MUMBAI: With a vision to provide tech enabled education facilities to the future of the country, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has associated with EdTech start-up, ‘ConnectEd Technologies’ to convert government schools across Mumbai, Panvel and Raigad, into ‘Smart Schools’ under its CSR programme ‘YAY! Vidya’. Under this programme, SPN will provide access to smart classroom systems powered by ConnectEd Technologies in Marathi to over 50,000 students.
The classrooms are powered with solutions designed specifically for government schools to integrate tailor-made educational content into conventional teaching practices on a daily basis, thereby providing a better learning environment and academic experience. The study material is aligned with the State Board curriculum optimized for government school students with a robust and sustainable hardware, while still being easy to operate and navigate through for teachers. ’YAY! Vidya’ is one of the largest independent EdTech efforts aimed at municipal schools and has already benefited over 12,000 students across Maharashtra. This program aims at bridging the gap in education and aiding the betterment of society. SPN is committed to co-creating India’s social development agenda through empowering communities and creating a positive impact in society.
SPN’s CSR programme is built around three pillars; empowerment, education and environment and ‘YAY! Vidya’ falls under the education pillar of SPN’s CSR programme.
MUMBAI: WWE’s flagship program SmackDown will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a move to a new day and time beginning 5th October 2019 at 5:30AM on SONY TEN 1 channels in English and SONY TEN 3 channels in Hindi.
WWE Superstars past and present will be on hand to celebrate the occasion including Kurt Angle, Lita, Mick Foley, Booker T, Hulk Hogan, Trish Stratus, Goldberg, Jerry Lawler, Mark Henry, Ric Flair and Sting.
Beginning with its 20th anniversary celebration on 5th October 2019, SmackDown Live will become Friday Night SmackDown and air, live & exclusive, on SONY TEN 1 and SONY TEN 3 channels every Saturday morning, 52 weeks a year, captivating fans with a unique combination of edge-of-your-seat action, unpredictable drama and world-class athleticism.
In India, WWE is the second most viewed property on pay sports channels, after Cricket, and SmackDown has been captivating audiences from across the country for years. On air since 1999, SmackDown is the second-longest running weekly episodic television show in U.S. primetime history, only behind Monday Night Raw. SmackDown has aired more original episodes than some of the most popular television series of all time, including The Simpsons, Gunsmoke, Lassie and Monday Night Football.
In its 20-year history, SmackDown has also helped launch the careers of pop-culture icons including Dwayne “The Rock®” Johnson, John Cena®, Triple H®, “Stone Cold®” Steve Austin® and The Bella Twins™.
High-octane action featuring a heavily stacked and entertaining roster of some of WWE’s best talent will now kick-start the weekend for WWE lovers in India. The live telecast of RAW will continue every Tuesday morning at 5:30 am on SONY TEN 1 channels in English and SONY TEN 3 channels in Hindi.
MUMBAI: SonyLIV locked in a multi-year strategic partnership with OnePlus, the global technology brand ahead of their much-awaited upcoming OnePlus TV launch in India. This alliance will open access to the extensive content library of Sony Pictures Networks India for OnePlus Smart TV users spanning movies, music, sports, animation, web originals, short films and much more. SonyLIV is amongst the few selected mobile apps available as part of the much-hyped OnePlus TV launch in India.
After bolstering its place as a leader in the premium smartphone segment in India, OnePlus is foraying to Smart TV category to strengthen its consumer connect. SonyLIV’s partnership with OnePlus TV is reflective of their brand ethos of creating an exceptional viewing experience for its 100 MN plus monthly active users, expand the market potentialities and up the ante in brand integrations. In its efforts to capture newer and wider audience segments, SonyLIV intends to strengthen the engagement quotient with OnePlus by offering its varied content to the Smart TV users.
