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Tag: Sony SIX

  • Hindi becoming the language of sports commentary

    Hindi becoming the language of sports commentary

    MUMBAI: English was the language of cricket commentary when it started in India in the early 1940s on All India Radio. The listenership was limited to the English-speaking class. It was in the late 1950s that cricket commentary in Hindi made a beginning. Commentary in the language of the people took the game of cricket to the hinterlands.

     

    The dominance of cricket commentary in Hindi continued till the mid-1980s. Live commentary of India winning the 1983 cricket world cup was heard by most cricket fans in India in Hindi.

     

    For the older generation, the names of cricket commentators in Hindi such as Suresh Saraiya, Narottam Puri and Ravi Chaturvedi still bring back memories of the 1970s and early 1980s when words created action happening on the cricket field.

     

    With the emergence of colour television began the decline of radio commentary and the rise of English commentators on television. The government-owned Doordarshan was the only television channel available in the 1980s.

     

    The rise of private broadcasters in the 1990s again saw the rise of cricket commentary in English and then its dominance. The first decade of the new millennium did make sports broadcasters aware of the importance of commentary in Hindi but it took almost a decade for them to actually wake up to the full potential of Hindi.

     

    The likes of Star Sports, Ten Sports, SET Max and Sony Six made a beeline to incorporate more and more Hindi language programming in their sports coverage to grow their viewership.

     

    Only this year, India’s oldest sports channel, Star Sports, launched the country’s first 24×7 Hindi sports channel, Star Sports 3, following an exercise that involved rebranding as well as reorganisation. 

     

    “We changed the landscape of cricket broadcast in the country in 2012 with the launch of a world class Hindi commentary simulcast in addition to the existing English language feed,” says Star Sports business head Nitin Kukreja.

     

    The Hindi language feed attracted immediate attention from viewers. 

     

    Star Sports says 71 per cent of the viewership for the dual language-feed India-Australia series came from Hindi commentary. Thereafter, Star Sports took the engagement with the Hindi audiences even further.

     

    “We launched India’s first 24X7 Hindi sports channel, Star Sports 3, with content, graphics and shows in Hindi – a giant step forward to dramatically increase the reach of sports in the country,” says Kukreja.

     

    Apart from the launch of Star Sports 3, 2013 also saw Star Sports channels providing Hindi commentary feed for the Indian Badminton League (IBL), Barclays Premier League (BPL) and Hockey India League (HIL).

     

    Says Kukreja: “In a nation where less than 10 per cent of the population understands English, sports broadcasters have traditionally programmed only in one language – English. We want to change that. We want to focus on a language that the viewers understand.”

     

    For Star Sports, ‘Hindi dedicated’ is not just about the commentary being available in Hindi. It is a comprehensive Hindi offering in terms of graphics, navigation tools and all such constituents.

     

    To increase its viewer base, Star Sports will now show not just cricket in Hindi but a range of shows on other sports including hockey, badminton and football and special shows such as Star Power, Heroes, Masterclass and Hockey Hotshots. 

     

    Star Sports is not stopping at just Hindi. The channel is considering providing feeds in languages such as Tamil and Bengali very soon.

     

    Ten Sports too has jumped onto the Hindi bandwagon. For the recently concluded India-South Africa series, it had Hindi commentary on Ten Sports and English on Ten Cricket and Ten HD.  

     

    “With the viewer becoming more and more demanding like any other nation, and rightfully so, there is a viewer base that is looking forward to Hindi commentary and then the usual English commentary feed,” reasons Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi. And like Star Sports, Ten Sports too is looking at going multi-lingual in the future to expand its viewership.

     

    Sony Entertainment Television provided commentary in both Hindi and English for its biggest sports asset, the Indian Premier League (IPL). While Set Max had commentary in English, the nearly two-year old Sony Six had commentary in Hindi for Pepsi IPL 2013.

     

    “The Hindi feed was very well appreciated. We reached close to a 100 million viewers! The consumers were delighted to be provided with a choice of language preference,” says a Sony Six official. Sony plans to expand the number of IPL games with Hindi commentary.

     

    Star Sports claims it has had higher core viewers coming from its Hindi feed than Engilsh. “During the period October-November 2013, about 24 million viewers were core to Hindi only, while English language had core viewership of about 9 million. Another 8.4 million viewers were core to both Hindi and English language,” reveals Kukreja.

     

    On their part, advertisers are happy with the Hindi, English fragmentation of viewers. Madison Media COO Karthik Lakshminarayan says, “Currently, you buy a match, not a feed, so advertisers come on both feeds but soon, we will see that different advertisers will go for the two feeds (separately).”

     

    The rates for Hindi feed are expected to be higher than the English feed given the much higher core viewership for the Indian language commentary. The segmentation could also attract advertisers who so far had shied away from sports channels. 

     

    Madison’s Lakshminarayanan says, “The more you can split an audience, the better it is for the advertiser. If you can further a demand with regional languages, then it should work.”

