Tag: Rajesh Sethi

Brands flock to Ten Sports for UEFA Champions League finale

MUMBAI: Even though football is not considered to be a revenue generating game for broadcasters due to its limited scope to append advertisements, Ten Sports has managed to attract as many as fifteen brands across categories for the finale of the UEFA Champions League.

The much-touted finale will be played between Spanish La Liga Champions Barcelona FC and Italian SerieA triumphant Juventus in Olympiastadion Stadium, Berlin on 6 June.

Brands like Micromax, Xolo, Amul, Vini Cosmetics, L’Oreal – Garnier Men, Adidas, TVS Motors, Parle Agro, Amity University, Nissan, Sharda University, Accenture, Park Avenue, Urban Ladder and TVS Tyres are already on board.

Ten Sports senior vice president and marketing head Prasenjit Basu informs Indiantelevision.com that apart from these, many more brands have shown keen interestin associating with the final. “However, I doubt we can accommodate all of them with limited inventory left,” he says.

A media planner, who closely deals with the sports fraternity adds, “Football is not considered as a high revenue generating sport as there are not much room to showcase advertisements because of the continuous nature of the sport. However, in a match of such magnitude, the prime time begins 20 minutes before the match, which otherwise is always two minutes before kick off. And subsequently a huge number of brands get associated with the event to grab eyeballs.”

The UEFA Champions League final is one of the greatest matches in club football history and with the 2013 final drawing a record of 360 million television viewers globally, it comes as no surprise that multiple brands are vying for an ad spoton it even if it means paying a premium.

Given the high demand, Ten Sports is said to be charging as much as Rs2 – 2.75 lakh for a 10 second slot in the final. The premium rates are also owing to the sport’sgrowing viewership in India.

A media expert opines, “It’s a battle between defense and attack. Juventus will defend while Messi, Suarez and Neymar will try their level best to score for Barcelona, which makes the final a highly interesting one. So the ad rates going up is normal for such an event because everyone will try to buy a spot and grab eyeballs.”

Talking about the network’s special plans for the finale, Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi says, “Ten Sports Network and Zee Network channels are being used extensively to promote the events along with digital platforms with a two pronged approach, which is content and activation led. This also includes activities like Play With The Pro -Taking the route of gamification ahead and collaborating with our panelist and an ardent gamer; Dubsmash videos; partnering with Twitter for ‘Periscope’ live mobile video broadcasting platform to take viewers at behind the scenes of the show before it goes on air; Social TVto exploit the twitter data in real time to showcase fan sentiments around the match and Missed Call Service, which allows the audience to receive our tweets in real time via SMS.”

Additionally, the channel has also created special programming where fans could get an opportunity to relive the glorious moments of the contestants from this season in ‘Road to Glory.’

In a recent deal with UEFA, Ten Sports acquired the broadcast rights of both Champions League and Europa League for a period of three years till 2018 for the Indian subcontinent, which includes India, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan. The channel will broadcast these properties across all its platforms including premium HD offerings and live streaming of matches on tensports.com.

Backing the most vital game of the UEFA Champions League with extensive marketing and promotional activities, Ten Sportswill be rolling out its marquee activation – #MidnightFootballParty to capture fan frenzy related to the finale between Barcelona FC and Juventus.

Throwing light on the marketing plan, Basu says, “As the two European giants fight for the biggest crown in the continent, we will be deploying our marquee activation #MidnightFootballParty to capture on fan enthusiasm. Our prima objective is to co-create content with our fans and present it during the telecast of finals. The football fans will be treated to a lot of activities and viewers to refreshed content during the studio show.”

June 3, 2015
Taj TV CEO Arun Kapoor quits; Rajesh Sethi to replace

MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s (Zeel) Taj TV has seen a senior level exit. Taj TV distribution business CEO Arun Kapoor has put in his papers.

Ten Sports global CEO Rajesh Sethi will replace Kapoor, who has moved on to pursue alternate career interests.

