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Tag: SPN

  • Sony Pictures Networks Productions announces T for Taj Mahal

    Sony Pictures Networks Productions announces T for Taj Mahal

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks Productions (SPN Productions), the film production arm of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), has announced its next release for the year ‘T for Taj Mahal’. Directed by six-time president’s national award winner Kireet Khurana, the feature film portrays a fascinating journey of social entrepreneurship through a thought provoking narrative.

    The cast includes acclaimed names such as Subrat Dutta, Ali Faulkner (Twilight Saga-Breaking Dawn), Bidita Bag (Babumoshai Bandookbaaz) Manoj Pahwa (Hey Ram) and Pitobash (Million Dollar Arm) in pivotal roles.

    Rooted in the heartland of India, the film is a relevant and timely story exploring a subject that is a big challenge in the country – the lack of education. After Piku, Azhar, Mubarakan, Poster Boys, the studio is backing yet another content driven film staying true to its aim of presenting stories that engage, evoke and entertain.

    SPNP is all set for 2 releases this year, ‘Soorma’ and ‘T for Taj Mahal’ amongst others to be announced.

    ‘T for Taj Mahal’ is produced by Sony Pictures Networks Productions and Abis Rizvi.

  • Sony Yay tests Bengali, Malayalam feeds

    Sony Yay tests Bengali, Malayalam feeds

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks’ kids channel is making strides within a year of launch. Sony Yay plans to add Bengali and Malayalam audio feeds. It already has feeds in Tamil and Telugu.

    The FICCI KPMG report 2018 states that there has been increased interest across broadcasters to be able to provide better quality and fresher content to regional consumers. It also suggests that the increase in weightage to rural India by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) had a positive impact on the kids’ genre, which saw a jump in absolute terms of viewership numbers in 2017 compared to the previous year.

    The channel has started its audio feed testing from Asiasat7 satellite at 105.5 degrees east and will be available on West Bengal’s and Kerala’s main cable network and paid direct-to-home (DTH) services.

    Reports suggest that the kids’ category is growing at 8 per cent in urban and 6 per cent in rural in terms of viewership. It is the biggest category after GEC (general entertainment channel) and movie in the television business. 

    Sony owns the intellectual property (IP) rights for all the shows to squeeze out all the monetary benefits, including merchandising. Though Sony was ready to shell out some money for dubbed or acquired content, it could not find one with a large repertoire of episodes (more than 100) and neither did any content fit the channel’s bill.

    Keeping in mind the demographics, the channel abstained from keeping it English-centric. What makes it more challenging is that BARC found just 14 per cent kids watching kids content while the rest co-viewed with elders. Earlier, in an interaction with Indiantelevision.com, Sony Pictures Network India kids’ genre business head Leena Lele Dutta said, “We wanted to remain indigenous, home-grown and local.”

    BARC data also shows that in its first four weeks of launch (week 20-23 2017), the channel had 25,011 average impressions (000s) sum while the number changed to 22,100 impressions (000s) sum in week 39-42 2017 for all India age 2-14. Despite the decline, it shows that the initial impressions haven’t faded away.

    Sticking to its business mantra, the channel tied up with local creators for four original animation series—Guru aur Bhole, Sab Jholmaal Hai, Paap-O-Meter and Prince Jai aur Dumdaar Viru—for 52 episodes per show. A fifth show, The Fab 5 – Initial Tango, was released last Christmas and the sixth original will be launched this year. “Slowly, we will build new stories and characters to resonate with the kids of today,” added Lele.

    Also Read :

    Japanese kids’ content going strong despite home-grown onslaught

    Sony Yay builds local characters to monetise

     

  • It’s raining colorful movies and shows this Holi on SPN’s English Cluster

    It’s raining colorful movies and shows this Holi on SPN’s English Cluster

    MUMBAI: The festival of Holi is synonymous with colours, food, laughter, dance, music and entertainment. This year, SPN’s English Cluster will heighten the entertainment quotient with special line-up of movies and shows on Sony PIX, AXN, Sony BBC Earth and Sony Le PLEX HD full day on March 2. 

    Sony BBC Earth, India’s leading factual entertainment channel, will make you feel alive with its most iconic nature and wildlife content showcasing the varied ‘Colors of Earth’. From the greens of the rainforests in Planet Earth II to the deep blues of the oceans in The Hunt; from the intense shades of yellow in deserts of Africa to the burst of colors from different facets of Hidden India and Nature’s Greatest Dancers, each handpicked episode promises an explosion of color from the natural world.