     

    The Hindi channel being a new proposition, Star Sports isn’t yet selling its two language feeds separately. “Sometime in the future, we see value in unbundling the two offerings to different sets of clients. This will help the clients reach out more effectively to their target audience at one level and/or tailor their communication to suit specific sets of audiences,” says Star Sports’ Kukreja.

     

    Sports programming in Hindi and other Indian languages can only help expand viewership for sports and will be beneficial to broadcasters as well as advertisers. The sports broadcasters will have their pockets deepened, the advertisers can reach more people and the viewers can watch programming in the language of their choice.

  • We are just focused on creating an identity for ourselves in the space: Prasana Krishnan

    We are just focused on creating an identity for ourselves in the space: Prasana Krishnan

    He is the man with a plan for Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) sports channel Sony Six, and he is ensuring the channel continues to remain at the top of the game in all aspects. 

     

    Ever since he moved to the MSM stable from Neo Sports in early September 2013, Sony Six business head, Prasana Krishnan, has not only endeavored to bring in a wide array of sports which have their own loyal fan base, he has left no stone unturned in acquiring some of the biggest international sports properties such as the European Qualifiers for 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, The FIFA World Cups of 2014 and 2018, the Australian Open and Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) to name a few.  

     

    Krishnan further opens up on Sony Six’s journey thus far and its strategy to navigate the road ahead in a tete-a-tete with indiantelevision.com’s Sidharth Iyer. Excerpt: 

     

    Q. It’s been six months since you took charge of Sony Six. How has the journey been thus far?  

     

    It’s been a very exciting first six months. The channel is still in its nascent stage and we are trying to create an identity for ourselves to stand out from the competition. The idea is to identify niche areas we want to operate in and figure out how we are going to attain long term growth in this business. 

     

    Q. This is your second stint with a sports broadcaster after being with Neo Sports for over seven years. Is there any change in your role and responsibilities? 

     

    Well, it’s a given that different organisations face different types of challenges, depending on the situation. Like in 2006 when I was with Neo, the market was not this competitive and it was a very different landscape. The market has evolved with time and the competition is now extremely aggressive. With Sony being one of the largest broadcasters in the country, it’s a whole new ball game for me personally. 

     

    Q. Has sports broadcasting changed over the years? 

     

    There have been significant changes in the space over the last few years. Back in the day when I entered this industry, there was no Indian Premiere League (IPL) and no leagues existed; test and ODI cricket were still dominant forms in the sport. A format such as Twenty-20 was unheard of globally. Cable digitisation was many years away and direct-to-home (DTH) was still in an experimental stage.  

     

    So if we really turn back the clock, the last eight years have witnessed a dramatic transformation in the media landscape in terms of distribution, DTH, cable digitisation and regulatory changes. The entire sports landscape too has changed with T-20 becoming a predominant format and leagues emerging not only in cricket but in other forms of sport as well. 

     

    Q. What is Sony Six’s strategy to grow as a sports broadcaster, given the fact that it is a highly competitive business? Is Sony considering launching more sports channels to offer a wider choice to viewers?

     

    We are still in the first year of operations; we’re just 18 months old and trying to get a foothold in the market. So, as far as the idea of new channels is concerned, it’s a bit too early to comment on the same. But Sony Six the brand is clearly focused on a select number of sports, which we believe have latent potential but are underserviced. 

     

    If you look at basketball, it is one of those sports with the largest infrastructure facilities; schools encourage it, participation on ground level is very high and yet its potential hasn’t been tapped.

     

    So, along with NBA in India, we are much focused to try and grow that sport in the country and we already have encouraging numbers to support our drive. We’ve found the number of people who sampled basketball this season have grown seven to eight fold that of the previous season.  

     

    Fight sports is one more focus area which other broadcasters have shied away from. India is traditionally known for its fight sports such as boxing and wrestling and the country has continually shone in the same at the Asian Games as well as the Olympics. So, what we have done is focused on fight sports as a category and included a daily programming block called ‘Action Ka Blockbuster’. TNA has grown by over 170 per cent in the past month and half. TNA ratings have peaked at 384 TVTs which is its highest ever rating in the past one year; Kurt Angle’s episodes have always rated the best amongst all so far. We have a mixed bag of fight sports including wrestling, boxing and mixed martial arts so the idea is if these sports interest you as a viewer, then Sony Six is the destination for you. 

     

    Additionally, we have some of the largest properties including the IPL, FIFA World Cups of 2014 and 2018, and the Australian Open beginning next year. So what we have done is assembled very high profile marquee properties and other sports where we see a lot of development potential. Our positioning is such that apart from IPL, we are the home of football in India, so anytime you see famous footballers, they are all on Sony Six. Plus we focus on national sides and not club football so every time there is a major event in this sport, you can view it exclusively on Sony Six. 

