengaluru Beast	Pune	Ten Sports/HD
17	Saturday, 27 February 2016	16:30	Punjab Steelers v Delhi Capitals	Pune	HD (Live)/Ten Action (Delay)
18	Saturday, 27 February 2016	19:00	Mumbai Challengers v Haryana Gold	Pune	Ten Action
19	Sunday, 28 February 2016	16:30	Chennai Slam v Hyderabad Sky	Pune	Ten Action/HD
20	Sunday, 28 February 2016	19:00	Pune Peshwas v Haryana Gold	Pune	Ten Action/HD
	Break
21	Wednesday, 23 March 2016	16:30	Hyderabad gold v Delhi Capitals	Hyderabad	Ten Action/HD
22	Wednesday, 23 March 2016	19:00	Mumbai Challengers v Punjab Steelers	Hyderabad	Ten Action/HD
23	Thursday, 24 March 2016	16:30	Pune Peshwas v Hyderabad Sky	Hyderabad	Ten Action/HD
24	Thursday, 24 March 2016	19:00	Chennai Slam v Bengaluru Beast	Hyderabad	Ten Action/HD
25	Friday, 25 March 2016	16:30	Punjab Steelers v Haryana Gold	Hyderabad	Ten Action
26	Friday, 25 March 2016	19:00	Delhi Capitals v Mumbai Challengers	Hyderabad	Ten Action/HD
27	Saturday, 26 March 2016	16:30	Chennai Slam v Pune Peshwas	Hyderabad	Ten Action
28	Saturday, 26 March 2016	19:00	Hyderabad Sky v Bengaluru Beast	Hyderabad	Ten Action
	Playoffs
29	Sunday, 27 March 2016	16:30	2nd Place (North) v 3rd Place (North)	Hyderabad	Ten Action/HD
30	Sunday, 27 March 2016	19:00	2nd Place (South) v 3rd Place (South)	Hyderabad	Ten Action/HD
	Semi Finals (Best of 3 Games)
31	Monday, 28 March 2016	16:30	Winner 2v3 (South) v 1st Place (South)	Hyderabad	Ten Action/HD
32	Monday, 28 March 2016	19:00	Winner 2v3 (North) v 1st Place (North)	Hyderabad	Ten Action/HD
33	Tuesday, 29 March 2016	16:30	Winner 2v3 (South) v 2nd Place (South)	Hyderabad	Ten Action
34	Tuesday, 29 March 2016	19:00	Winner 2v3 (North) v 2nd Place (North)	Hyderabad	Ten Action/HD
	Wednesday, 30 March 2016	16:30	Winner 2v3 (South) v 3rd Place (South)*	Hyderabad
	Wednesday, 30 March 2016	19:00	Winner 2v3 (North) v 3rd Place (North)*	Hyderabad
	* if Necessary
	Final Championship (Best of 3 Games)
35	Friday, 01 April 2016	19:00	North Winner v South Winner	Hyderabad	Ten Action/HD
36	Saturday, 02 April 2016	19:00	North Winner v South Winner	Hyderabad	Ten Action/HD
	Sunday, 03 April 2016	19:00	North Winner v South Winner*	Hyderabad
	* if Necessary

March 21, 2016

ZEEL to revamp the entire bouquet of Ten Sports Network

MUMBAI: Rajesh Sethi lead sports expertise of Zee Entertainment Enterprise Limited, Ten Network which currently operates Ten Sports, Ten Action, Ten Cricket, Ten HD and Ten Golf is set to undergo a revamp.

The network will now name its channels as Ten 1, Ten 2, Ten 3, Ten 1 HD and Ten Golf HD, “The decision has been taken to complement our wide portfolio of content. Instead of having one channel showing only cricket and one only football we will now switch and swap,” said a senior company official.

Ten Sports will become Ten 1, Ten Action will become Ten 2, Ten Cricket will become Ten 3 and Ten HD will become Ten 1 HD. Ten Golf which the network recently converted to Ten Golf HD will continue to remain the same.

