ITV

Tag: Sony SIX

  • Sony Six gears up for ‘Total Non-Stop Action’

    Sony Six gears up for ‘Total Non-Stop Action’

    MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media’s sports channel Sony Six has recently acquired the rights of some very niche and diverse sports. And it has upped the ante with Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) the direct competitor to one of the biggest sporting brands in the world – World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

    TNA executive VP Andy Barton says: “TNA is a young brand compared to its competition and we found a similar fit with Sony Six, which is also a fairly young brand and it already has properties like UFC and IPL; the ideas that they brought to the table were just too good to resist and that is how the multi-year deal came about.”

    TNA manages every aspect of production internally to bring fans more than 500 hours of original content each year. It produces exclusive entertainment for more than five million viewers in 14 languages each week to more than 100 countries.

    MSM executive VP and business head Sony Six Prasanna Krishnan says: “There is a strong culture of fight sports in this country, but from a television perspective it is an area that has always been neglected or inadequately promoted in India. Our effort and idea is to bring together the best of fight sports – whatever be the segment – to Indian viewers. Thus, we are on the right course by partnering with big brands like UFC and TNA; we as a channel want to have a wide array of fight sports to suit everyone’s preference in the country.”

    The channel will be airing 500 hours of fresh content from TNA over a period of one year in the multi-year contract. This will include Impact Wrestling (TNA’s weekly televised show); and annual mainstays like March’s Lockdown, June’s Slammiversary and October’s Bound for Glory anchor the lineup for pay-per-views.

    Sony Six, which has dabbled with Hindi commentary in the past with properties like IPL will first be looking at trying out the product and stabilising it before experimenting with the language innovations, but it is on the cards. TNA will be available in both the SD as well as HD feeds.

     

    MSM COO N P Singh says: “Wrestling in India is huge as we have a very long wrestling tradition with Kushti and with our wrestlers performing and winning on international platforms; it has renewed interest in wrestling as a sport. TNA is an established brand and has been around for some time now, but it’s a brand that hasn’t received the kind of push that it deserves.”

    During their visit, Kurt and Gail will be a part of a variety of promotional events to seed the growth of wrestling in India. Setting a different pace to the stars visit, Six and TNA have taken an unconventional route to the tour by featuring the city of Lucknow as one of the pit stop in a promotional tour that will see them visit Mumbai, Lucknow and Delhi between 9 and 13 December.

    Krishnan adds: “The television side of the deal is just one side of it, our idea is to take the sport to the grass root levels and thus we will be touring Lucknow in the three city tour this coming week to reach out to the heartland of wrestling in India. Thus, we are just not investing in the brand as a business proposition but looking at the bigger picture.”

    The entire network will be used to promote the TNA brand very aggressively and one big initiative that it has taken is to get Kurt Angle to be a part of a popular show on Sab TV – Balveer – where the protagonist will be seen in a duel with the superstar. The network plans to capture the attention of all its GEC viewers through such initiatives and give the brand a heavy push.

    Besides TNA, the company is well known to exclusively broadcast some of the world’s largest as well as celebrated 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 NBA and The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

  • Sony Six woos early morning audience with NBA treat

    Sony Six woos early morning audience with NBA treat

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

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

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

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

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

  • NBA and Reliance Foundation hook up for basketball

    NBA and Reliance Foundation hook up for basketball

    MUMBAI: Earlier this year, NBA dived into the Indian sports market by introducing the first ever basketball championship called JAM for college students. Now it plans to go even deeper by making the sport attractive for young kids in order to get them engaged in it from school days through the newly launched Jr NBA.

     

    Three months ago, NBA announced its deal with Sony Six as its official broadcast partner in the country helping it promote the game on screen. It will telecast NBA matches live as well as repeats on the channel as well as its website.

     

    Now, NBA along with Reliance Foundation have signed a deal to get school kids between ages eight to sixteen years to join the game by giving them an opportunity to play under trained professionals. International coaches have been called to train local coaches from October to December this year who will in turn teach the sport to their students. The first year will see Mumbai and Kochi being targeted with five international coaches for each city. They are Ontario Lett, Vanja Cernivec, Bryan Gamroth, Billy Singleton and Sheika Ann Anbatali. Kochi will have a separate set of coaches.

     

    This year 108 schools in Mumbai have registered to be a part of this activity that will see basketball being introducing in the curriculum of the schools as well as training being provided post school hours. All of it will be absolutely free. An Indian centric manual has also been developed that will guide the local instructors on ways to train kids and know the game better. The ultimate aim is to reach a million students through 3,000 coaches in about 10 cities of the country in the next three years.