     

    Q. How would you describe competition from rival sports broadcasters? 

     

    It is an intensively competitive market but everyone has their own brand and identity, and the Indian market is big enough to accommodate multiple players, so it’s not necessary to take the competition head on in case of each and every property. Speaking of identity, Ten Sports has its own identity where it is focused more on international cricket while Star Sports is dominant in a variety of sports. We are just focused on creating an identity for ourselves in the space. 

     

    Q. Ten Sports acquires the rights for matches hosted by boards of other countries. Do you intend getting into that space? If so, what will be your strategy for entry?

     

    We will look at it on a case-by-case basis instead of running in all directions to pin down whatever cricket telecast rights we can acquire. We have our core focus areas in place and we are positioning ourselves as the home of international football, along with basketball and fight sports. We have a good mix of quality content on offer. So, we just don’t want to go hammer and tongs in acquiring cricket properties just for the heck of it. However, when an opportunity presents itself, we will certainly take it up.

     

    Q. What kind of numbers are you generating in terms of viewership and who are your viewers really? 

     

    Sports viewership sees a lot of fluctuating numbers primarily based on the event that is being telecast at that point in time. But what we have noticed is that our profile is younger than the competition and that’s our view, and we do believe that numbers are supporting that because of the nature of sports we have identified and picked. 

     

    The India vs New Zealand series has averaged 2.6 million TVTs with a peak TVT of 3.0 million TVTs for the third ODI.  49 million viewers have seen the ODI series on Six, this figure is far better than any other series in the recent past. With cricket, Six’s average TVTs have grown exponentially to a career high 459 average TVTs in Week 4 2013. It’s the first time Six became the no.1 sports channel in a non-IPL week. The channel’s share grew to 60 per cent from average seven per cent in the past four weeks.

     

    Our reach and distribution has never been a cause for concern as we are part of a large network like Sony and are also ably distributed by The OneAlliance Group. The channel is pretty much available across the country to whoever needs it. But absolute numbers will always vary, because if you look at IPL, the numbers could well be in excess of 200 million viewers. So there really can’t be a fix on the viewers. 

     

    Q. How big is the advertising market for sports broadcasting? What is your share within the same? Which categories of advertisers spend the most on advertising on your channel? Are there any new emerging spenders?

     

    The share of the advertising pie varies a lot depending upon the number of big events in a particular year, so if you get a year where you have the FIFA World Cup or Cricket World Cup, the amount of money pumped in at that point in time is significant. 

     

    We are definitely a major player in the sports market on account of IPL, but in absolute and not IPL-related areas, we are still in an early stage and yet to get to our first big event which will be the FIFA World Cup 2014. 

     

    So while we have made a string of acquisitions in the past few months, we are yet to prove our mettle with the first big event to be hosted and telecast exclusively on Sony Six. Advertising on sports channels is generally very male-skewed; apart from FMCGs, banking and financial services, telecom has always been prevalent, so also automobile and insurance.

     

    Though there are subtle differences between advertiser profiles on GECs and sports channels, the big brands are always present across categories and it’s just a question of where they apportion a higher portion of their expenses. 

     

    Q. Sony spends thousands of crores on the broadcast of IPL on Max as well as Six, so what do you think of Star Sports jumping into the fray and bagging the online streaming rights for IPL by spending just a few hundred crores?

     

    See the rights for IPL that Starsports.com has acquired are not for live streaming; they were with Indiatimes for the past three years, and YouTube was doing the telecast along with Indiatimes so the product itself is not new. Instead of YouTube, Starsports.com has now partnered Indiatimes. There is no fundamental shift at ground level, but because it is Starsports.com that has come into the fray, it is being looked at as a big development.

     

    YouTube as a platform would have been even more formidable with its reach and availability, and an even bigger threat. Our focus is the television broadcast of IPL, and I believe we have been doing a good job of that year after year. From the viewers’ perspective, they will still be coming onto Set Max and Sony Six to catch all the live action and we really don’t see a problem in that sense.

     

    What is the way forward for Sony Six? 

     

    The future is certainly quite bright. As I mentioned, we have our focus areas in place and we are going in a particular direction with a set plan. We are trying to carve out a niche identity, and we have a fairly robust and youthful audience in terms of viewership because of the kind of content we have on offer. The focus will now be on the execution and monetisation of plans already in place.

  • Sony Six to broadcast 2014 six nations rugby

    Sony Six to broadcast 2014 six nations rugby

    ?MUMBAI: SONY SIX, India’s premier sports and entertainment channel has won the exclusive broadcast rights to the RBS 6 Nations Rugby tournament which commences on 1stFebruary. Taking on its global viewing spectrum, the 2014 edition of the RBS 6 Nation’s Rugby tournament will be shown on aprime time slot between 8.00pm to 11.00pm on Sony Six and Sony Six HD for Indian audiences.

    The 2014 RBS 6 Nation’s Rugby tournament beginson 1stFebruary and will conclude on 15thMarch. The tournament consists of a league of 6 European nations – England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy and France. Each teamplays every other team once, with home field advantage alternating from one year to the next. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. Defending Champions Wales take on Italy in the opening game.