“There will be a new logo and brand message which we will unveil soon” added the official. The new look will hit the television from 1 April 2016.

March 10, 2016
ZEEL to revamp the entire bouquet of Ten Sports Network

MUMBAI: Rajesh Sethi lead sports expertise of Zee Entertainment Enterprise Limited, Ten Network which currently operates Ten Sports, Ten Action, Ten Cricket, Ten HD and Ten Golf is set to undergo a revamp.

The network will now name its channels as Ten 1, Ten 2, Ten 3, Ten 1 HD and Ten Golf HD, “The decision has been taken to complement our wide portfolio of content. Instead of having one channel showing only cricket and one only football we will now switch and swap,” said a senior company official.

Ten Sports will become Ten 1, Ten Action will become Ten 2, Ten Cricket will become Ten 3 and Ten HD will become Ten 1 HD. Ten Golf which the network recently converted to Ten Golf HD will continue to remain the same.

“There will be a new logo and brand message which we will unveil soon” added the official. The new look will hit the television from 1 April 2016.

March 10, 2016
Two Indians to debut on WWE Live in Delhi; Ten Sports expects packed house

NEW DELHI: It may be close to freezing up north but in the national capital New Delhi, the heat is on. Rings are ready as wrestlers pump up to tussle in between the ropes… only the winner gets the corner to celebrate.

Ten Sports, which has brought the WWE Live event to Delhi after a gap of more than 13 years, is burning the midnight oil to ensure perfect execution of the event. Ten Sports at this stage is concentrating aggressively on the live event, but the sportscaster may later televise it too.

The two-day event is being held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium tomorrow and 16 January and has already attracted a booking of 35,000 for the two days. The stadium can seat around 20,000.

Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi told Indiantelevision.com on the sidelines of a press meet that around five to seven per cent of the total budget earmarked for the event has gone into the 360 degrees marketing and promotions.

He was confident that the Indian superstars Satender Pal and Lovepreet Sangha would get as much attention as the renowned WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and Divas Champion Charlotte among others.

Sethi said several milestones had been created since the announcement of the Delhi event and publicity had also increased by word-of-mouth.

WWE and Ten Sports aggressively marketed the live event in Delhi with a significant amount of investment. More than five sponsors were roped in for the live event, whereas negotiations were on with over 15 more brands. If sources are to be believed then Mountain Dew has been roped in as the title sponsor for a sum of over Rs 2 crore.

Referring to his channel’s ratings, he said Ten Sports had been leading week after week as per the BARC ratings. The channel is working with five cricket boards – Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies – apart from the UEFA and the French League in football.

The two-day live event will feature WWE SmackDown and WWE Raw and also see names like Dean Ambrose, Big Show, Sheamus, Cesaro and Ryback. Tickets are priced between Rs 1699 – 17,999. Ten Sports has tied up with ticketing micro-site Bookmyshow for online ticketing. There are several sitting categories, which start with open sitting at Rs 1699. The next slabs are Rs 2999, Rs 5499, Rs 7999, Rs 11,999 and Rs 17,999.

Earlier during the press meet, Lovepreet who is a Kabbadi champion said he had decided to take to wrestling since he had won all the highest awards in kabbadi and now wanted to take his talent elsewhere.

Both he and Satender were put through rigorous training in the United States, putting in more than five hours of training before going in the ring.

Satender added that he was happy that both he and Lovepreet were making their debut in India. Asked about wrestlers like Undertaker, he said he had learnt a lot from all of them.

Roman Reigns said that he had always been looking for the big fight and this was his opportunity. There were 29 other challengers he had to fight.

He denied that the matches were ‘fixed’ and in reply to another question, he said though his father had been a professional wrestler, his mother was his personal hero as she encouraged him.

While declining to comment on why The Great Khali was not part of WWE, Roman said he liked Khali as he was very soft-spoken. He was proud that Khali is a symbol of WWE in India.

Referring to John Cena, who was unable to come here, Roman expressed the hope that they will be in the big fight together soon.

Charlotte said that her primary mission was to change the perception about women and to show that they could fight as well as the men did.