     

    According to NBA senior director basketball operations (international) Troy Justice India has a lot of scope for sport, especially basketball. “This programme will accelerate the growth and make children basketball friendly,” says Justice.

     

    The best shooters will be selected from each school and a citywide championship will be held. Apart from the sport they also plan to inculcate values such as sportsmanship, active lifestyle, health and teamwork.

     

    “This is the first time that such a comprehensive level of in-school and after-school program is being implemented in any sport in India,” says an emphatic NBA India MD Yannick Colaco. The activity will span from October 2013 to February 2014. Colaco adds that the whole programme is free for the participating schools and physical education teachers. Promotion campaigns for it are already being made. Mostly direct methods of communication will be used to reach out to students as well as parents through PTA meetings and the likes.

     

    Sony Six is also actively interacting with people on social media to get their attention. More promotional activities are lined up as per the deal. Plans for Hindi commentary for the game in the future are also being thought of.

     

    Apparently NBA JAM got an overwhelming response with over 1,000 teams wanting to participate when only 600 could be accommodated. Now it hopes to get more basketball rings into schools and more balls bouncing into the hoops.

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

    Sony Six appoints Neo’s Prasana Krishnan as Business Head

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

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

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

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

  • DAS: Kolkata cable TV rates rise; consumers resist

    DAS: Kolkata cable TV rates rise; consumers resist

    KOLKATA: At a time when some cable television viewers in Kolkata are worried about their TV sets going blank for not filling up consumer application forms (CAF) from 24 August, some are worried as they have been rudely presented with a hike in subscription prices of between 30 per cent and 50 per cent, for watching their preferred TV channels.

    Hitherto, the monthly tab for cable TV subscribers was between Rs 150-Rs 180 but with digital DAS, the sticker prices are slated to escalate for the same number of channels as earlier, disclosed Cable Operators Digitalisation committee of the Association of Cable Operators convener Swapan Chowdhury said: “It can go high up to Rs 325 plus service tax which is 12.36 per cent at present,” he said.

    “Now customers will have to pay extra,” he agreed.

    City based cable operators said the basic package would start at Rs 180 and then with the choice of the channel and packages, it would be Rs180, Rs 230, Rs 280 and Rs 325 respectively exclusive of service tax, going forward.

    Apart from the increased monthly subscription fee, the consumers will have to bear another Rs 10 as amusement tax charged by the state government.

    Explaining the various packages, the operators said in the basic DAS packages, the consumer might just be offered one sports channel like DD Sports but on upgrading to the second package he might have access to Star Cricket and Sony Six apart from DD Sports. “But now if the person is interested to watch Ten Sports, ESPN among others, he will have to pay more and go for the higher package,” the operators added. Cable TV subscribers are already experiencing sticker price shock and have expressed their ire against it.

    City based cable operators said the basic package would start at Rs 180 and then with the choice of the channel and packages, it would be Rs180, Rs 230, Rs 280 and Rs 325 respectively exclusive of service tax, going forward.

    Apart from the increased monthly subscription fee, the consumers will have to bear another 10 per cent as amusement tax charged by the state government.

    Explaining the various packages, the operators said in the basic DAS packages, the consumer might just be offered one sports channel like DD Sports but on upgrading to the second package he might have access to Star Cricket and Sony Six apart from DD Sports. “But now if the person is interested to watch Ten Sports, ESPN among others, he will have to pay more and go for the higher package,” the operators added. Cable TV subscribers are already experiencing sticker price shock and have expressed their ire against it.

    A cable operator on the condition of anonymity said in Barrack pore subscribers not only protested the hike in rental but informed the local police authorities that they were being cheated and especially after the Saradha scam. Citing his meeting with the authorities as a ‘peculiar meeting’ he said he was ordered by the police not to charge a penny more than Rs 180 a month.

    While cable TV operators in Shyam Bazaar and north Kolkata vicinity said the customers who are paying Rs 120 every month at present, when asked to pay Rs 150, raised a hue and cry. “We really do not know how to explain things and convince people,” they said.

    “All new emerging delivery platforms like DTH use CAS. Which is going to happen in the case of cable TV too with the spread of digitisation and addressable systems. Subscribers will pay for only the channels they want to watch,” explains a cable operator.

    On the other hand, Manthan Broadband Services director Sudip Ghosh feels that with the implementation of the DAS package, the monthly tariffs are likely to be rationalised. “These have been streamlined in a way that the consumer will pay according to his channel consumption.”