    The Six Nations is the successor to the Five Nations Championship (1910–31 and 1947–99) which in turn succeeded the Home Nations Championship (1883–1909 and 1932–39). The Home Nations Championship, played between teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, was the first international rugby union tournament.

    Sony SIX has also has broadcast rights to other premier rugby tournaments such as the Super Rugby League and the Rugby Championship.

     

  • MSM moves to court over exclusive media rights for IND-NZ cric series

    MSM moves to court over exclusive media rights for IND-NZ cric series

    MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) sports arm Sony Six bagged the exclusive broadcast rights for the highly anticipated India’s tour of New Zealand just 10 days prior to the first match.

     

    However, after the first One Day International (ODI) which was played at Napier on 19 January where the Kiwis decimated the boys in blue by a margin of 24 runs, MSM discovered that few website operators and a radio operator were providing live and contemporaneous text and audio commentary and detailed ball-by-ball update of the match without obtaining any authorisation from MSM.

     

    While ESPNCricinfo was providing live and simultaneous text commentary over the internet, Cricbuzz was providing audio and text commentary online, and RadioOne was providing audio commentary through internet and mobile. Since the Network has exclusive copyright over the content, MSM moved the Delhi High Court (HC) against these three entities seeking inter alia for permanent injunction restraining violation of its exclusive media rights, damages and rendition of accounts.

     

    The New Zealand Cricket Board had granted exclusive media rights including television, internet, mobile and data rights pertaining to the India tour of New Zealand cricket matches series being played in January/February 2014 to Multi Screen Media along with its affiliates (MSM) for telecast in the Indian subcontinent.

     

    MSM general counsel Ashok Nambissan says, “We are happy that the Hon’ble High Court has granted us an injunction preventing the flagrant violation of the exclusivity of our rights in the ongoing cricket series between India and New Zealand. These rights are acquired at great cost in our efforts to bring international sports events live to our viewers. We will continue to be vigilant and take action as per law to protect our rights.”

     

    The above-mentioned matter came up before Justice GS Sistani of the Delhi High Court on 21 January, 2014. Upon hearing the submissions made on behalf of MSM, the Judge – plaintiff – issued a notice to the operators (ESPNCricinfo, Cricbuzz and RadioOne) – defendants – and passed an ex-parte ad-interim orders.

     

    The relevant portion of the aforementioned order reads as below:-

     

    “Accordingly, defendant, its agents, servants, employees are restrained from:

     

    * Making available, through any medium whatsoever, live/contemporaneous audio commentary of the matches played in the cricket series between India-New Zealand;

     

    * Exploiting or authorising the exploitation of cricket match-related material/information/details including but not limited to current cricket score, ball-by-ball updates, score cards, score updates, alerts etc, contemporaneous with match situations/events, as they happen in relation to the matches played in the cricket series between India- New Zealand.”

     

    The Delhi High Court has directed these websites and radio channel to obtain licenses from MSM if they wish to provide live commentary on their websites and apps and/or provide score updates, scorecards or any other match information.

  • Sony Six: gunning for pole position

    Sony Six: gunning for pole position

    MUMBAI: If you saw the 2013 film Rush about the fierce rivalry between 70s Formula One racing drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda, Sony Six seems to be getting into the fast lane too now along with arch rival Star Sports.

     

    Not only does the channel have a diverse sports bouquet on offer, it boasts some of the biggest international sporting properties including The Pepsi Indian Premiere League (IPL), UEFA EURO 2016, Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016, European Qualifiers for 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, Total Non-Stop Action (TNA), The Australian Open Tennis Championship, The NBA, The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as well as The Indian Open Super Series and The India Open Grand Prix Gold in badminton.

    Yes, arch rival Star Sports has some hot cricket properties featuring India’s official team and other niche Indian sports tournaments, but the idea at Sony Six is to stand out from the competition and break the clutter by bringing in a wide array of sports which have their own loyal fan base.

     

    Says Sony Six business head Prasana Krishnan: “We believe in picking up sports that have a lot of latent potential – like basketball – as we really believe that in terms of infrastructure, it’s easily available all over the country and will slowly gain popularity.”

     

    As for content like UFC and TNA, he reasons that traditionally, the country has always had an active fight sports culture, with some of the best international performances emanating from this sphere.

     

    Sony Six has a full programming slate with a good mix of sports and is also making a statement in terms of content acquisition with back-to-back announcements of global sporting properties.

     

    Speaking of the rights’ acquisition of the FIFA World Cup 2014 and 2018, Krishnan expounds: “If we look at the trend in ratings, every time there is a big event like a EURO or FIFA, we see tremendous growth in interest for football in the country. So, keeping that aspect in mind, football is really an area that has not been explored to its full potential thus far.”