“Our partnership with OnePlus is a leap ahead in blending captivating stories with an innovative viewing experience. With our robust content portfolio on offer, there’s plenty to consume for OnePlus TV users. This alliance enables us to expand our consumer footprint to Indian households and boost our engagement. It’s a great starting point for the two companies, and we are excited about the journey ahead of us,” Sony Pictures Networks India digital business head Uday Sodhi said.
“With OnePlus TV being our latest premium offering, it is important for our users to have access to content across genres and languages and we believe Sony Liv offers that experience with its extensive content portfolio. This partnership along with the superior audio and picture quality on the OnePlus TV will offer a viewing experience like never before,” OnePlus India general manager Vikas Agarwal commented.
MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPN) has acquired the exclusive media rights for Rugby World Cup 2019 from the Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL). The tournament will be held in Japan from 20th September to 2nd November 2019 and telecast in India live and exclusive on the SONY TEN 2 channels and will be livestreamed on SPN’s premium video on demand (VOD) service, SonyLIV. The terms of the deal include exclusive television and digital rights across territories in the Indian subcontinent: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and exclusive pay television and digital rights for Sri Lanka.
The Rugby World Cup is the world’s most prestigious rugby tournament and sees participation from the top rugby teams in the world. Held every four years, the 2019 edition of the Rugby World Cup is the ninth edition of the tournament and will see 20 teams playing 48 matches across 12 venues in Japan for the coveted Webb Ellis Cup. Participating nations include the defending champions New Zealand, Ireland, England, Wales, South Africa, Australia, Scotland, France, Fiji and Argentina amongst others.
Rugby is a fast-growing sport in India, with a dedicated fan base and talented local athletes. India is enjoying a significant surge in rugby participation and interest and is home to a fan base of 23 million (43 per cent are female) according to the latest Nielsen research, demonstrating the huge potential of one of the world's most populous nations. Introduced to India in the late 1800s, Indian rugby players have managed to make a mark on the global stage over the years by putting up strong performances. As Indian audiences shift from being pure cricket viewers to multi-sports viewers, the popularity of rugby is on the rise.
MUMBAI: Staying true to its title of being of an ‘Employer of Choice’, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has taken a step forwardto foster its commitment towardsinclusivity. With an aim to build a conducive environment for all employees, the network has revised its company policies to be gender neutral.
SPN, at the very core has always remained an inclusive and respectful workplace. As a part of this initiative, the networkwill extend medical benefits and insurance coverage for declared partners. According to the new amendment, there is a shift from maternity/ paternity policies to common parental policies and an expansion to the definitions of primary and secondary caregivers. Primary caregivers will now include all employees who have nominated themselves as the primary caregiver in case of adoption/surrogacy. While secondary caregivers will include all employees, who have had a child in the past six months but not delivered the child and not nominated themselves as primary caregivers in adoption/surrogacy cases.
To ensure equal safety for all the employees, the network also incorporated changes to the Code of Conduct. According to which, the definition of sexual harassment will now include hate speech/ bigotry and intolerant remarks on LGBT+ community in general. In addition to rendering policies as gender neutral, SPN has also announced infrastructural changes such as gender neutral washrooms in their Mumbai and Gurgaon offices.
Through such endeavours, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), has always aimed at empowering communities and creating a diverse, inclusiveand happy workplace. This initiative is one of the many steps taken by the network to support diversity.SPN is committed to fuel a creative and innovative workforce through its people-friendly policies.
MUMBAI: In a unique industry initiative, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) is introducing closed captioningfor its linear televised programmingstarting with two of its popular Hindiserials, ‘Ishaaron Ishaaron Mein’ (Sony Entertainment Television) and ‘Jijaji Chhat Per Hai’ (Sony SAB).Starting 15th August 2019, the afternoon episodes of these two shows will be closed captioned in Hindi.
Through its ‘Freedom of Entertainment’ initiative, Sony Pictures Networks India aims to make entertainment an inclusive experience for everyone including persons with disabilities.