Sethi will be overlooking the sports and distribution business of Taj TV from 1 May, 2015. He will continue to report to Zeel MD & CEO Punit Goenka.

Meanwhile, Kapoor will continue to be a part of the group and will help in streamlining and handholding Sethi in the transition over the next couple of months.

Goenka said, “Arun was instrumental in setting up the team at Taj TV. He was also a part of the leadership team of the initial JV, which established the distribution business and harnessed available opportunities for the organization. We wish to thank Arun for the years of engagement with us and for contributing to the success of the organization; we wish him the best.”

Speaking on Sethi’s appointment, Goenka added, “In the last 18 months, Rajesh has been a catalyst in turning around Ten Sports with a strong focus on processes, people and delivering a strong sustainable financial performance. I am confident that Rajesh’s rich experience and knowledge across multiple domains will help us to take Taj TV to the next phase of growth. We wish Rajesh and the entire distribution team the very best for continued success.”

Kapoor said, “It was one of my most satisfying stints at Zee. Under the leadership and guidance of chairman and Punit, we have managed to establish Taj TV as one of the leading players today. I thank them for the opportunity and wish Rajesh and his team all the success.”

Sethi added, “Media distribution is one of the fastest growing domains, with evolving regulatory mechanism, which offers both opportunities and challenges. This challenges the traditional way of doing businesses and offers immense future opportunities. In a short span of its launch, Taj TV distribution has grown in revenues multi fold and successfully established itself as a dominant player in the distribution market. With the new team, I am sure, we will be able to tap this opportunity and contribute to further progress of the company.”

April 28, 2015
Pakistan Cricket Board renews deal with Ten Sports for next five years

MUMBAI: The Board of Governors from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have approved awarding broadcasting rights to Ten Sports and Pakistan Television, the joint-bidders for PCB’s next rights cycle for five years.

Ten Sports had previously bagged five-year cricket rights from PCB in 2008 reportedly for $140.5 million dollars. The current cycle of rights begins from April 2015 to early 2020. Ten Sports has been the rights holder for PCB for the last 10 years.

The package will also include India versus Pakistan matches, besides some other strong matches. According to information available with Indiantelevision.com, among those bidding for the rights for this cycle were Sony and OSN Sports, apart from a few brokering companies.

As part of the arrangement, India and Pakistan matches are scheduled for the latter half of this year around November-December 2015, subject to government approvals from both sides.

When contacted, Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi said, “Ten Sports is a market leader in the sports segment in Pakistan. When it comes to cricket, we have a great partnership with PTV as they are our valued partners. Besides cricket, Moto GP and WWE too are very strong properties that are performing well in Pakistan.”

April 1, 2015
Ten Sports acquires exclusive rights to MotoGP for five seasons

MUMBAI: Ten Sports Network has secured exclusive rights for MotoGP the premier world championship for motorcycle road racing. As was first reported by Indiantelevision.com, this is for the first time that MotoGP will be broadcast exclusively by a broadcaster in the Indian sub-continent.

This new deal between Taj TV and MotoGP rights holders Dorna Sports will run for a period of five seasons starting 2015. As a part of this deal, Ten Sports will broadcast all MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 races and qualifying practices live on its network of six channels. Ten Sports will also be offering multi-screen feeds on its digital platforms and will develop a dedicated section on www.tensports.com.

Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi said, “We are very excited to embark on this new journey with Dorna. We are committed to building this property in India over the next five years and viewers will witness unprecedented programming initiatives on our network. We have also been rights holders for this premium property since 2006 and we are delighted to continue and take this partnership to the next level.”

Dorna Sports managing director Manel Arroyo added, “We are thrilled about our exclusive partnership with Taj TV and looking forward to developing a close relationship with them. India is a key market in the coming years and the World Championship will benefit greatly from the extensive promotion that Taj has committed to provide.”

The 2015 MotoGP season begins in Qatar on 27 March with the first of 18 races in the 2015 calendar. The 2015 rider line up is stronger and more competitive than ever with defending champion Marc Marquez looking to retain his title over rivals Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa amongst others.