     

    Sony Six is looking to position itself as the home for international football for the next five years. “So be it whichever country that is playing like France, Germany, Argentina or Spain. Every time any of these countries play, the viewers get an opportunity to see their favorite stars and it helps build the brand and audience base further,” adds Krishnan.

     

    Besides, the channel has big plans for a 360 degree marketing campaign to promote FIFA comprising outdoor, print, digital, radio and television. “Six will be the main platform for the on-air promotion and we will also use the whole Sony network to spread the awareness. It’s too early to elaborate on the product as it is still six months away, but we will surely make it viral,” explains Krishnan.

     

    Kicking off Sony Six’s events’ calendar is the channel’s very first live international sporting event – India’s tour of New Zealand starting this Sunday, with five ODIs and two test matches.

     

    “Our portfolio for the current year is quite extensive, starting off with India’s tour of New Zealand, followed by FIFA, then European Central Qualifiers and the Australian Open. Thus, if you see in terms of competition, we certainly consider ourselves among the top sports broadcasters in the country. And all this in just under a year,” says Krishnan.

     

    At just 10 per cent, consumption of other sports vis-?-vis cricket is very marginal, leaving a wide space for other sports to build on their following.

     

    “The Indian market is huge and the way it’s structured is enormous; there is certainly potential in this country for various sports beyond cricket, and we as a channel would like to cash in on this opportunity,” stresses Krishnan.

     

    Are there any plans to infiltrate Hindi speaking markets (HSMs)? “Well, we certainly have a lot of plans in the pipeline as we want to penetrate into that market as well and I know it has been a recent trend for running simulcast of events with Hindi and English commentary. But if you just go back in time, Sony has already tried and tested this proposition during last year’s IPL. So if things work well, I really don’t see any problem in doing so. We have taken the rights for multiple languages’ broadcast as well,” concludes Krishnan.

  • SONY SIX bags exclusive rights for FIFA till 2018

    SONY SIX bags exclusive rights for FIFA till 2018

    MUMBAI: SONY SIX, India’s premier sports and entertainment channel has won the exclusive broadcast rights to 2014 FIFA World Cup™ and 2018 FIFA World Cup™. The 2014 edition will be held in Brazil from 12thJune to 13thJuly 2014. 2018 FIFA World Cup™ will be held in Russia from 8th June to 8th July 2018. The deal also includes rights to broadcast FIFAU- 17 World Cup 2017 to be hosted by India.    

    This latest acquisition by Sony SIX comes on the back of broadcasting the UEFA and CONMEBOL matches from the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying rounds, in addition toacquiring the rights for qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2016 and UEFA Euro 2016. The line-up makes Sony SIX the home of International Football for the next 5 years with 17 landmark FIFA events including: 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil,FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017,FIFA Confederation Cup Russia 2017,2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.

    Mr.NP Singh, CEO, MSM India, said “We are extremely happy to build on our partnership with FIFA. It has been our constant endeavour to bring high quality sports content to our viewers. This acquisition is a testament to our commitment of popularising the sport of football in this country. Considering the rise of youth interest in the sport, football fans in India can look forward to the best International football experience on SIX”

    Mr.Niclas Ericson, FIFA Director of TV, said “FIFA’s mission is to develop the game everywhere for all, by staging international football tournaments on all continents, and supporting football development projects and our 209 member associations across the world. FIFA believes that Sony SIX and its commitment to high quality sport entertainment will deliver first-class coverage of FIFA U-17 World Cups, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2018 FIFA World Cup and other FIFA competitions to this crucial audience. India already has a great passion for football and with the support of Sony SIX, FIFA looks forward to inspiring more fans of football and young players in India for the years ahead.”

     

    Mr. Prasana Krishnan, EVP and Business head, Sony SIX said: “We are thrilled to have acquired the broadcasting rights of the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018. Popularity of football is growing in the country and with India bagging the rights to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 the interest levels are only going to go up.  We have focussed extensively on top international football and we are now proud to bring the best in the world to Indian viewers”

     

    The 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil schedule has been officially confirmed after the groups were drawn on 6th December, 2013. The tournament will be in two stages; group stage will feature 32 nations and will be played from the 12th June to 26th June. The knockout stage will start from 28th June and conclude with the FIFA World Cup Final match on 13th July.

     

    Sony SIX, India’s Premier Sports Entertainment Channel is owned and operated by MSM India. The company is well known to exclusively broadcast some of the world’s largest as well as renowned international sporting properties like The Pepsi IPL, UEFA EURO 2016, Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016 and the European Qualifiers for 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, TNA, The Australian Open Tennis Championship, The NBA and The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Since its inception, the channel has successfully managed to target the youth of India through a mix of sports and entertainment.