This is one of the many pioneering initiatives undertaken by SPN.In the months to come, SPN intends to extend this close captioning feature to other popular shows, to ensure that the entertainment it offers can be enjoyed by all.Depending on the technical capability of the downstream platform/service provider, viewers will have the choice to switch-on or switch-off the closed captions.
Please watch our shows with closed captioning and provide feedback by writing in tobrand@setindia.comas we endeavour to better this experience.
MUMBAI: Last week, India won the men’s and women’s World Cup Kabaddi 2019 beating Iraq and Taiwan respectively. While the men eased past Iraq 57-27, the women scored a convincing 47-29 win at the Mini Stadium Bistari in Melaka, Malaysia. Now, if you’re wondering why the twin triumphs escaped your attention or found no mention on your social media feeds, the reason is quite simple. The matches were not televised by the media rights holder Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) for the Indian audiences.
SPN had acquired the exclusive media rights for World Cup Kabaddi 2019, which was held from 20-28 July. The network had got into an agreement with the Malaysia Kabaddi Federation for rights to televise the tournament on its sports channels across eight countries India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan. SPN was also to make it available to consumers on its streaming service SonyLIV.
“While we were all set to broadcast the World Cup Kabaddi Melaka 2019 for all our Kabaddi fans in India, we were unable to do so as the organisers did not produce the event for television broadcast due to some issues that they were facing,” SPN said in a statement.
World Cup Kabaddi was billed as the marquee event for the World Kabaddi, a body formed just over a year ago. World Kabaddi describes itself as the governing body for the sport in all its three formats – National Style, Beach Kabaddi and Circle Style. It was established following a meeting of more than 50 countries from five continents in Bengaluru in March 2018 with Ashok Kumar Das as president
“The addition of World Cup Kabaddi 2019 to our portfolio augments the positioning of the sports cluster of Sony Pictures Networks India as a global multi-sporting arena with the best international content. We have always worked towards building a multi-sport viewing culture in India with our diverse sports portfolio of international tournaments and marquee events. Kabaddi is one of the more popular sports in the country and we are delighted to be the official broadcasters of an international tournament that positions Kabaddi as a mainstream international sport,” SPN chief revenue officer, distribution and head – sports business Rajesh Kaul had said after securing the exclusive media rights for the World Cup Kabaddi.
MUMBAI: Sony MAX, India’s leading premiere Hindi movie channel from Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), has created a benchmark by becoming the only channel across genres, to sustain a long-standing leadership stint for 148 weeks in a row. To mark this milestone and kick-start the celebration of 20 glorious years of entertaining movie lovers in India, Sony MAX has rolled out its latest TV campaign highlighting its brand essence ‘Deewana Bana De’.
The campaign – Yeh Hai Desh Ki Deewangi celebrates the spirit of millions of cinema fans whose passion and enthusiasm for movies make them special and larger than life. The TVC, which first aired at 20:20 on 20 July 2019, marks the launch of an elaborate marketing blitzkrieg across multiple touchpoints as a run-up to the special day in October 2019.
The latest TVC, the first of many initiatives in a three-month integrated campaign, “Yeh Desh ki Deewangi” relives classic golden moments from some of the most memorable movies of the past two decades. India has grown up on a staple feed of filmy masala, culture curry and cinematic servings dished up by Sony MAX. Gullu Gulati, the central character of the campaign, is the personification of the deewanapan of Sony MAX. The film follows Gullu Gulati, charting a 20-year journey of ‘Deewangi’ as he lives his life unabashedly imitating iconic scenes from movies and his favorite stars like Raj Aryan from Mohabattein, Raj from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Bahhubali and Sultan.
The TVCs are conceptualised by DDB Mudra Group and shot by Footloose Films. To promote the campaign, the channel is engaging in a massive television plan across news, kids and regional channels for three weeks. The marketing plan also consists of a huge digital leg.