  • ESPN attempts to expand viewer base with IBL

    ESPN attempts to expand viewer base with IBL

    MUMBAI: The shuttle is really going to fly around during the Indian Badminton League (IBL) for 18 days from 14 August as players belonging to six franchisees get ready to battle on the courts to wrest the winner’s trophy. All the action will be shown live on ESPN or Star Sports 2.

     

    Although badminton is still a niche sport, the channel says that it wants to build a multi-sport viewership much like what other channels are also aiming to do, such as Sony Six.

     

    “The idea is to create a portfolio of various sporting disciplines with in-depth programming in each of the categories. This will help expand the sports viewing fan base and help in creating habitual viewing amongst sports consumers,” says ESPN Software India CEO Vijay Rajput.

     

    We have all played various sports during school days apart from cricket, badminton being one of them and ESPN wants to build a base for sports that people have grown up with. Its previous stint was with the Hockey India League (HIL) but this venture didn’t seem to leave an impact on viewers. It feels that what is lacking is the manner in which alternative/niche sports are packaged, communicated and presented. The IPL (Indian Premiere League) has a robust marketing strategy every year apart from the fact that it has an existing huge fan following in the country.

     

    The crux of its marketing strategy for IBL is mainly dependent upon highlighting the fact that viewers will get to watch world class badminton players on the two channels. But firstly they need to ensure that new audiences familarise themselves with the players, if they want to lure new viewers . ESPN’s campaign therefore focuses on Indian players in the IBL such as Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponappa and Jerry Chopra.

     

    “Our aim is also to build recognisable heroes within IBL,” says Rajput. Promos featuring these players will be on air soon.

     

    Badminton facts that are unknown to the layman will also be provided as part of the campaign, some of them being – a shuttle can leave the racket at a speed of almost 300 km/hour and that a badminton player can cover more than two kilometers in just one match. It is an attempt to get people to know more about the game and thereby tune in to the channel to watch it.

     

    However, it doesn’t seem to match the level that it did to promote HIL by roping in known names such as Prasoon Joshi from McCann Erickson India and ad director Nick Livesey from England.

     

    The matches will be aired during late afternoon and evening. Whether there will be a simulcast on both channels is still being discussed but if one of the host channels is occupied with another sport, the sister channel will telecast the live match. Sources said that Star Sports 2 will probably have commentary in Hindi.

     

    Talks with advertisers have just started and are expected to conclude in a few days. Earlier this month an auction was concluded in which India’s star player Saina Nehwal was bought by Hyderabad for $1,20,000 and the world’s top badminton player Lee Chong Wei went to Mumbai for a whopping $1,35,000.

     

    Matches will be played in the towns of the six franchisees namely Mumbai Masters, Delhi Smashers, Hyderabad Hotshots, Pune Pistons, Awadhe Warriors and Banga Beats. A total of 90 matches will be played in the form of two men’s singles and one women’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles each.

     

    This isn’t the first acquisition for ESPN. It had previously also got hold of the HIL, English Premier League (EPL), Sri Lanka Premiere League (SLPL), Bangladesh Premiere League (BPL) and others. As of now, IBL and ESPN Star Sports have struck a deal only for the first edition of the tournament. How well it manages to garner audience attention will decide the future of the speedy sport. Seems like, ESPN has a thing for leagues, considering that it is a dominant player in its own league.

  • Sony Six bags broadcasting rights to TNA Wrestling

    Sony Six bags broadcasting rights to TNA Wrestling

    NEW DELHI: MSM’s Sony Six is certainly turning up the heat among other leading sports broadcasters and now, further expanding its bouquet of international sporting events, it has acquired the exclusive broadcasting rights to Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling across the Indian sub-continent.

     

    Sony Six will now air all of the best TNA Wrestling programming every week including Impact Wrestling, Xplosion, Greatest Matches and Unfinished Business, along with four episodic Pay per view programs and eight One Night Only specials throughout the year.

     

    TNA Wrestling is one of the leading brands in the world of sports and entertainment, providing high excitement action across the globe. TNA is the home of ‘The Immortal’ Hulk Hogan, ‘The Icon’ Sting, ‘The Charismatic Enigma’ Jeff Hardy, Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Bully Ray, Magnus, AJ Styles, Gail Kim, TNA Knockouts Champion Mickie James and TNA World Heavyweight Champion Chris Sabin.

     

    MSM CEO Man Jit Singh said, “Wrestling is considered one of the ancient sports in the world and India with kushti has a storied tradition in wrestling. India’s recent success in international wrestling has attracted the youth in India and also captured the imagination and interest of audiences across the country. Given this national interest in the sport, we are proud to have acquired TNA Wrestling as one of our premium international sporting events. TNA Wrestling has garnered immense viewership internationally and we believe this association further reiterates Sony Six’s commitment to airing high impact alternative sports in India.”