     

  • Watch India’s Tour of New Zealand Live and Exclusive, on Sony LIV

    Watch India’s Tour of New Zealand Live and Exclusive, on Sony LIV

    MUMBAI: Watch the much awaited New Zealand vs India cricket series on all digital platforms, with Sony LIV – Multi Screen Media (MSM)’s premium video-on-demand service. Along with LIVE streaming of the entire series, Sony LIV offers you a chance to catch up with a complete package of match highlights, fours, sixes, wickets, best catches and fielding moments, 100’s/ 50’s and 10/5 wicket hauls and the ‘Man of the Match’ moments. Additionally, viewers can also enjoy the special fun moments on and off the field.

    The series will be held in New Zealand and is scheduled from the 19th January 2014 to the 18th February 2014. The 30 day tour starts with five ODIs followed by two Test Matches. Sony LIV is the single-point of entry into the World of Sony Entertainment Network. Viewers can watch the match live on SonyLIV.com or mobile phones and tablets by downloading it from IOS, Android, Windows and Java app stores.

    Speaking on the availability of the cricket series on Sony LIV, Nitesh Kripalani, Executive Vice-President – New Media, Business Development and Digital/Syndication at Sony Entertainment Network, commented, “We want to make 2014’s first India series available to our viewers on multiple digital platforms. Viewers can log on to Sony LIV via any connected device and enjoy the cricketing action live. We have also introduced special content packages from the series to give cricket enthusiasts a complete immersive and engaging viewing experience.”

    SONY SIX, India’s premier sports and entertainment channel has acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to this cricket series.

    Mr. Prasana Krishnan, EVP & Business Head, Sony SIX said, “It gives us immense pleasure to partner with Sony LIV for the series. Sony LIV has been successfully catering to the entertainment needs of the online users across segments. With this association, we wish to extend our commitment to deliver the best of sports entertainment to our viewers across platforms. Our viewers will now be able to follow live cricket action while being on the move.”

    The India tour of New Zealand 2014 bilateral series is a part of the Future Cricket Tour Program (FTP) prepared by International Cricket Council (ICC). This is the first series for the Indian team in the 2014 calendar. The two teams last met in New Zealand five years back in 2009 where India were able to register a series win in New Zealand after 41 years.

     

  • “My immediate focus is on turning around Sony Ent, our flagship channel”

    “My immediate focus is on turning around Sony Ent, our flagship channel”

    He has been fairly low profile, mild-mannered and soft spoken. But underneath the soft exterior NP Singh is tough as nails and a fiesty fighter just like many from the Sikh community – to which he belongs – are known to be. Recently, Singh was hoicked to the CEO’s position at Multi Screen Media India – Sony Entertainment Television Network India – after running it as COO for nearly a decade. He replaced Man Jit Singh – who has moved on to a global position looking after its home entertainment business.

     

    NP is a long time Sony loyalist as he joined it way back in 1999 as CFO.  He has been given charge at a challenging time when the network’s flagship channel Sony Entertainment is at  a lowly sixth position amongst Hindi GECs, just a tad above Sahara. That’s a far cry from the third or fourth spot it occupied until 2012.

     

    Currently in his mid-50s, has seen the highs and lows of not only the Sony Entertainment Network, but the industry as well. His appointment has put his rivals on alert because it is he who pushed the transformation of Sab into a topnotch Hindi comedy offering, Pix into a channel showcasing Hollywood blockbusters, and successfully launched Mix in a crowded music channel market place. 

     

    In a conversation with Indiantelevision.com’s Seema Singh, NP speaks of his immediate plans and the road ahead.

     

    Excerpts:

     

    15 years in Sony and now becoming the CEO. What is the feeling?

     

    I have enjoyed every day that I have been here. I joined the company in June 1999 as the CFO and then got elevated to the position of chief operating officer and now the chief executive officer. I have seen the entire journey. The company is 18 years old and I have been here for the past 15 years. I have been a part of a lot of success and have also faced multiple challenges. Overall, it has been a fantastic journey. I am happy that I have been given the role to head the company.

     

    What are the challenges that lie ahead for the Network?

     

    The number one priority for me is to turn on the power of the flagship channel, Sony. In the short time, this will be my focus. We have seen success on the flagship channel not too long ago. In 2012, the channel was doing extremely well. Since 2012 end, the channel started seeing a drop in viewership; my objective is to arrest that drop and put the channel on the path of growth.

     

    Every CEO has a dream team. What is yours? Do we see any management changes in the future? Who do we see as the next COO for the Network?

     

    We have a strong management team with very good talent across the company. And we have been proud of the team and I will continue to work with them to achieve the dream that we have collectively for the company.

     

    Changes are a part of life and as we go forward, there may or may not be any changes, but it is too premature to comment on.  

     

    For now there will be no COO for the company. We have a strong management team and I will work directly with them to achieve the objectives set.

     

    Will life change for you after becoming a CEO?

     

    I have been here and have been partnering with Man Jit Singh who was here as CEO earlier. I have been part of all the successes and challenges and am acutely aware of what needs to be done. So it doesn’t have any major impact on my life going forward. Except that I will not have a COO right now and so I will interact with the management team directly. This means I will be spending more time in the office, of which I do not complain.

