MUMBAI: MG Motor India has announced Paralympic athlete and Khel Ratna Awardee Deepa Malik to be the voice of the personal AI assistant in its upcoming SUV – MG Astor to deliver a unique voice experience to its consumers as it looks to disrupt the Indian automotive industry.
Called ‘The Woman on Wheels’, Deepa Malik has enlisted herself in the record books for several driving feats across deserts & mountains. The woman extraordinaire will humanise the voice of the personal AI assistant in the soon-to-be launched SUV MG Astor, it said in a media statement.
Talking about the partnership, MG Motor India president & managing director, Rajeev Chaba, said, “At MG, we strive to consistently create exciting and meaningful experiences for our customers. In another first, we are introducing a personal AI assistant in MG Astor. Having Deepa Malik, a woman of many firsts, as a voice for Astor, is in line with our commitment to both community and diversity. Deepa is the epitome of women empowerment and her voice in Astor is a message for everyone to be unstoppable.”
Deepa Malik, the first Indian woman Paralympic medalist, said, “I am delighted to be the voice of the next MG SUV. I have closely followed MG’s journey in India, and I applaud their vision. MG has not only led the disruption in the automotive industry, but it has contributed to the empowerment of different sections of society. It is commendable that MG’s one-third of the active workforce is women. I am confident that MG will emerge as a champion with the industry-leading features of Astor.”
MUMBAI: First came the free pizzas for a lifetime, then the free cement to build their dream homes and now free healthcare services. Brands are pulling out all the stops and sparing no effort to woo the Olympic medallists from India.
In a country where Cricket attracts majority of the brand endorsements, the latest celebrations of other sports like wrestling, weight-lifting, fencing is undoubtedly laud-worthy. But, it also raises questions on why such endorsements and support continue to remain limited to athletes when they rise to fame, and not when they are slogging hard to claim that hard-earned victory?
At this year’s Tokyo Olympics, it began with India’s first medallist – the 26 years old weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu who clinched the silver medal in women’s 59 kg category on the second day of the international sports event. Post the win, the ecstatic medallist shared her wish to celebrate her victory with a pizza. Within hours, the pizza brand, Dominoes jumped into the fray with a lifetime offer of free Dominos pizzas for the champion. The smart and quick marketing tactic may have brought the brand into limelight and brought a smile to Chanu’s face, but it also led netizens to ask if the brand really intended to celebrate the weight-lifter’s achievements, or cash in on the moment.
As a special reward to India’s medal winners at the ongoing Games, cements brand, Shree Cements also announced that the company will offer free cement to the medallists ‘in order to help them build their dream homes’. India has so far clinched two medals at the Olympics, including a silver medal by weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and bronze medal by shuttler P.V. Sindhu in the women’s singles badminton.
“India’s athletes are competing at the highest level of sporting prowess and making us proud,” said Shree Cements Ltd, managing director, H M Bangur. “As both an Indian and a sports enthusiast, I feel that it is important to give back a little something for all that they are doing.”
The latest in the line-up of brands offering gift hampers to our Olympians is multi-speciality healthcare provider Glamyo Health. The healthcare brand has gone a step ahead and announced free healthcare services to all 127 Indian athletes competing in the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
The brand with a network of over 200 hospitals across nine cities including Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai, declared that the athletes may avail any surgical treatment from the bouquet of 50 + surgeries free of cost for life. These include surgeries related to Sports Orthopaedics, Proctology, Urology, Laparoscopy, Vascular, Ophthalmology etc.
Regular and timely medical services are important for sportspersons who slog day in and day out to perfect their moves, and this could undeniably prove to be one useful goodie bag to a practising athlete.
“Sports people have a demanding schedule and when they require such treatments, it needs to be handled with utmost care keeping in mind their sports career. Glamyo Health is humbled and proud to be doing its bit for our heroes making India proud at the global stage,” said Glamyo Health co-founder Dr Preet.
While all of these special gestures of honouring the sportspersons who make the country proud need to be encouraged, one hopes brands and companies start investing in other sports and athletes as well for the longer term. One gets to hear innumerable tales of struggles and hardships on their way to the top- to get even basic equipment, let alone world-class, with lack of facilities and training in the country. No doubt, things are looking up gradually, but India still has a long way to go to match global standards of infrastructure
Hence its time brands and marketers took their commitment to sports a notch higher and got serious about investing in emerging sporting talents in the country by way of long-term commitments, as against indulging in moment marketing riding on their success bandwagon and grandiose gestures, when the athlete’s struggle is done and dusted with.