     

    Commenting on this new initiative MSM COO N P Singh added, “Sony Six will now offer fans more than 500 hours of exciting original wrestling content every year. TNA Wrestling is a global phenomenon, producing exclusive entertainment for more than five million viewers in 14 languages each week and seen in more than 120 countries across the world. We at Sony Six look forward to building on this fascinating sport in the years to come.”

     

    Speaking about the partnership with Sony Six, TNA Wrestling president Dixie Carter said, “Everyone at TNA is thrilled at this exciting venture with Sony Six that will open up new horizons across all of India. The Indian sub-continent is home to some of the most passionate and dedicated wrestling fans on the planet – and they now have more than 500 hours of the very best in professional wrestling to enjoy. Sony Six is the perfect partner for us, thanks to their impressive and diverse range of sporting events, and we can’t wait to debut.”

     

    With Mixed Martial Arts and now wrestling introduced into the bouquet of international sports content, Sony Six will truly broadcast the best of both worlds by providing the finest action packed holistic entertainment programs for the audiences.

     

    TNA Wrestling is a privately held sports entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee that specialises in events, products, numerous TV properties, merchandise and music, as well as, the management and promotion of professional wrestlers.

  • IPL6: Controversies drag down average TVRs to lowest in history

    IPL6: Controversies drag down average TVRs to lowest in history

    MUMBAI: The verdict is out and it clearly shows that this time around the cash rich league which was in the news for all the wrong reasons appears to be losing its brand value.

    The tournament – if ratings made available to indiantelevision.com by a channel are to be believed – generated an average cumulative (both Max and Sony Six) TVR of 3.1 in Hindi speaking markets (HSM) and 3 in C&S 4+ all India. This was much lower than the 3.45 HSM average TVR it reported last year, and probably the lowest in its six year history. In 2010, the average TVR was 4.65, and in the inaugural year the number was 4.81 TVR.

    There is much more in store. The IPL final between CSK vs MI also saw a dip in ratings this year as compared to last year. It recorded a TVR of 5.4 on Max alone; the cume rating (with Six and Max included) looks a lot more respectable at 7.3 for HSM and 6.9 all India CS 4+.

    As a comparative, the 2012 final between KKR and CSK registered a TVR of 8.92; the 2011 final between RCB and CSK saw a 6.44 TVR; the 2010 final between MI and CSK reported 10.48; the 2009 final between DC and RCB ran up a 9.92 TVR and finally the first season final between RR and CSK had a very healthy rating of 9.81 (The ratings for the previous year‘s are for Max only and do not include Six as there was no such channel in the Sony Entertainment Network then).

    What goes? Is the loaded with money league beginning to sag? Madison Media CEO Karthik Lakshminarayan believes it is. “The brand and the image of the IPL has definitely taken a beating. The rating numbers that have been thrown up are very surprising.”

    “The IPL ratings have certainly not come up to our expectations,” expounds Vivaki Exchange CEO Mona Jain. “The controversy surrounding the IPL this time around also is a cause for the same.”

    Max executive VP & business head Neeraj Vyas says the Sony Network management is fairly satisfied with the ratings the tournament has generated.

    “I am not over the moon,” he expresses. “But I am fairly satisfied. Let me state that it would be grossly unfair to compare this year‘s ratings with earlier years. It would be rather silly. Remember LC1 has been given a 25 per cent weightage by TAM earlier this year. These LC1 towns have power cuts 12-14 hours a day. Then the TAM universe changed about a month or so ago. All these factors make it appear as if you are comparing watermelons and lemons.”

    “Last year the tournament witnessed a strong viewership base of 162 million, we had managed to increase that number to 176 million viewers halfway into the tournament and it could well have crossed the 200 million barrier had TAM not changed its universe a month ago on 5 May,” he further states.

    Other views that are being put forth to explain the dip in ratings include the fact that ennui is developing among cricket watchers on account of the cricket glut on TV.

    Another view is that the spot-fixing controversy put off many viewers from the action on the field.

    The third perspective that is being silently spoken of is that the switch off and switch on in phase I and II of the government mandated cable digitisation process has dampened the ratings.

    Be that as it may, it remains to be seen whether advertisers‘ annoyance with lower ratings leads to any other action from their side.