     

    What are the opportunities you have as a CEO?

     

    There are multiple opportunities. In the near term, my first priority is the turnaround of Sony and within that lies an opportunity for growth in revenue of the company. I see growth opportunities on the distribution side as well. That is something we have to stay focused on and we have to help grow the ARPUs at the subscriber level so that the benefit can flow right through the value chain upward to content owners like us.

     

    I see huge opportunity in the exploitation of digital platforms through mobile phones and tablets. If we can get our content to the audience through this medium, we will see a huge rise in revenue.

     

    I also see an opportunity in the regional market that we will evaluate over a period of time and then make our choices.

     

    Sony launched ‘Sony Mahotsav’ in UP, Punjab and Haryana starting from November 2013. What was the reason for it and how has the response been?

     

    We launched it with the objective to engage with our viewers in these markets. We want to take the brand to these markets and also our artistes from major shows to those cities to make the brand more accessible to them.

     

    The response has been positive and we will continue to build on this initiative going forward as well because we want to engage audiences of smaller towns with the channel. This is one initiative. We are also trying to build that engagement through our content and communication.

     

    Phase I and II of digitisation is complete. Do you see that helping the Network in getting better reach and viewership numbers?

     

    Digitisation will not grow our overall viewership base. It will lead to more transparency from the broadcasters’ perspective. Because digitisation will bring about addressability, there will be more information/ transparency about the viewer or subscriber we have for the network. Having said that phase I and II have been completed, set top boxes (STBs) have been installed in the households, but the real addressability has still not happened.

     

    There is still time for that. The MSOs do not have the database for those STBs. We are supporting them through campaigns running on our network. Hopefully in the next few months, they can get the data from the local cable operator and create a database and then start invoicing the subscribers directly. That will happen in the next few months and then over next two years complete addressability will come in and there will be benefits right from the viewer up to the broadcaster and content creator.

     

    Sony has always believed in experimenting with the content. But the past few years have not done too well for the channel. Is it that the channel is too ahead of time? Why aren’t you able to connect with the audience?

     

    It is a combination of multiple factors. Till 2012, we were clearly the number two ranking channel.  We were also at number one during the nine week period when the ratings did not get reported. But since then we have seen a decline in viewership and there are multiple factors behind it. One of the key factors was the universe update by TAM and the inclusion of LC1 markets in reporting viewership. The LC1 market has a 25 per cent share in the total viewership pie and that impacted our ratings. Secondly, some of our fiction shows also didn’t perform the way we expected them to.

     

    But we are the pioneers in the many new concepts and ideas. Some of them have been way ahead of time, for example the YRF shows that we brought to our viewers. Those were top quality shows that were accepted and appreciated by one set of audience, while not taken well by the other set of audience. But that doesn’t mean we will stop coming up with path breaking ideas. We have not been successful in the recent past, but that will not stop us from continuing to follow that path.

     

    The fiction shows have not done well for the channel. Also the non-fiction slate is developing fatigue. How do you plan to strengthen the programming slate?

     

    We have to continue to innovate. We did that successfully with the last season of Indian Idol in which we introduced kids. Also in Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) we brought several innovations. Though it was well received in the beginning, eventually it settled down at a lower number. But that doesn’t mean there is fatigue with the format of the show. We will do something more when we bring KBC the next time.

     

    We are looking at refreshing our weekend primetimes and that is why we got Boogie Woogie back on TV, which is doing well for the channel. We will be bringing back Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega as well. The first and foremost task is to look at our fiction strategy and revamp that. Our plan is to bring in new shows to weekday primetime and strengthen it. We realise that it is there where we can build loyalties with the viewer. So that is the focus, followed by refreshing the weekend.

     

    Though Sony India is doing well and contributes some 40-50 per cent  to the overall revenue of the Sony Pictures’ media networks business, there is pressure on Sony from investors such as Dan Loeb to make Sony’s entertainment business deliver. Is that putting any pressure on you? How do you plan to cope with that?

     

    MSM is a very strong performer for the entire Sony Corporation. We have performed really well and India has a lot of growth opportunity and we are getting a lot of investment from the parent into the company. Whatever new initiative we come up with, till the time it makes strategic and economic sense we will get investment support from the parent.

     

    You will be reporting into Andy Kaplan, what is it like to work with him? Are there more challenges now?

     

    I have worked with Andy for the past several years and I don’t see any change in the dynamics of our relationship. I look forward to working with him even more closely now.

     

    What do you think is missing in the Sony slate?

     

    There will always be some unfinished agenda at any point in time. But right now we have everything to make the network more successful. There are some new initiatives that we are working on for the future growth of the network, which we will announce in due course of time, but first and foremost objective is the turnaround of our flagship channel.

     

    The network bouquet looks weak without any strong regional offerings. Are you looking at strengthening it by moving south?