Ten Sports will run contests to send fans to witness live action from the best races. Promotional events are being planned in the territory as well. From a programming standpoint, there will be new shows around races with Ten Sports also looking to add a local flavour by creating Indian-focused programming for a few events.

February 12, 2015
Ten Sports to bring MotoGP to India; introduce new racing league

MUMBAI: The avenue for non-cricket sports properties like kabaddi, tennis, wrestling, and football, which saw a great start last year is set to grow bigger. The newest entrant is the niche sport Moto Grand Prix popularly known as Moto GP.

According to sources, Ten Sports has inked a five year deal with the sports property. Previously, Moto GP was a non exclusive property shared by three sports networks; Star India, Neo Sports and Ten Sports. But with the new deal coming in place and the two partners reaching a fine print, Ten Sports has gained an exclusive deal with Moto GP beginning from 1 February 2015.

If multiple sources are to be believed, there will also be a set of new programming and races wrapped around it including studio produced shows to propel the sport’s popularity in India. What’s more, the network is also looking to foray into introducing a new racing league in the country.

When contacted, Ten Sports officials denied the development.

On the other hand, the network is in a celebratory mood with the success of another property-World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). “The response has been fantastic as we have reached out to a mass audience via Facebook, Twitter Google Hangouts etc. When India was playing against Australia in Oz and we declaring we were going live with RAW, we were trending much above India playing with Australia on Twitter,” says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi. Ten Sports had decided to go live with flagship properties like RAW and specials like Royal Rumble during the early morning slot at 6:30 am.

“We thought we were not going to do well but received more than 900 emails with regards to it. I am happy the way our ad revenues are shaping too,” adds Sethi.

The network is also looking at the prospect of airing WWE in regional languages. Besides, with the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and the network having the rights of Pakistan cricket, it is busy promoting the mega event in the neighbouring country and will be announcing its plans soon.

January 28, 2015
WWE adds 25% ad revenue growth for Ten Sports

MUMBAI: “In the last quarter, we saw 25 per cent growth in ad revenue from WWE,” says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi while adding, “We are expecting this to jump higher by at least 50 per cent in the next calendar year with our fresh content and programming lineup.”

The network in the last quarter has added four new advertisers from FMCG and e-commerce sector, who have previously not advertised with WWE.

The optimistic note comes as Ten Sports gears itself to launch the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in a new avatar for Indian audiences, next year. Properties like RAW and specials will simulcast from USA on Ten Sports, beginning January 2015.

Explaining the reason behind doing so even though the programme will be aired as early as 5:30-6:00 am, Sethi says, “We are trying to kill the time gap of 72 hours that exists today and move as close as possible towards live feed. Secondly, this will also help kill digital piracy which we want to curtail.”

The network with this move wants to provide flexibility and opportunity for fans to watch WWE as close as possible. To avoid being affected by ratings, the channel will have repeats of the show through the week. It will also air the repeat telecast of RAW with Hindi commentary. As it sees the Hindi feed as a value addition to the property. “WWE is a property that has deep penetration in the Indian hinterlands and is not confined to tier I and tier II cities. To further expand our base and coverage of WWE, we are going ahead with the Hindi feed for some programmes and after measuring the response, might get into other regional languages also,” he adds.

The lineup of WWE has been changing from the last three to four months as fictional aspects are being brought in, which is where female audience share been able to connect better to the property. “In addition, we have the young people who are our captive audiences. DIVA, aired in the evening, has a huge segment attached to it. We are summing up together different segments rather than just the teenage segment,” Sethi informs. According to Sethi audiences from the age group of seven to seventy can connect to the property. A customised special show with local connect will be seen on the network soon while to attract kids, animated snippets revolving around WWE will be aired.

A live on-ground event too is being planned for the next year between October and November, which will have WWE superstars performing live in India.

The channel head also plans to have VoD on its digital channel in the year ahead.