  • Six bags rights for Uefa Euro 2016

    Six bags rights for Uefa Euro 2016

     MUMBAI: MultiScreenMedia’s (MSM) sports channel Sony Six has added a feather in its cap in its bid to bag marquee properties that appeal to the youth.

     

    It has won the rights for the Uefa Euro 2016 soccer tourney across the Indian sub-continent. The channel will telecast live all 51 matches of the tournament. Last year’s edition aired on Neo. It has been learnt that Neo had paid around $10 million for it and the MSM deal was a substantial jump.

     

    The Euro, it is worth noting is the third most valuable soccer property behind the soccer World Cup and the English Premier League (EPL). The top European nations take part in it to find out which is the best in soccer. This acquisition is significant for Six as this marks its first entry into international football. The channel has aired the 2014 Fifa WC Qualifiers. The Euro 2016 event is the first successful acquisition of a major professional football competition by the channel.

     

    MSM CEO Man Jit Singh said, “Football has grown immensely in India over the past few years and has found great interest amongst the youth. With the successful acquisition of the Uefa Euro 2016 tournament broadcasting rights, we look forward to attracting viewership to Sony Six by leveraging on the growing popularity of European football in the country.”

     

    MSM COO NP Singh said, “We are delighted to bring one of football’s elite tournaments to the Indian viewers exclusively on Sony Six. As a broadcaster we are always in pursuit of the best of international sport and through our latest acquisition we will take the fans closer to the high impact action that the Uefa Euro 2016 promises to deliver.”

     

    Uefa marketing director Guy-Laurent Epstein said, “We are pleased to welcome Sony Six to the family of broadcasters for the Uefa Euro 2016. Uefa believes that the Sony Six channel and its commitment to high quality programming and sport is an excellent home for Uefa’s flagship national team competition.”

     

    Euro 2016 will be held in France with provisional dates of 10 June – 10 July 2016. For the first time in the tournament’s history, the 2016 finals will be a 24 team tournament, having been expanded from the 16 team format that had been used since 1996. At the finals, it is proposed that teams will be eliminated using a new format of six groups of four, followed by three knockout rounds, followed by the final. France has inherited direct entry into finals.

     

    In terms of other big soccer properties the 2014 World Cup rights are coming up for grabs as well and there would be competition for that as well. MSM president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta said that the aim is to acquire marquee properties that appeal to the youth. “We already have the IPL which is the biggest property. We have identified soccer as a sport that we need to have. Euro was a big opportunity. As other properties come along like the World Cup we will evaluate them.”

     

  • IBF plays hard ball; orders TV channels to take off ads from 1 May evening

    IBF plays hard ball; orders TV channels to take off ads from 1 May evening

    MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: From 6 pm evening on Labour Day, (1 May), the Indian Broadcasting Foundation’s (IBF) pulled the plug on all television advertising on its members channels. It sent out a missive to its members forcing them to stop airing any TV commercials. The only exception to this ban were Sony Six and Sony Max, the two channels which are airing the sixth edition of IPL.

    Already around late afternoon Star Plus and its channels had started carrying a ticker which read: “Ads are not running on this channel because advertising agencies have refused to accept revisions in billing methods which are seen as flawed by tax authorities. We regret any inconvenience but Star group is committed to doing business with the highest standards of compliance which reflects the true commercial arrangement between advertisers and broadcasters.”

    According to Star India CEO Uday Shankar, his network was carrying only ads of those agencies whose clients had agreed to work on net bills as of midnight 30 April.

    Among the brands, the ads of which were being aired on the Star network included: Navratna Oil, and Fogg Deo. Zee TV was carrying spots of Wasan Eye Care. Colors too had stoppped airing commercials. Sony also blacked out all advertising on its network though in the day it was as business as usual. Sab aired commercials of Lays, Breeze and VIP; Sony Entertainment Television – Breeze, VIP, Bournvita, LG, Clinic Plus, Airtel, Dell, Frooti, Whirlpool, Caprese, Odonil among others. Most of the broadcasters were using the ad inventory to promote shows on their network channels.

    Shankar reiterated that there was no truth that the black out of ads will last a few hours or just one day but in fact will continue till the issue is sorted.

    According to News Broadcasters Association (NBA) board member Anurradha Prasad, the black out of ads is being supported by the association too. “We need to get this issue resolved quickly. The income tax authorities have been sending us notices for tax which is not our responsibility. Hopefully, this black out will put an end to the net bill confusion, though channel losses (in the absence of advertising) could be substantial.”

    AAAI president Arvind Sharma in an SMS to our correspondent said that they were in discussions with IBF and ISA on the same. “We are hopeful that these will be concluded by the evening of 2 May.”