WWE president international Gerrit Meier said, “WWE had never meant to insult any country and apologised for the incident when Hulk Hogan had insulted the Indian tricolour.”

In a press meet held in November last, Meier had said that WWE is also planning to build consumer parks in India in the near future. The company launched its video streaming service WWE Network in the Indian sub-continent early in November.

He said India had been chosen for the live event because of the large number of WWE fans in the country. “WWE holds around 440 events every year and we’ve held events in countries like Japan and Malaysia but India is a major market for us,” he said.

On the television front, by offering a compelling storyline each week, WWE was largely skewed towards the family audience and Meier said that they had found the right partners in Ten Sports and Zee Cinema. The telecast on both the channels had gained popularity and was one the major reasons for WWE renewing the telecast agreement with the broadcasters through 2019. WWE and Ten Sports began their association in India in 2003.

While the WWE telecast on Ten Sports received a lot of attraction from viewers, Sethi said that the reason to bring it on Zee Cinema in Hindi was because WWE was now perceived as family entertainment. “We live telecast some WWE events on Ten Sports from the US. Moreover, Zee Cinema has helped take this event to the hinterland and expand the viewer base with the Hindi dubbing. Zee Cinema is one of the five top movie channels in India and reaches 150 million homes. As WWE is now considered as entertainment, it was only justified that it should be on a movie channel,” he added.

January 14, 2016
Impact of DAS on Sports Ecosystem: Rajesh Sethi

DAS (digital addressable system) is here to stay. Despite the shortcomings, the hiccups in the implementation of the first two phases, the government has announced that it will not extend the deadlines of December 31, 2015 for phase III areas and December 31, 2016 for phase IV, when the entire country is expected to be digitised. After complete switchover, cable TV services will be available only through set top boxes in India.

We, at the Indiantelevision.com are starting a new section – ‘The Impact of DAS’ through which thought leaders, experts from the television ecosystem will share their thoughts, ideas, and say their piece on the subject. We are beginning with the impact of DAS on the sports broadcasting ecosystem.

Our expert for the section is Ten Sports Network CEO Rajesh Sethi.

Excerpts:

How big an impact has phase I and II digitization made when it comes to subscription revenue?

Phase I and phase II digitization has made a positive impact as far as the subscription revenue is concerned for the industry and given the trend we expect increase in the revenue once phase III and IV is completed. Ten Sports has also experienced the upside of subscription revenue which can be seen from our increased ARPU. The addressability has improved but a lot still needs to be done. We believe that as the digitalization matures & packaging is implemented on ground by the operators, we will be able to achieve complete benefits of digitalization.

From sports broadcaster’s point of view are you happy with the two phases of digitization?

Although the implementation of two phases of digitization had been slow as compared to expectations, the completion of the two phases has facilitated increased subscription revenues and more accountability in the industry. From a sports broadcaster’s perspective, it will provide Ten Sports an opportunity to introduce new products based on the type and preference of consumers and provide enhancements like multi camera action, on demand services etc. We as asports broadcaster are keen to enhance the consumer experience and are interested in working with operators to fully reap the benefits of digitalization.

Is the sports broadcasting industry in a subscription positive scenario? Or we are still ad dependent?

The sports broadcasting industry in India is still evolving and ad revenue contributes significant part of revenues and will continue to remain the same in foreseeable future for main streamsports content. However, as digitization is still not complete, there is a high potential of increased subscription revenue and lesser dependency on ad revenues. We expect the niche sports offering to move towards subscription driven revenue model. As a sports broadcaster, we believe that the industry is moving in the right direction and once phase III and IV is complete there will be a possibility for this industry to be in a subscription positive scenario.

Are sports like Football, Badminton which are hugely popular but has very little room for advertisement profitable assets for broadcaster?