    Sony PIX, home to Hollywood’s biggest premieres and blockbusters, has a special line-up of vibrant and colorful movies for the full family. Binge-watch on Hollywood’s most revered animation movies starting 9 am with Despicable Me 2, The Secret Life of Pets, Big Hero 6, Sing, Finding Nemo, The Angry Birds Movie and Kick-Ass 2.

    Sony Le PLEX HD, home to Hollywood’s most acclaimed and loved movies, promises to brighten up the day with award-winning movies such as The Danish Girl, The Help, Tangled, Nocturnal Animals, The Way We Were and The Imitation Game starting 9AM.

    AXN, India’s leading GEC that is home to the most iconic shows and characters, will offer a heavy dose of reality, entertainment and drama for the right amount of adrenaline rush. Watch ‘Best of Total Wipeout’, Survivor, American Ninja Warrior and Brave for a full day of fun-tertainment.

    SPN’s English Cluster wishes everyone a Happy and colourful Holi.

  • Will clear bills of broadcasters in 4 weeks: Pantel

    Will clear bills of broadcasters in 4 weeks: Pantel

    MUMBAI: Even as Reliance Big TV announced its shutdown, it owed more than Rs 100 crore to broadcasters like Star India, ZEEL, Sony Pictures Networks India, TV18, Viacom18, Sun TV, and Discovery Communications India.

    The tribunal stated that the accommodation has been granted to Pantel and other non-official respondents on the condition that they will make sincere efforts to settle the claims of the broadcasters, particularly those of Star India and ZEEL at the earliest.

    The tribunal had also directed Star India not to disconnect signals to the DTH operator till the next date on the condition that a further amount of Rs 50 lakh will be paid by Pantel by 2 February.

    “We have been assured on behalf of respondent no. 3 that it will make sincere effort to settle the claims of all the petitioners at the earliest and in total it may require about four weeks to do so,” the TDSAT noted.

    Earlier, the tribunal had stayed the disconnection notice by Star India on the condition that an amount of Rs 3 crore will be paid on account by Pantel before the next date 30 January.

    Pantel had paid 50 per cent of the amount within one week while the company’s counsel handed over the cheque for the remaining Rs 1.5 crore before the tribunal. The delay in paying the balance Rs 1.5 crore on time was condoned by the tribunal.

    It also assured of settling Discovery Communications India’s claim of Rs 7.23 crore in the same time frame. The tribunal directed Pantel to settle the dues of Cinema 24×7 also within a week or two.

    ABP News Network, which has also impleaded in the matter, submitted the claim for a small amount of Rs 14 lakh approximately. The Pantel counsel assured that this claim will be settled as per mutual satisfaction within a week or two.

    Also Read:

    Reliance Big DTH to take FTA route under new management?

    Sab Group, Pantel Tech join hands to launch over 20 FTA channels

  • Sony Six rakes in ad rev from BBL despite slow start

    Sony Six rakes in ad rev from BBL despite slow start

    MUMBAI: The second most popular domestic T20 cricket tournament in the world after Indian Premier League (IPL) is Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL). The Cricket Australia rights, which were with Star India from 2011-12 to 2016-17, have now been acquired by Sony Pictures Network (SPN) India for the next six years till 2022-23.

    After losing the media rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to rival Star India, SPN has gone ahead and acquired the exclusive media rights of Cricket Australia–men’s international matches for the next six years, beginning with the Magellan Ashes series in November 2017. The network has also acquired the media rights for women’s international cricket played in Australia, the BBL and the Women’s BBL.

    According to All India BARC data, for the first 11 matches of the league on Star Sports 2, including the HD and the SD feeds, in the 2016-17 season, the channel got 6.4 million impressions. SPN India, however, garnered just 4.3 million impressions for the same number of matches, which were being telecast on Sony Six SD and HD.

    Collocation of channels plays an important role in attracting viewers. On most direct-to-home (DTH) platforms, the sports cluster begins with the Star Sports bouquet.

    Both networks in their first 11 matches had eight advertisers on board each but Star Sports (2016) had 2764 ad insertions compared to 3469 insertions on Sony (2017), an increase of 26 per cent according to BARC data.

    Though Cricket Australia considers Star India a favourite, it is learnt that after winning the IPL rights, the broadcaster was not very keen on paying a hefty sum for the Australia rights. SPN’s payout for the deal could not be ascertained till the filing of this report.

    Cricket Australia has been targeting $200 million per year from all the broadcasting deals. In Australia, Channel Ten paid $100 million for a five-year deal which expires at the end of the current season.