This would ensure better credibility for the brand, as well as assuring the country’s struggling sportspersons a sponsorship when they need it the most.
New Delhi: With two days to go for the start of 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the official broadcaster Sony Sports channels on Wednesday announced their Live wraparound studio show SPORTS EXTRAAA for mega-coverage of the international sports event. The network has also unveiled the eminent line-up of panellists it has on boarded for the show.
The global event will be broadcast LIVE in four languages: SONY TEN 2 and SONY SIX channels in English, SONY TEN 3 channels in Hindi and in Tamil & Telugu on the newly launched SONY TEN 4 channels from 23 July as well as livestreamed on its on-demand OTT platform SonyLIV.
The panel will share insights in real-time on the LIVE studio show. It will feature former Olympians and legendary Indian athletes like Vijender Singh, Gagan Narang, Karnam Malleswari, Anjali Bhagwat, Anju Bobby George, Sakshi Malik, Viren Rasquinha, Somdev Devvarman, Trupti Murgunde, Rahul Banerjee, Kripa Shankar and Satish Shivalingam.
The network has also roped in noted Sprinter and four-time Olympic medalist, Yohan Blake for the special show. “Not only will the viewers in India watch me proudly represent my country at the games but they will also watch me provide insights on the performance of the world’s finest on this grand stage. I am looking forward to adding to my Olympics tally of two gold and three silver. All eyes are on the strong Indian Athletics contingent of 26 athletes who qualified for the games and we are looking forward to their performance at Tokyo,” said Blake.
SPORTS EXTRAAA will be hosted by Sony Sports’ multi-sport specialists Arpit Sharma, Ridhima Pathak and Raman Bhanot as well as feature sports journalists Ayaz Memon and Gaurav Kalra. It will also invite Parth Jindal, Mustafa Ghouse, Manisha Malhotra, Rushdee Warley and other well-known guests from the sports fraternity to talk about different aspects of high-performance sports like athletic performance management, handling pressure, and share their insights on the performance of athletes in Tokyo.
“We have received a tremendous response from advertisers and sponsors who have come on board to voice their support for the Indian contingent. A cutting-edge advertising innovation will feature ‘Split-screen ads’ that will allow premium sponsors to feature much closer to the numerous Live key sporting action and moments,” the network said in a statement.
Coca-Cola India Pvt Ltd, JSW, MPL, Hero MotoCorp, Amul, Reserve Bank of India, AMFI and other advertisers include Visa, Byju’s, Herbalife Nutrition & Lenovo are some of the sponsors onboard.
Sony Pictures Networks India, chief revenue officer, distribution and head – sports business, Rajesh Kaul said, Sony Sports is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the country is aware about its athletes. “Our studio show, SPORTS EXTRAAA, will feature a stellar line-up of International and Indian Sporting Greats bringing in their expert analysis on all the key sporting action that our Indian Athletes will feature in at Tokyo. Our broadcast will also feature a huge panel of specialised multi-sporting commentators to call the high-performance Olympic Games’ action in Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu,” he added.
The network has also launched a campaign “Hum Honge Kamyab,” to invoke a sense of national pride and galvanise the nation to rally behind the Indian contingent & champion the cause of Indian Athletes for #Tokyo2020. It has also collaborated with the ministry of youth affairs and sports as well as eminent personalities across sectors to catalyse the Olympic momentum in the nation for the landmark event.
The Live coverage of Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be available on SONY TEN 2 and SONY SIX channels in English, SONY TEN 3 channels in Hindi, SONY TEN 4 channels in Tamil & Telugu from 23 July to 8 August.
New Delhi: The Delhi high court has restrained the unauthorised broadcast of the upcoming Tokyo Olympics by several rogue websites, multi-system operators, and local cable operators. The much-awaited international sports extravaganza is set to begin on 23 July and conclude on 8 August.
The court was hearing a plea filed by Sony Pictures Networks India, which is the official, exclusive broadcaster of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in India.
According to the SPN, over 40 websites and over 30 multi-system operators, and local cable operators illegally broadcasted pirated content in violation of the copyright act and argued that the new IT Rules of 2021 required an ISP to protect a party’s proprietary rights. In the plea, Sony Pictures has stated that these websites and cable TV operators were habitual defaulters as they have in the past infringed its exclusive rights for the broadcast of certain cricket matches.
The court thus directed the internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to these websites illegally broadcasting the games on their platforms. The ex-parte interim order will remain in force till the next date of hearing on 29 September, it added.
The court has asked the government to issue necessary directions/notifications calling upon various ISPs to block access to rogue websites. It has also issued summons in the plea and sought response from the defendants within four weeks.