There has been increased interest from consumers for non-cricket sports in India in the last few years. Football and Badminton have gained traction in an industry which is preliminary dominated by cricket. It’s a step forward in right direction and we have seen advertisement revenue picking up for non-cricket content, the most recent example being Kabaddi. With regards to football and badminton being a profitable asset for a broadcaster, profitability is a function of revenue potential and content cost. Though the revenue potential and content cost presently is limited, it is expected to rapidly grow for these products. This makes it a good opportunity for a broadcaster to obtain future profitability on these content.

With phase III and IV scheduled do you see a substantial inclination in subscription revenue?

Phase III and IV is all about getting to remote areas of India. It provides an opportunity for thesports broadcasters to bring local content which connects & relates to the audiences residing in these towns. We see positive growth in subscription revenue as the number of HH’s in these towns provide a growth opportunity from the existing very low ARPU levels.

How can a non cricket sport or a sport with least ad room turn profitable for broadcasters?

The subscription revenue and ad revenue are the two key revenue source for a sports broadcaster. However, profitability for a content not only depends on revenue but also on the cost. The sportswhich has least room for ad revenues would depend on increased subscription revenue which we expect to increase once phase III and IV digitization is completed. At Ten Sports, as part of innovation drive, our team analyzes the potential of content across various genres which might not be currently popular in India and then builds it up for the consumers. We see increased traction for non-cricket content in recent years which translates into higher revenue potential and eventually a profitable content.

November 18, 2015
WWE Live to make a comeback in India; Ten Sports plans aggressive marketing

NEW DELHI: Even as TNA is bringing its Impact Wrestling live event to Mumbai this December, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is gearing up to bring some of the top names in wrestling to perform live in Delhi this coming January.

The event, which will be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on 15 and 16 January, 2016, marks the comeback of WWE Live in India after a span of 13 years. WWE Raw was last held in India in November 2002.

The legendary Danial Bryan, one of WWE’s brand names, who is temporarily out of action under medical advice, was here along with WWE president international Gerrit Meier and Taj TV and Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi to announce the event.

Sethi said they were expecting a full house at the stadium, which can seat approximately 20,000 people.

On the other hand, with its eyes focused on the lucrative Indian market, WWE is also planning to build consumer parks in India in the near future, informed Meier. It may be recalled that the company launched its video streaming service WWE Network in the Indian sub-continent a few days back.

For the live event in Delhi, WWE and Ten Sports will be aggressively marketing it with a significant amount of investment. While declining to reveal expected revenue figures, Sethi said that around five to seven per cent of the total investment in the live event will go into marketing.

So far five sponsors have been roped in for the live event, whereas negotiations were on with as many as 15 more brands. However, Sethi refused to divulge any names.

The two-day live event, which will feature WWE SmackDown and WWE Raw, will see names like John Cena, Dean Ambrose, Big Show, Sheamus, Cesaro and Ryback. Tickets are priced between Rs 1699 – 7999. While the sale of a limited number of tickets was done today, the rest will be sold from 10 November onwards.

When queried as to why there were no prominent Indians in WWE, Meier said that this kind of wrestling required a lot of training and some US-based Indians were currently under training and may soon be seen on screen.

According to Meier, India had been chosen for the live event because of the large number of WWE fans in the country. “WWE holds around 440 events every year and we’ve held events in countries like Japan and Malaysia but India is a major market for us,” he said.

What’s more, WWE is also expecting fans from neighbouring countries like Pakistan to come to India for this live event.

On the television front, by offering a compelling storyline each week, WWE was largely skewed towards the family audience and Meier said that they had found the right partners in Ten Sports and Zee Cinema. The telecast on both the channels had gained popularity and was one the major reasons for WWE renewing the telecast agreement with the broadcasters through 2019. WWE and Ten Sports began their association in India in 2003.

While the WWE telecast on Ten Sports received a lot of traction from viewers, Sethi said that the reason to bring it on Zee Cinema in Hindi was because WWE was now perceived as family entertainment. “We live telecast some WWE events on Ten Sports from the US. Moreover, Zee Cinema has helped take this event to the hinterland and expand the viewer base with the Hindi dubbing. Zee Cinema is one of the five top movie channels in India and reaches 150 million homes. As WWE is now considered as entertainment, it was only justified that it should be on a movie channel,” he added.