    Apart from Cricket Australia, SPN has five international cricket boards—South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and Zimbabwe. The ongoing cricket series is the India tour of South Africa.

    Interestingly, fans seem to prefer Sony’s over-the-top (OTT) platform SonyLiv for sporting events despite the choice of entertainment shows it offers. At present, more than a third of SonyLiv’s traffic is garnered by its sporting properties.

    Also read:

    The BCCI India rights conundrum

    Star and BCCI pull out all stops to make the VIVO IPL 2018 Retention event – an unprecedented success

     

  • Sony Ten1 starts regional feeds for Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam

    Sony Ten1 starts regional feeds for Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Network (SPN) India is all set to launch regional language feeds for Sony Ten1 HD and SD. The languages are Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam.

    It was about time Sony took a bite of the regional apple, an opportunity rivals haven’t wasted time in invading. According to FICCI-KPMG report 2016, regional makes up 33 per cent of India’s TV viewing pie. Sony has already attempted several regional-focused attempts recently such as broadcasting the El Clasico in Hindi, Malayalam and Bengali and the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Hindi and Bengali.

    This move will give sports viewers the choice to pick their language any time of the day. The test signal of the Hindi feed was visible during the first test match in the ongoing India versus South Africa series.

    According to sources, the channels will be available on all pay DTH operators and some cable networks. 

    Also Read :

    Sony Ten to broadcast El Clasico in 4 languages

    ISL piggybacks on EPL’s popularity to gain viewership

  • Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) acquires exclusive telecast rights of Tata Open Maharashtra 2018

    Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) acquires exclusive telecast rights of Tata Open Maharashtra 2018

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has acquired the exclusive telecast rights for Tata Open Maharashtra 2018, part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour, taking place in in Pune from January 1 to January 6, 2018. The deal will cover television and digital broadcast in eight countries; India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives.

    The Tata Open Maharashtra 2018 will feature top names including world number six and fourteen, Marin Cilic and Kevin Anderson respectively and Spanish player Roberto Agut amongst others. The tournament will also feature Indian entrants Yuki Bhambri, Arjun Kadhe and Ramkumar Ramanathan. The tournament is to be played at the Shree Chhatrapati Shivaji Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune.

    Comments:

    Mr. Rajesh Kaul, President, Sports and Distribution Business, Sony Pictures Networks India

    “We are proud to be the official broadcast partners of India’s premier ATP event, which is also the biggest tennis tournament in South Asia. The Tata Open Maharashtra will feature top ranked International and Indian players on our network. This is a valued addition to our line-up of major tennis events in January starting with Hopman Cup, Brisbane International 2018, Sydney International 2018 and Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2018 leading up to the first grand slam of the calendar year, Australian Open 2018, making our sports network the one stop TV destination for tennis enthusiasts.”

    Mr. Uday Sodhi, Executive Vice President and Head, Digital Business, Sony Pictures Network India

    “We are delighted to stream South Asia’s biggest tennis tournament, Tata Open Maharashtra 2018, part of the ATP World Tour 250 series. Consumers can stream live or catch up on the highlights of the matches exclusively on SonyLIV. This further strengthens our commitment to provide diversified sports offerings to our viewers.”

    Watch the LIVE and EXCLUSIVE coverage of the tournament beginning at 5:00 P.M. on January 1, 2018 on SONY TEN 2 and SONY TEN 2 HD channels. Viewers on the go can also live stream the matches on the SonyLIV App and website.

    Schedule for the next week:

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  • WWE live telecast catapults Sony to the top after 10 weeks

    WWE live telecast catapults Sony to the top after 10 weeks

    MUMBAI: It has been a 10-week-long wait for Sony Pictures Network (SPN) India to make it to the top of the ratings chart. Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) ratings show that the live telecast of WWE Raw and Smackdown on Sony Ten 1 managed to clinch it for SPN.

    In week 46, Sony Ten 1 netted 97932 Impressions (000s) sum as compared with 89102 Impressions (000s) sum the week before. The most popular programme WWE Raw garnered 1873 Impressions (000s) sum for the channel.

    Star India and IMG Reliance-owned Indian Super League season 4 struggled to grab eyeballs for the opening ceremony held on 17 November 2017. The opening ceremony garnered 1055 Impressions (000s) sum on Star Sports 1 Hindi.

    Star India, thanks to domestic leagues, ICC events and the BCCI rights, stayed on top for several weeks because of back-to-back sporting events such as the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, ICC Women’s WC 2017, Pro Kabbadi League season 4 and the India vs New Zealand series. The third T20 match between India and New Zealand, earlier this month, was the top programme, garnering 16975 Impressions (000s) sum in BARC All India data week 45.