Sony SAB, PAL and Sony MAX movie cluster business head Neeraj Vyas said, “I am thrilled that Sony MAX which has been the undisputed leader, week on week for nearly three years, setting unparalleled standards in the industry, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. For two decades, our robust library of films, path-breaking concepts, trend-setting programming has made the channel a strong favorite. We take pride in our deep audience insights and our ability to keep abreast of the dynamic and evolving movie viewing patterns that have helped us stay ahead of the curve. On this truly momentous occasion, we reiterate our commitment to offering only best-in-class entertainment.”
Sony SAB, PAL and Sony MAX movie cluster head, marketing and communications Vaishali Sharma commented, “As Sony MAX completes 20 years, we are extremely excited to present our viewers with the brand-new campaign that bring together our two memorable decades in ‘Yeh Hai Desh Ki Deewangi.’ Like Gullu Gulati, each one of us have grown up with the passion and madness for movies. He represents the heart of every Indian. With this milestone, we only promise to get better and bigger from here on while entertaining our audiences to their heart’s content.”
DDB Mudra Group national creative director Rahul Mathew said, “Indians and Hindi cinema are inseparable and when it comes to movies, it’s Sony MAX. The clear brief given to us was to conceptualise a campaign for the channel which has been the epitome of Bollywood movies for past 2 decades now. To capture the essence of this stature we had to recreate the ‘Deewangi’ that represents the emotions of the entire nation. Hence, Gullu was born whose ‘Deewangi’ for movies and Sony MAX resonates with every movie lover in India.”
MUMBAI: Taking a step further towards building a better society, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) inaugurated its 24thCommunity WaterCentre at Koliwali village in Bhiwandi Taluka. This initiative is in partnership with Naandi Foundation, under the environment pillar of SPN’s CSR programme.
The Community Water Centre at Koliwali village,will provide access to clean drinking water to at least 3000 individuals in the village that houses750 families. To support the cause and to educate the habitants of Koliwali village, prominent actors from the network’s Marathi channel – Sony Marathi, Harshad Atkari and Mayuri Wagh along with Sony Pictures Networks’ Head CSR, Rajkumar Bidawatka, local authorities from the Gram Panchayat and senior members from Naandi Foundation were present at the inauguration.
SPN has always aimed at empowering communities and working towards building a better society. With this milestone, SPN in partnership with Naandi Foundation has been able to provide access to clean drinking water to 1.5 lakh individuals in Kolhapur, Sangli and Thane districts of Maharashtra. This initiative is one of the many steps taken by the network to support the creation of a sustainable environment. SPN is committed to co-creating India’s social development agenda through its focus on various areas of social impact.
MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited, (SPN), has acquired the exclusive media rights for World Cup Kabaddi 2019, which will be held in Malacca, Malaysia from July 20 to July 28, 2019. The agreement with Malaysia Kabaddi Federation gives SPN the rights to televise the tournament on its sports channels across eight territories: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan; and will also make it available on their premium video on demand (VOD) service, SonyLIV.
Kabaddi is India’s homegrown sport and amongst the more popular sports in the country. And it seems that the rest of the world is also catching up to its appeal. The inaugural edition of the World Cup Kabaddi will see participation from the top kabaddi teams and players from across the world including India, Pakistan, England, Poland, USA, Canada, Mauritius, Egypt, Australia and Kenya amongst others. World Cup Kabaddi 2019 will feature 32 men’s teams and 16 women’s teams competing for the title of world champions. In fact, this will be the first time that teams from five continents of the world will feature in a Kabaddi tournament of this magnitude and this will position kabaddi as a global sport not only in India but also around the world.
Indian kabaddi players have always delivered excellent performances at international platforms and audiences can expect a world class experience from top players like Sunil Jaipal, Naveen Kumar, Sandeep Chillar and Suresh Kumar amongst others at the World Cup Kabaddi 2019. Kabaddi enthusiasts will also witness prominent international players like Simon Kibura from Kenya, Nahuel VIllamayor and Nahuel Lopez from Argentina, Filip Sesay from Poland to name a few who will represent their respective countries when they compete at the largest Kabaddi tournament that the world has ever seen.