November 4, 2015
Ten Golf HD to launch on 7 October, SD feed to discontinue

MUMBAI: The sole 24×7 Golf channel in India – Ten Golf will now be available in High Definition (HD) from 7 October. With this the channel’s Standard Definition (SD) feed will go off air. The channel will be renamed as Ten Golf HD.

Part of Ten Sports Network, Ten Golf was the first dedicated golf channel in this part of the world. With Ten Golf HD, Ten Sports Network will enhance viewing experience.

“Watching the best golfers play their trade on the lush greens of the best golf courses in the world in High Definition (HD) is a different viewing experience altogether,” said Ten Sports Global CEO Rajesh Sethi. “We have been receiving increased demand for Ten Golf in HD and we are happy to give our audiences what they desire through Ten Golf HD. We have a bouquet of the best Golf content and we are confident of the acceptance and uptake of the channel,” he added.

Ten Golf HD offers content from major events including the Ryder Cup and PGA Championship and leading International Tours like the European Tour and the Asian Tour. Best of Indian golf and golfers will be showcase on Ten Golf HD as part of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI). Leading women’s golf tour LPGA is another premier offering on Ten Golf HD.

Additionally, Ten Golf HD will broadcast daily programming including content from Golf Channel USA and Golfing World with specific shows targeted at educating viewers about the sport as well as content on golfing tips etc.

The channel will be available on the direct to home (DTH) platform Tata Sky as well as other platforms.

September 24, 2015
Ten Sports undisputed leader in sports TV viewership courtesy WWE

MUMBAI: Ten Sports has been dominating sports television ratings week after week with the only exception being when team India hits the lush green cricket field and another broadcaster is relaying it. That’s the only time when Ten Sports loses the top berth.

So what helps the channel garner such high ratings? In three powerful words, it’s the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

As per S-group (an analytical arm of TAM media research) analysis, Ten Sports is the leader in the sports genre with average weekly viewership of 28 GRPs in the last four weeks. The closest competitor this week was Sony Six, which garnered half the viewership.

Ten Sports global CEO Rajesh Sethi and his programming team are the main reason behind that. Repetitiveness is the biggest enemy of quality content, it kills the flair and develops a scenario of same programme, different day. However, the smart programming strategy of Sethi and team has successfully managed to avoid that for over a decade now.

Close to 85 per cent of Ten Sports’ viewership comes from the telecast of WWE matches alone with a duration dedication of only 25 per cent.

Sethi asserts, “Ten Sports Network has been the home of World Wrestling Entertainment in India since 2002. Over this period, WWE broadcast has evolved significantly with an increased focus to deliver quality to viewers. The broadcast delay from USA to India has completely been reduced. Ten Sports is now offering WWE RAW live in India. The initial inhibitions that the time difference will affect viewership numbers has been dispelled with very good ratings for the Live airing, which airs Tuesday mornings at 5.30 am India Time.”

Ten Sports has sealed a five-year deal with WWE, which makes the fight sport their exclusive asset till 2019. Both Ten Sports and WWE came together in recent times to launch numerous on-ground initiatives to popularize the sport in India.

“The new agreement between WWE and Ten Sports has seen a host of new initiatives taken by the broadcaster. New shows have been introduced with Ten Sports bringing popular show Main Event to India from January of this year. NXT, which brings the best action from upcoming WWE Superstars and Total Divas, a WWE reality show have been getting a major push from a marketing standpoint and not only existing viewers are taking to this programme but these shows are helping cater to new audiences,” adds Sethi.

He further informs, “RAW and Smackdown, the established marquee shows of WWE continues to garner great ratings. With prime time airings getting ratings of almost 1 TVR, we can safely say that WWE has established itself as a leader in sports entertainment. These numbers are second only to LIVE India Cricket and WWE is closing this gap as well. Ten Sports reaches around 150 million households across the Indian sub-continent and garnering such ratings in a very diverse and unique market like India for an American product like the WWE speaks volumes to what Ten Sports has done over time to making this product acceptable at first to an Indian to now becoming a part of the viewer’s habit.”