December 13, 2014
Ten Sports to have WWE Hindi feed starting January 2015

MUMBAI: World Wrestling Entertainment popularly known as WWE is set to further grow as a sports property and find a new flavour in India. Taking a leap, the network Ten Sports has decided to provide language commentary in Hindi for the repeat telecast of RAW. A special customised show is also being introduced which will be in Hinglish produced out of a studio. Another programme, the Main Event will be introduced for the first time in India, which will be a combined package of RAW and Smackdown.

According to sources, established flagship properties like RAW and specials will have a live simulcast on Ten Sports as from USA, beginning January 2015. The timings for these programmes will be between 5:30 am to 6 am. Not to be deterred by ratings, the network will telecast repeats of the show.

The development comes in the wake of Taj TV and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) signing a new agreement in September 2014, as per which starting January 2015, WWE will be available exclusively on the Ten Sports Network, for a further five years till 2019.

WWE has been broadcast on Ten Sports since the launch of the channel in 2002. WWE together with Ten Sports will be investing little over $100 million in the Indian market as part of the new agreement.

Ten Sports which is looking at a major revamp early next year, also has acquired the Indian sub-continent broadcast rights for the 2018 Common Wealth Games to be held in Gold Coast Australia. The network has a bouquet of premium football properties from across the globe including UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League among others.

December 11, 2014
I -League set to return on 17 January 2015

MUMBAI: The launch of Indian Super League (ISL), made many doubt if the country’s original football league would be able to sustain or not. However, putting fears to rest about the future sustainability of the I–League, it is all set to take off from 17 January 2015 in Bengaluru and will be telecast on Ten Sports.

The official broadcaster, which will air 75 out of the total 110 matches live on the channel, is optimistic about it. Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi says, “We have had a long-standing partnership with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the I-League. We have seen this property grow leaps and bounds on our network in terms of audience interest and viewership numbers.”

He goes on to say that the network values the primary national league on its platform and is looking forward to an exciting new season of the tournament from January 2015 as well as the Federation Cup, which will commence from December 2014.

While some sports experts feel that the ongoing Hero Indian Super League (ISL) would cause sustainability problems for the league, the announcement comes as a welcome move. Sports columnist Hemant Kenkre says, “The I-League was introduced in India as a professional football league. While India may have a low ranking in terms of world football standings, foreign leagues like the EPL are popular in the country. The I-League together with the Indian Super League can co-exist together, as a large number of football leagues will provide not just an opportunity for youngsters to play but also give international exposure for the game.”

The decision on the dates for the league, were taken at the recent I-League and Federation Cup committee meeting. It was also decided that the inaugural edition of the AIFF U-15 tournament for I-league clubs will be held in the next calendar year and will consist of 16 teams wherein besides the 10 league clubs, four other academies and two AIFF academies will be a part of the final round.

“With the new clubs in the league giving more importance to infrastructure and grassroots development programmes, and with AIFF’s initiatives for new tournaments in the junior categories, it is definitely going to impact the quality of youngsters in the game in India and I am confident that these initiatives will bear fruit in the Indian teams performances and results in the U-17 World Cup,” adds Sethi.

While coming up with the fixture of the championship, the schedule of school examinations will be kept in mind, and only post discussions with sponsors like Coca Cola and AIFF marketing partners IMG-Reliance, will intimate the clubs. It has also been decided that the registration of players would be done centrally through the state associations and all ID cards would be issued by AIFF. No club would be allowed to register a player after the completion of the 11th round of I-League.

As per the release of players for the AFC U-22 Qualifiers, slated to be held from 23 to 31 March 2015, the clubs have agreed to get back to the governing body over the same. Meanwhile, the second division league would take place in two venues which are to be finalised post inspection by AIFF. The eight participating Clubs are Aizawl FC, Chanmari FC, United Sports Club, Mohammedan Sporting, PIFA Sports, Kenkre Sports, Hindustan FC and Lonestar Kashmir FC. The U-19 I-League will kick-off in the second week of December.