    The last time SPN sports cluster took the top spot was in week 35 with 166753 Impressions (000s) sum at the time of third ODI match between India and Sri Lanka.

    The tenth season of the T20 cricket tournament Indian Premier League (IPL) got the nation hooked with 1.25 billion impressions for the 59 matches played between 5 April and 21 May 2017 on Sony sports cluster, a 22.5 per cent jump compared to ninth season.

    Let’s see how long Sony can manage to retain its peak position in BARC ratings of the sports genre. Despite the disappointment of the opening ceremony, the ISL may still work wonders for Star India.

  • FIFA U-17 WC caught 47 million viewers for SPN

    FIFA U-17 WC caught 47 million viewers for SPN

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Network’s (SPN) recent broadcast of the FIFA U-17 World Cup seems to have made a mark. 47 million viewers tuned in across India for the 22-day long event, as per data from Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) for 2+ All India urban+rural, pay sports channels.

    The Hindi and Bengali feeds were instrumental in adding 40 percent of the overall viewership. Regions like West Bengal, Northeast India and Kerala contributed a large chunk of viewers. 45 per cent of the audience was also female.

    Games played by team India saw an average 2.6 million impressions per game. The full house finals between England and Spain in Kolkata’s Salt Lake stadium on 28 October generated an average of 2.2 million impressions. SPN claims that its coverage of the World Cup got better ratings than other international football events like FIFA Confederations Cup 2017, English Premier League 2016-17, La Liga 2016-2017 etc.

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    SPN India president, sports and distribution business, Rajesh Kaul said, “It was a great privilege for India as a nation to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup and an incredible opportunity for us at Sony Pictures Networks India to broadcast the tournament and bring football to the forefront in India. Our efforts towards leveraging and enhancing the popularity of the FIFA U-17 World Cup have yielded excellent results and we hope that this will be a pivotal point for the rise of football in India.”

  • NBA: Sony TEN3, HD and Sony SIX, HD to air games with respective Hindi, English commentaries

    NBA: Sony TEN3, HD and Sony SIX, HD to air games with respective Hindi, English commentaries

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) and the NBA today announced that beginning the 2017-18 NBA season, NBA games will be telecast live with Hindi commentary every weekend on Sony TEN 3 and Sony TEN 3 HD. A package of close to 100 NBA games including the regular season and playoffs.The games will continue to be simulcast with English commentary on Sony SIX and Sony SIX HD.

    The move aims to engage a wider set of fans and enthusiasts with Hindi as their primary language. The Hindi commentary will be presented by an expert panel of commentators which will include celebrity NBA fans. The commentators have undergone rigorous training to fine-tune their abilities in presenting the games, which included personalised training by long-time Indiana Pacers’ play-by-play announcer Chris Denari.

    The league has also associated with popular basketball influencers such as Bollywood actor and VJ Rannvijay Singha, popular culture stand-up comedian Gursimran Khamba to be guest-commentators on a regular basis.

    SPN president sports and distribution business Rajesh Kaul said, “We are committed in channeling our efforts towards expanding NBA’s fan base in the country and strengthening our reach. We have seen a consistent increase in viewership over the years for NBA and to keep up this momentum we are continuing our initiative of the Hindi language commentary. A special panel of expert commentators has been engaged to deliver expert analysis in Hindi for each play.”

    NBA India MD Yannick Colaco said, “Along with our partners, Sony Pictures Networks, we are excited to offer Hindi in-game commentary through the 2017-18 season. As a part of our commitment to popularize the game of basketball in India, we will continue to offer more localised programming to engage with a wider audience.

    The network will also continue to broadcast daily and weekly NBA highlight shows and integrate daily content from NBA TV, including team previews and recap shows. The daily 30-minute highlight programs will be broadcast in primetime every day of the season. The weekly highlight show – ‘NBA WEEKLY’, hosted by a local anchor, will recap all the happenings around the game during the past week. The NBA and sports cluster of SPN will also continue the customised, local live NBA wraparound show ‘NBA AROUND THE HOOP’ every weekend throughout the season to bring viewers closer to the game. The program will be hosted by a panel of basketball experts that will provide analysis and insight on all the latest game news.

    The action on Sony SIX & Sony SIX HD will start on 18 October and exclusive Hindi in-game commentary on Sony TEN 3 & Sony TEN 3 HD, along with the Live wraparound show Around the Hoop, every weekend, starting 21 and 22 October 2017.