Ten Sports has started offering these flagship shows in shorter versions, including a customized one hour RAW programme called RAW Sunday Dhamaal.

RAW Sunday Dhamaal is positioned as a weekend premier show with a local flavour tailor-made for the Indian audience. There has been a new studio designed solely for the show with popular faces anchoring the show. Bollywood is a religion in India and Raw Sunday Dhamaal has consistently been using Bollywood and top celebrities to engage fans and add a new flavour to the shows. This marriage between WWE and Bollywood has seen celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor in the RAW Sunday Dhamaal studios. WWE Superstar and 2015 Money In The Bank winner, Sheamus will also make an appearance on RAW Sunday Dhamaal soon.

“WWE in other languages and a push on digital platforms is also priority for Ten Sports. Smackdown has launched in Hindi and this weekend airing is being well accepted by new viewers. With India being such a diverse market, Ten Sports is targeting a specific territory by territory approach to launching shows in different languages. Ten Sports and Zee Group, whose channels have a presence across 650 million households across the world will use group regional channels and will in due course, broadcast more WWE shows across multiple languages creating an increased affinity towards WWE. This approach will take WWE to the hinterlands wooing a new, non-traditional viewer base. On the digital front, VOD offerings on tensports.com along with leveraging social media from increased interaction and engagement with fans are the priority areas,” he informs.

Fans selected through contests have been rewarded with the opportunity to not only interact with WWE superstars and divas but travel to watch WWE LIVE events across the globe.

Further, as per the analysis carried out below, the viewership coming from WWE matches has been on an increasing trend for the past four years. From 5.7 GRPs in 2012, WWE obtains 9.2 GRPs per week in 2015. This analysis has been done for every 1000 minutes of WWE telecast so as to normalize the duration factor.

The ad rate of a 10-second slot during normal WWE programming fluctuate between Rs 60,000 – 80,000 while for a Wrestlemania or Summerslam sometimes it touches Rs 1 lakh mark too informs a source closely dealing with WWE’s media planning.

Baseline director & co-founder R Ramakrishnan feels that WWE is here to grow. “WWE is an evolving property, not only television viewership but licensing and merchandising will also grow. Live events will play a vital role in the growth. We saw Big Shaw and John Cena travelling to India and both Ten Sports and WWE will endeavor in launching several new initiatives. Credit must be given to Ten Sports for smartly handling the property over the years,” he opines.

WWE is one of the very few American sports, which is widely spoken about in India. Kids start with WWE card games and then gradually with age change to Playstation and X-box. After United States and United Kingdom, India is the largest market for WWE. Khali’s induction in the sport has already raised the bar and got more people talking about the sport India.

Overall World Wrestling Entertainment has a lot of room for growth and Ten Sports will certainly leave no stones unturned to generate as much revenue as they can from the sport.

July 19, 2015
Ten Sports unveils new logo; targets Rs 20 crore revenue from Ind-Zimbabwe series

MUMBAI: Sports broadcaster Ten Sports, which is airing the India vs Zimbabwe ODI series that kickstarted today (10 July), has also unveiled its new logo on the occasion.

After the dismal performance of the ‘Men in Blue’ in the Bangladesh tour, this India tour of Zimbabwe has become an all-important series for both the audience as well as the broadcaster. What’s more, the broadcaster is targeting ad revenues in excess of Rs 20 crore from the series.

Ten Sports and Taj TV global CEO Rajesh Sethi, “It is a step forward in consolidating all the channels under one uniform network and project the organization value to strive further, break new grounds, surpass our limits and achieve the unattained. The belief is articulated in our new network logo design which is synonymous to all kinds of sports and its belief of genesis to victory and the idents and new design was developed completely by the internal team.”

The network also informed Indianelevision.com that an elongated and extensive research was conducted by the internal team before launching the logo.