The last season of the championship was won by the newcomer Bangalore FC, which was led by India’s national football team captain, Sunil Chhetri. When asked for his expectations for the upcoming league he says, “Expectations remain same in the I-League; we want to defend our title. We want to make it as difficult as possible for the competition. We also have an AFC competition and the Federation Cup so we have our work cut out.”

“The players obviously want to put up performances that the audiences can enjoy,” he concludes.

November 27, 2014
World TV Day: Industry barons go down the memory lane

It was on 15 September 1959 when India officially experimented her tryst with the box that has been loved, loathed and equally criticized over the years. But today, in its current avatar, the television set has seen a paramount shift, right from colour television being introduced in 1982 as India geared up for the Asian games to today’s 4K technology.

Production values of various shows as well as the viewership experience have changed phenomenally. As the world today celebrates World Television Day which was declared by the U.N in December 1996, indiantelevision.com speaks to some of India’s most notable names from the TV industry recalling some of their fondest memories of viewing television programmes.

Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar

Television needs to look beyond its traditional ecosystem to embrace the opportunities offered by digital technology. The medium will die if it continues to grow in a linear fashion. TV began over electro-magnetic waves in 1959 and has grown through satellite to cover the entire country.

While terrestrial TV has its own relevance, it will be quickly overtaken by new technologies including satellite and digital addressable systems.

India Today Group consulting editor Rajdeep Sardesai

For me my fondest memory was the coverage of the live elections in the years of 1995-1996. At that time, everyone would watch the national broadcaster Doordarshan as there were no private news channels. Covering the elections as a reporter along with journalist like Vinod Dua and Dr Pranoy Roy is a big part of those memories for me.

NDTV executive vice chairperson KVL Narayan Rao

Television today is more contemporary. Society has changed a little and what you have on air is reflective of that. The world has become a smaller place. There is more access now as compared to 25 years ago when the only window to international news was The Week That Was, produced by NDTV as one of the earliest private players. I remember serials like Buniyad, Humlog, Mahabharat and Ramayan. Some of the old ones were core of the heart serials and dealt with issues that were the reality of so many people of the country at that time such as post partition. The serials now have different production values.

Sony Six business head Prasana Krishnan

Sports on television is growing rapidly and the Indian sports fan today has more access to viewing multiple properties than any other fan in the world and that too at an affordable cost. My fondest memory has to be this year’s FIFA World Cup Brazil as not only was it personally satisfying for me as a football fan but a matter of pride to be carried on the channel. Every minute of the game on TV was engaging.

Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi

Viewing television programmes is an enriching experience and is all about entertainment, entertainment and entertainment! Watching television especially sports is a great stress buster and allows me to relax. In fact watching sports on TV for me is all about celebration.

Gasoline, founder and chief creative officer Anil Kakar

From just two Doordarshan channels to over 800 channels today, television has come a long way. The good thing is, content continues to get more defined to suit niche audiences. With the recent changes announced by the Star Network, viewers now have the choice of subscribing to specific channels on an a la carte basis. It will be interesting to see how this will go on to alter viewing patterns. In the long run, this might even lead to a shift of focus, largely from GECs to more diversified, niche content, as television gets more fragmented. Ultimately, as audiences, we will have even greater choice than we have today. Even with so many channels today, I would say the finest moments in television belong to the 90s. MTV and Channel V brought in a cultural change and attitudinal shift of sorts. Programmes such as Different Strokes, The Wonder Years, Mind Your Language and Star Trek were had to miss and are still hard to forget.

November 21, 2014
WWE: Ready to wrestle it out

MUMBAI: If you grew up in the 90s then you would clearly remember the greatest moment of WWE’s attitude era. That day, Stone Cold, arguably the most known face of the time, drove a beer truck straight into the arena where wrestler The Rock, WWE (then known as WWF) chairman Vince MacMohan and his son Shane were busy shooting a promo. The tension between Cold and MacMohan was known but what he did that day left fans spellbound. Cold left the three drenched as he sprayed them with tones of beer leaving them as well as audiences stumped.