Sony Pictures owns and operates the Sony Ten Network of channels which includes Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 1 HD, Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 3, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony Ten 3 HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD, Sony Six, Sony Six HD.
In its agreement with the International Olympics Association, SPN has the exclusive right to broadcast the games over any media platform. The network has also put together a series of ‘Hum Honge Kamyab’ films on-air and on their social media platforms led by eminent personalities sending their best wishes to the Indian contingent for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be telecast LIVE on SONY TEN 1, SONY TEN 2, SONY TEN 3, SONY TEN 4, and SONY SIX channels from 23 July to 8 August.
New Delhi: The countdown for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has begun, and fans couldn’t be more excited. The biggest sporting spectacle starts in less than 10 days while adhering to all the necessary Covid-19 protocols.
Multi-sports platform Sportskeeda, which recently claimed the number two spot on the Comscore sports website rankings in India is also set to bring all the major action from the Olympics. The platform has been previously recognised for its coverage of Olympic Games Rio 2016 by then sports minister Ajay Maken.
This year, Sportskeeda aims to bridge the gap between the viewers and the on-field action with the latest updates through several avenues like Medal Tally tracker, Live Blogs, Exclusive Videos, Expert Analysis, Feature Articles, SKLive video series, and much more, it announced on Thursday.
The experts’ panel at Sportskeeda will consist of former Olympics athletes and sporting legends like Anju Bobby George, Srikanth Kidambi, Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Singh, and Somdev Devvarman, along with several seasoned journalists.
Sportskeeda’s Olympics content head, Suromitro Basu said, “Olympic Sports content has always been a core part of Sportskeeda’s editorial coverage, and we plan to engage our users with engaging content throughout the Games. A pool of top experts, journalists, and athletes will regularly bring out all the relevant narratives covering the whole gamut of India’s contingent and Sportskeeda also offers customized and innovative brand integration/advertising options on its platform, which would enable brands to reach out to a large audience during the event.”
People all over the world have had to brave several tough setbacks during the pandemic, and that includes Olympics athletes who have spent their whole lives training for this moment. India’s formidable contingent of 119 athletes, with the likes of PV Sindhu, Saurabh Chaudhary, and Neeraj Chopra will be cheered by billions back home as they strive to attain glory at the Games. “Sportskeeda wishes them all the very best for Tokyo, and the Sportskeeda team will be at the forefront, cheering for and celebrating their incredible feats,” he said.
Founded in 2009, Sportskeeda claims to serve 200Mn+ readers annually and clocks 50Mn+ monthly users with its vibrant coverage of sports like Cricket, Football, Olympic Sports, Wrestling, Esports, and Gaming.
New Delhi: The Sunday-night high-octane clash between Italy and England in UEFA Euro 2020 was watched by over 31 million viewers in the United Kingdom, setting a record for the highest viewership ratings in British broadcasting history.
According to the BARB figures shared by overnights. tv, an average of 29.85 million watched the entire match which was broadcast on both BBC and ITV. The viewership peaked at 30.95 million during the extra time, when both the teams were trying hard to up their score from 1-1 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
The game went down to the wire and ended with England facing a painful penalty shootout exit, dashing hopes of millions of English fans who were hoping to see the trophy come home for the first time since 1966. However, Italy reigned over the game and clinched the trophy continuing its 34-match winning streak in the game.
According to BBC, the combined viewership on both BBC One and ITV made the final match one of the biggest TV events in the UK since the funeral of princess Diana in 1997.
Goodness me. 25 million of you elected to watch the game with us on @BBCOne last night…as well as just under 6 million on @BBCiPlayer. Astounding numbers. Thanks for choosing us.
In Italy, the game was broadcast on Radiotelevisione italiana (Rai), the national public broadcasting company of Italy. According to Rai, throughout the match an average of 18 million people tuned in, representing a 73.7 per cent market share, reported Variety.
In India, the official broadcaster Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) made the most of the football fever that has swept the country over the last few weeks. While the latest viewership numbers are yet to come in, the previous data showed that the 19 June match between Portugal vs Germany was among the most-watched matches in the tournament. The defending champion Portugal led by Cristiano Ronaldo was defeated by 4-2 in the match in the group stage.
Mumbai: Fun88, the sports platform, today announced the signing of Daren Sammy as its brand ambassador. Sammy is a two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain for West Indies with a strong fan following in India and the sub-continent.
As a kickstart to this partnership, Sammy will be a part of a series of brand films targeting sports fanatics in India. The brand films will be a part of Fun88’s upcoming integrated branding and marketing campaign #LagiShart, the platform said in a statement.