Sethi further added, “The interest in this series is very high, which is visible through the fact that around 60 per cent of our inventory has already been sold, this in spite of not having the more sellable names in the team. We are able to command a rate of Rs 3 to 3.5 lakh between ODIs and T20s per 10 second. We expect the revenue for this series to be well over Rs 20 crore with brands like Fogg, Karbonn and Pay You already being associated with the series,” said

What could very well be the beginning of the end for the Dhoni era, this series pitches players who have been on the fringes or are making comebacks under a new captain. Zimbabwe that gave a respectable performance against Pakistan in May can’t be treated as push overs any more.

As official broadcasters of the event, Ten Sports is looking to tap into the vast opportunity that the series brings along.

On the production front, the channel has started its studio show Straight Drive, which will boast of star analysts such as Arun Lal, Atul Wassan and Charu Sharma. The show will see pre, mid and post-match round ups.

To market the series, the channel has tied up with the upcoming movie Drishyam. It is also conducting fan engagement activities like contests and quizzes on various social media platforms.

The channel feels that this could well and truly be the moment of truth for the evolution of cricket in the country and the series presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the ‘New Blues.’

July 10, 2015
‘ISL and I-League will complement, not threaten each other:’ AIFF’s Kushal Das

MUMBAI: The Rs 700 crore deal between All India Football Federation (AIFF) and IMG-Reliance, signed after the contract termination between AIFF and Zee Sport, gave IMG-Reliance the opportunity of kick-starting a new football league in India namely the Indian Super League (ISL).

The 15-year deal between AIFF and IMG-Reliance signed in 2010 will subsequently conclude in 2025. The deal gave IMG-Reliance exclusive commercial rights to sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting, merchandising, video, franchising, and rights to create a new football league.

Naysayers termed the emergence of ISL as a threat to traditional I-League but Television Audience Measurement (TAM) ratings for the 2014 -15 season sang a completely different tune.

I-League, which was telecast on Zee’s Ten Sports and Ten Action, garnered 79 TVTs in 2014-15 season which is 13 per cent more than 70 TVTs of the 2013-14 season. In terms of TVRs, the league registered 11 per cent growth in the current seasons.

Speaking exclusively to Indiantelevision.com AIFF general secretary Kushal Das says, “I-League’s growth this year is really encouraging and it proves what I have always been saying that both ISL and I-League will complement each other and there is no chance of one posing threat over other. This year the growth has been because of various reasons. Infrastructure played a vital role, quality of matches were good and the players wanted to leave a mark so that they could have a bigger opportunity and that’s where ISL helped. Overall, it has been a very positive year for the League.”

The conclusion of 2014-15 season also marked an end to the 10 year broadcasting deal with Ten Sports. The league had no advertiser on board in the current season. When asked if the network will bid again for the asset Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi says, “I-League is an organised mechanism, which reflects the national interest. In England we have English Premier League and this edition of I-League has been a major encouragement. The interest level was high, we witnessed 20000 attendance in the final and football is more widespread across the nation now. So it’s no longer Bengal, Kerela and Goa… it’s all over the country. ISL at a macro level has increased the pie of football and all these factors make I-League an interesting prospect. Hence we will be of course going for it and see how things are.”

Football viewership in India was descending at a brisk pace till ISL came into picture. While in 2012 it was 137 GVTs, in 2013 it dropped to 127 GVTs. However, the emergence of ISL in 2014 heaped it up to a mammoth 215 GVTs, which is only second to cricket. Not only GVTs, in terms of cumulative reach, football in India reached to mammoth 637 million viewers, which forced advertisers to pay attention to the sport.

“The only way for football in India is upwards. The sport will witness a 360 degree growth. After the success of ISL, advertisers are looking at the sport with a different vision. I don’t know if I–League singlehandedly can turn out to be a highly revenue generating asset for broadcaster but overall if bundled properly, it may turn out to be an interesting prospect. However, having said that I feel that football will witness a holistic growth,” asserts a senior media planning expert.

It now remains to be seen which channel becomes the screen for I-League and if both the leagues can ensure prosperity at the same time. Overall after the 1950s, it’s the first time that football is becoming a prime force in the sports fraternity.

June 15, 2015