The period also had the likes of The Undertaker, Triple H, Chris Jericho and the New Age Outlaws, who were household names. When not on screens, these names came alive through trading cards that kids, especially teenagers, invested their pocket money in.

Fans will definitely remember the animosity shared by the Cain and Abel; The Undertaker and his half brother Kane. The matches were not just mere fights, but spectacles of rivalry clubbed with excellent storylines, metallic music entrances, blazing fire and aerial stunts, all for the ultimate Championship belt that signified attitude, glory and honour.

‘If you smell what the Rock is cooking’ wasn’t a kitchen related term at all but the most memorable catchphrase of The Rock, which was on everyone’s lips.

In India however, as other sporting leagues came into being and with GECs serving a variety of shows, it didn’t take much time for the WWE mania to phase out. Over the years, terms like chokeslam, brainbuster, piledriver lost their charm.

The early 2000s did see little spurts of excitement and mentions when India saw the debut of The Great Khali on WWE television on Smackdown, pitted against the Undertaker in 2006.

WWE programming is broadcast in more than 150 countries and 35 languages and reaches more than 600 million homes worldwide. In terms of global viewership, India is ranked third after the US and UK reaching 140 million viewers a year.

The fresh five year deal with the wrestling body to air WWE matches on Ten Sports has been pegged at close to $100 million and will see investments in multiple forms to grow the WWE ecosystem in India.

While other broadcasters had shown a keen interest in acquiring the property, WWE India general manager Rukn Kizilbash says, “We can’t imagine another partner. There were others who were interested since WWE is a hot property but ultimately the best choice was Ten Sports.”

He informs that specials like Wrestlemania alone receive 2.5 million viewers per airing.

Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi proudly says, “Monthly specials including Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series have seen its popularity increasing among viewers in India. Specials along with the weekly RAW show will for the first time be carried live in India on the network with the new deal and will also include the popular Main Event.”

The channel has taken a step forward as it will air content in multiple Indian languages and will also have live events probably like the GrandSlam being held in India.

As for the WWE licensed products, which are created by more than 130 licensees worldwide and available at major retailers like Kmart, Walmart, GameStop, Tesco, Ackermans etc abroad, in India Kizilbash says licensing is still in a very nascent stage. He informs that their licensing agent in India is Dream Theatre and Pro Line, its apparel partner will be launching its collection next month.

WWE India also has plans of coming up with stand alone WWE stores in India in a year or two.

“WWE products are available in product categories for kids and adults but our focus is on kids. These products include lunchboxes, schoolbags, backpacks, playing and trading cards, video games etc. But the toy Mattel figures are our basic staple merchandise” says Kizilbash. Since 2010, global toy company Mattel has been WWE’s master partner in the toy category and for the third consecutive year in 2013 saw WWE ranked as the number two action figure brand in the US (NPD January 2013 – December 2013) says the website of WWE. While counterfeits products are a challenge to WWE, the publicly traded company has a strong legal team, based in the US which looks after the same.

While games like Super Mario and the joystick enthralled kids of the 1990s, WWE games have entertained kids in India too. Now, it is launching the much awaited video game WWE 2K15 which will be launched worldwide on 31 October 2014. E-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon in India have currently priced it at Rs 2,499.

To promote the sport in India, WWE recently got superstar and Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett better known as Bad News Barrett to the country. Ten Sports also organised a special visit of another superstar ‘Big Show’ at New Delhi and Mumbai earlier in the year. These visits are part of the deal between the two partners and will see similar promotional tours.

Group M ESP national director- entertainment sports and live events Vinit Karnik says it is not difficult to host on ground events in India once the necessary approvals like security and crowd management have been taken care of.

WWE is set to grow in India due to a growing younger population and an increased spending power of consumers. “WWE as a premium property has a massive fan base in India especially among kids” he adds.

With a blueprint in front, the sport is all set to make a comeback and thrill the Indian youth, once again.

October 9, 2014