     

    We have one channel in West Bengal. So we have one channel as far as the regional space is concerned, but it is a small channel, which has carved a niche for itself. We are looking at some other markets and currently we are evaluating all the options and will make our choice in due course of time.

     

    Unbundling of bouquets is something which Dish TV has recently encouraged by offering IndiaCast channels on an a la carte basis. Then the TRAI may soon come up with its recommendation paper on aggregators. Do you see that affecting the distribution of channels?

     

    We always follow very collaborative process in any negotiation that we do with our partners and like everyone else Dish TV is also a strong partner. We have had strong relations with them in the past and even now.

     

    There has been a lot of conjecture about the TRAI consultation paper on aggregators, but no one knows what will happen. Will cross that bridge when the recommendation comes out.

     

     Are you looking at launching any new channel?

     

    We never do something because other networks are doing it. We always do things that are good for our Network. We will do what makes strategic and economic sense for us. And from that perspective, if we have to launch a new channel we will.

     

    You can watch more of what the Sony Entertainmetnt CEO has to say by clicking here: Executive Dossier with MSM India CEO NP Singh

  • SONY SIX bags the exclusive rights to the New Zealand – India cricket Series

    SONY SIX bags the exclusive rights to the New Zealand – India cricket Series

    MUMBAI: SONY SIX, India’s premier sports and entertainment channel has acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to the New Zealand vs India cricket series. The series will be held in New Zealand and is scheduled from the 19th January 2014 to the 18th February 2014. The 30 day tour starts with five ODIs followed by two Test Matches.

     

     

    Commenting on this acquisition, Mr. N.P Singh, CEO, MSM said, “We are delighted to partner New Zealand Cricket as the official broadcaster to this series. With this acquisition we are staying true to our objective of delivering high octane sporting events. Sony SIX viewers can now look forward to some of the best cricketing action from two of the most stellar cricket teams in the world.”

     

     

    Mr. Prasana Krishnan, Business Head, SONY SIX, said, “We are delighted to have this series come our way early into the New Year. Through this acquisition we will give our viewers direct action to one of the most awaited cricket series in 2014. Both New Zealand and India play exciting brand of cricket and we are thrilled to be the exclusive partner to this promising series.”
     

    Mr. David White, CEO, New Zealand Cricket, said, “We are delighted to partner with Sony SIX for the series. India is home to the most passionate and dedicated cricket fans, and with Sony SIX as partners for the series, we are assured to reach out to the fans in the best manner.”
     

     

    The India tour of New Zealand 2014 bilateral series is a part of the Future Cricket Tour Program (FTP) prepared by International Cricket Council (ICC). This is the first series for the Indian team in the 2014 calendar. The two teams last met in New Zealand five years back in 2009 where India were able to register a series win in New Zealand after 41 years.
     

    Sony SIX, India’s Premier Sports Entertainment Channel is owned and operated by MSM India. The company is well known to exclusively broadcast some of the world’s largest as well as renowned international sporting properties like The Pepsi IPL, UEFA EURO 2016, Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016 and the European Qualifiers for FIFA World Cup 2018, The Australian Open, TNA, The NBA and The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Since its inception, the channel has successfully managed to target the youth of India through a mix of sports and entertainment.

  • Sony Six bags broadcasting rights for Australian Open

    Sony Six bags broadcasting rights for Australian Open

    MUMBAI: The sports channel from the Multi Screen Media bouquet, Sony Six, has been establishing itself as a channel in broadcasting non-cricket sports. Late last year, the channel had won the exclusive broadcasting rights to the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka cricket series.

     

    Continuing with the trend, it has now bagged the exclusive broadcast rights for the Australian Open – the Grand Slam of Asia-Pacific, in India for a duration of five years. The channel will solely telecast all matches of the tournament live from 2015 till 2019. 

     

     On the acquisition, the newly anointed MSM CEO NP Singh said, “Over the years, the Australian Open has established itself as one of the most revered competitions in the hearts of Asian sports fans. With the strong equity that the sport enjoys, we are committed to further expand the distribution of the tournament and strengthen our position in the market”.

     

    The Australian Open will be the channel’s first entry into broadcasting Tennis majors, having shown select ATP tournaments earlier. Apart from this, the channel exclusively broadcasts international sporting properties like Pepsi IPL, UEFA Euro 2016, Qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2016 and the European qualifiers for FIFA World Cup 2018, NBA, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and TNA

     

    Sony Six EVP & business head Prasana Krishnan said, “This acquisition signifies another endeavor by Sony Six into bringing diverse sports offerings for its viewers. The Australian Open is seen as the paramount opener to the Grand Slam competitions and we are proud to have this prestigious event in our bouquet of international sports content.”

     

    Tennis Australia CEO and Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said, “I’m delighted we are partnering with MSM in India for the Australian Open. MSM presented a compelling proposition and demonstrated a commitment to promote the event and the sport of tennis in India which continues to cement our position as the Grand Slam of the Asian-Pacific.”