Speaking of the association with Sammy and bringing him on board as a face for the platform, a Fun88 spokesperson said, “Daren is a leader and an inspiration to everyone. His success & contribution in Caribbean cricket is remarkable. Daren’s fan following in India is huge and our partnership with him is synonymous to our vision of making Fun88 a go-to destination for sports content in India. We are extremely excited about this association and hope that we are able to leverage Daren’s following to take Fun88 to newer heights.”
The cricketer shared, “My relationship with the number 88, which has been my jersey number too, spans over two decades and with Fun88 I see a synergy to make it the go-to destination for sports enthusiasts in India. Having followed Fun88 for a while, I have seen how the platform has evolved over the years. It has celebrated sports and cricket and has brought fans together since inception. I am excited about this association with the team at Fun88 and deeply thankful for being given the opportunity to be its ambassador and face.”
New Delhi: SonyLIV continues to make the most of the football fever that has swept the country over the last few weeks. The home-grown OTT platform is streaming the football action LIVE from UEFA EURO 2020 since it began on 11 June and has already clocked a total of 14 million hours of streaming.
According to the platform, the engagement level of users has increased ever since the sporting extravaganza started on 11 June, and it is now gearing up for the finals to be held in Wembley, London on 11 July.
“Before the final kick-off, Euro has already outdone the FIFA world cup 2018 views and watch time,” it said on Wednesday, with a remarkable rise in viewership with matches like Portugal vs Germany, followed by Croatia vs Spain, France vs Switzerland, and England vs Germany from the playoff stage (Round of 16). The Portugal vs Germany match on 19 June (Saturday) was among the most watched in the tournament. The defending champion Portugal led by Cristiano Ronaldo was defeated by 4-2 in the match in the group stage despite the ace player’s goal and an assist.
SonyLIV had sold out 100 per cent of its inventory with seven sponsors onboard which included WazirX, Cred, Acko General Insurance, Dell Technologies, Mahindra, Betway and Black&White, said SonyLIV, Ad Sales and revenue head, Ranjana Mangla.
“Euro 2020 has been a great tournament for us. We successfully sold out 100 per cent of our inventory with seven sponsors and more than 35 brands from across categories like Auto, Electronics, Banking, Finance, Insurance, Technology & FMCG. During this period Spotlight Roadblocks on the platform have also been a huge hit amongst advertisers,” said Mangla.
According to the platform, Euro 2020 is being viewed across more than 400 cities in India and has recorded significantly higher viewership from football loving states like West Bengal, Northeast, Kerala and Goa. “Also, the streaming of the matches in six different languages has seen encouraging traction in smaller non-metro cities. The uptake of subscriptions in non-metros has doubled as that of metro cities,” it said in a statement.
Riding high on the success of Euro 2020, the platform is now gearing up to on-board more advertisers for Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as well as the upcoming line-up of global sporting events.
Talking about the association with SonyLIV, WazirX founder and CEO Nischal Shetty said, the success of Euro 2020 drew a great number of viewers and that has helped us engage better with our target audience. “Associating with a platform that caters to a vast audience with their various entertainment offerings has been a great association,” he added.
Another sponsor, ACKO, EVP Marketing Ashish Mishra said, “Our association with SonyLIV has been a fruitful one as it helps ACKO reach niche audiences across top cities. They have some great live sports content lined up, starting with the Euro 2020 which has been a huge success, bringing in diverse viewers. Our goal was to introduce the brand to newer audiences and through this partnership we successfully managed to get the desired reach and have continued to stay top-of-mind.”
New Delhi: The UEFA EURO 2020 continues to captivate sports fans across the country. The sporting extravaganza has been watched by as many as 48 million viewers on its official broadcaster Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), the network announced on Friday.
The viewership figures are for the network’s entire coverage of the first 36 matches of the tournament from 11 to 25 June.
According to the data (Source: TG: CS 2+, All India U+R) shared by the network, Portugal vs Germany on 19 June (Saturday) was the most watched match of the week in the tournament with ten million viewers. The defending champion Portugal led by Cristiano Ronaldo was defeated by 4-2 in the match in the group stage despite the ace player’s goal and an assist. This group was also touted by fans as ‘Group of death’ with current world champion France in it.
The second most watched match this week was Italy vs Wales on 20 June (Sunday) which clocked 8.1 million viewers. Italy completed their Group A fixtures defeating Wales by 1-0, continuing its winning streak in the tournament.
The regional feed of the network was also watched by fans with equal enthusiasm. The Hindi feed for Live matches was been watched by 14 million viewers across the country (TG: CS 2+, All India U+R). While the Malayalam and Bengali feed on SONY SIX channels were watched by seven million viewers across Kerala and West Bengal (TG: CS 2+, Kerala and WB U+R).
The UEFA EURO 2020 is being telecast by SPSN in six languages across India: English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. The tournament is LIVE on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 3, Sony Six and Sony Ten 4 channels and is also being livestreamed on SonyLIV.
Mumbai: As the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 gathers momentum with only 20 days to the start, Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), along with many luminaries from diverse fields, undertakes a ‘Best Wishes Initiative’ to rally the support of the nation for the Indian contingent.
As a part of its ‘Hum Honge Kamyab’ campaign, SPSN has put together a series of videos on-air and on their social media platforms led by many eminent personalities sending their best wishes to the Indian contingent for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The campaign has been conceptualised and created in-house by the SPSN team.
The broadcaster has collaborated with the ministry of youth affairs and sports as well as many other eminent personalities. Joining the brigade are minister of state (I/C) youth affairs and sports Kiren Rijiju, chief of Defence Staff and chairman chief of Staff Committee General Bipin Rawat, and Sony Pictures Networks India MD & CEO N.P. Singh, along with Rana Daggubati, Anupam Kher, Yuvraj Singh, Boman Irani, Farhan Akhtar, Sonakshi Sinha, Johnny Lever, Ali Fazal, Adille Sumariwala, Arshad Warsi, Pullela Gopichand, Vijender Singh, Anjali Bhagwat, Parth Jindal, Harsha Bhogle, Sudha Murthy, Shankar Mahadevan, Anurag Basu, and many more to catalyse the Olympics momentum in the nation for the landmark event.
SPSN will launch ‘India’s Quest for Gold with Kiren Rijiju’, a special interview with the MoS (I/C) Youth Affairs and Sports, starting 3 July at 6.30 pm (IST) on SONY SIX and SONY TEN 3 channels. Hosted by anchor, Ridhima Pathak, the minister will talk about the impact of the pandemic, athletes preparing through online training in the past year, TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) with Junior TOPS and the Indian sporting, the viability of hosting the Olympic Games in the future, the 2026 Youth Olympics, his favorite Olympic moment, the role of Sony Pictures Networks in supporting the Olympic movement and much more.
SPSN has also produced a seven-episode series titled “The Torchbearers” which showcases the known and unknown stories of our Olympians. The series will feature athletes like Neeraj Chopra, Bhavani Devi, Manu Bhaker, Abhishek Verma, Tejinder Toor, and many more. The series will be available to watch every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday starting 9 July from 12.30 pm (IST) on SONY SIX, SONY TEN 1 and SONY TEN 3 channels.
SPSN will also launch a mega contest ‘Sony Ten Medal of Glory’ starting 3 July. The contest will be launched Kiren Rijiju and it will feature 20 questions across 20 days, leading to the start of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. It aims to generate conversations among the Olympics fan community as well as to gratify the select few winners.
Speaking about the campaign, Kiren Rijiju said, “I am very happy that as official broadcasters of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Sony Pictures Networks India, has created specialized programming to support and motivate Indian athletes. ‘The Hum Honge Kamyab’ campaign is a wonderful initiative to galvanize icons from all walks of life to rally behind the Indian contingent. The Government of India has also launched the #Cheer4India campaign envisioned by PM Narendra Modi, through which we are conducting various activities across the country to create awareness about our athletes and to garner support for them. With the combined effort of all stakeholders, I am sure that as a nation we will be able to create an atmosphere of enthusiasm that will truly energise our athletes to give their best at Tokyo.”
N.P. Singh said, “The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is one of the biggest sporting events across the globe and while every Indian knows about the stature of the tournament, few are aware about the athletes who represent our country. We are delighted that our campaign, ‘Hum Honge Kamyab’ has received such an overwhelming response. Our attempt is to convey our best wishes to the Indian contingent and are looking forward to a splendid performance at Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.”
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be telecast LIVE on SONY TEN 1, SONY TEN 2, SONY TEN 3, SONY TEN 4, and SONY SIX channels, between 23 July and 8 August.
As a special reward to India’s medal winners at the ongoing Games, cements brand, Shree Cements also announced that the company will offer free cement to the medallists ‘in order to help them build their dream homes’. India has so far clinched two medals at the Olympics, including a silver medal by weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and bronze medal by shuttler P.V. Sindhu in the women’s singles badminton.
