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Tag: sports

  • 2014 exemplified that the next big thing is mobile

    2014 exemplified that the next big thing is mobile

    It’s been a year of tremendous growth for the digital industry. Digital advertising spends have increased significantly. And while we’ve been talking about mobile as the next big thing for a few years, 2014 saw the thought being well and truly realised. A fair indicator of this were the numerous campaigns run by online shopping merchants, advertising their app over other platforms and even creating deals specific to mobile devices. Another great example is the launch of key services on mobile by the government of Karnataka.

    There was also growth experienced in digital content, where not only were key properties available for viewing exclusively on web and mobile, but we also saw a lot of instances of specialised content being created for web and mobile. FIFA World Cup 2014 on LIV Sports is one example of how a grand event today isn’t just a TV property.

    Talking about LIV Sports, it has been a very successful year for us at Sony with the launch of LIV Sports simultaneously on web and mobile, as an app available on both iOS and Android. Apart from FIFA, LIV Sports also acquired the mobile and internet broadcast rights for the South African RAM SLAM T20 Challenge Series for India, Vijay Amritraj backed Champions Tennis League, the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament and the Australian Open.

    A huge learning point for us this year has been the increased need to focus on mobile. Increase in mobile internet connectivity and introduction of cheaper smartphones along with a drop in internet surfing charges has led to huge increase in consumption of video content. The consumer today is looking for content on the go, thus, making mobile a key focus. As a result, we launched a number of apps including KBC Play Along, creating a second screen experience allowing viewers to answer questions with the contestants and win prizes. We also have the KBC Official App allowing fans to engage with the show any time they want. We’ve had approximately two million downloads for the KBC suite of apps and over 13 million downloads for both Sony LIV and LIV Sports.

    Keeping this in mind, in 2015 we will continue to innovate and engage our users by establishing our marquee properties in the new media space. We are excited by the opportunity, the overlap of better connectivity and smartphones, is offering entertainment content companies like us. Our aim is to be the leader in the digital video entertainment space. We will strengthen our mobile offerings to consumers and our agenda is to make 2015 the ‘Year of Mobile Entertainment’ and deliver great content through product innovations on SonyLiv.com and LivSports.in.

    (These are purely personal views of Sony Entertainment Network executive vice president and digital head Uday Sodhi and indiantelevision.com does not necessarily subscribe to these views.)

  • Big Star Entertainment Awards set to ring in the New Year on Star Plus

    Big Star Entertainment Awards set to ring in the New Year on Star Plus

    MUMBAI: The Big Star Entertainment Awards celebrates the biggest entertainers of the year across the fields of bollywood, television, music, sports and their contribution to the entertainment industry.  A joint initiative between 92.7 Big FM and Star Plus, the fifth edition of Big Star Entertainment Awards is all set to air on Star Plus on the New Year’s eve.

    Last year, the popular award show attracted a TVT of 12.4 and it is touted to only get bigger this year. The award function will be marketed across radio, television, print and social media to ensure maximum tune-ins.

    Speaking of the fifth edition of the Big Star Entertainment Awards, Reliance Broadcast Network CEO Tarun Katial stated, “The award and our partnership with Star Plus has matured wonderfully and we are happy to once again bring together a congregation of the finest entertainers from across industries. This is part of our endeavour to empower audiences with a democratised award which allows them to choose their most favourite entertainers. We look forward to celebrating the evening with the industry and offering audiences an engaging watch on New Year’s eve.”

    As seen each year, the Big Star Entertainment Awards will be 100 per cent based on people’s choice right from the nominations to the final winners. Voting process will be carried out through radio, television and digital mediums.

    Entertaining the viewers year after year, the Big Star Entertainment Awards recognises and felicitates the talented members of the industry.

     

  • Private sector should partner with the government to encourage sports

    Private sector should partner with the government to encourage sports

    NEW DELHI: Sports secretary Ajit M Sharan of the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry has urged the private sector to participate and partner with the government and the apex chamber to promote sports in the country.

     
    The stakeholders need to actively engage at all levels to improve India’s ranking as a sporting nation.

     
    He said the government is launching a National Talent Search Scheme to scout for sports talent in various schools and institutions across the country. The National Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine (NISSM), is already in place to support high performance of sports persons and integrate sciences and medicine into the training of elite sports persons and the curriculum of sport coaching in the country.

                                          
    Sharan was inaugurating ‘India Sports 2014’at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. He released a knowledge paper ‘Business of Sports – Aiming Higher….. Reaching Further!’ The paper looks at the sports industry and makes predictions for the upcoming decade. The paper provides information about the state of play and trends in the market for sports business in India.

     
    The three-day sports event on the theme ‘Making India as a Sporting Nation’ is organised by FICCI in association with Sports Authority of India. This focus is on strategic dialogues to bring together senior decision makers and renowned Indian and international sports industry players to deliberate on profitable promotion and grassroots development of sports in the country.

     
    Sharan also said that the setting up of Sector Skills Council in Sports is a big step towards making India a sporting nation in future. The council will devise ways to reduce skills gap and shortage improve productivity, hone the skills of the sector work force and improve learning.

     
    He said sports in India has witnessed stagnation in the last few decades. The challenges in the sector are numerous but some of which call for immediate attention such as development of a structured system at the grass root level to engage young boys and girls in the age group of 8-10 years in various sports; identifying and nurturing young talent based on their performance, talent and calibre; providing professional training, sporting equipment and wholesome nourishment to the identified sports persons; organizing regular competitions of international standard at the domestic level to measure the performance of local sports persons; setting up sports science and sports medicine centres to support the sports fraternity and providing alternative viable vocational career options to players to ensure their livelihood.

     
    FICCI Sports Committee chairman and Tata Metaliks MD Sanjiv Paul said with the support of MYAS, FICCI has finally received the approval for setting up Sector Skills Council in Sports, Physical Education, Fitness and Leisure sector. According to a latest study, this sector will require more than 4.3 million support personnel in various roles in sports in the coming 10 years.

     
    Paul thanked the Ministry for guiding FICCI on the issue of ‘demand of Industry Status to Sports Sector’. After FICCI’s representation on industry status to sports, there was a committee setup under the chairmanship of Director General, Sports Authority of India, where FICCI prepared a report on ‘granting infrastructure status to Sports Sector’.

     
    Deloitte LLP UK sports business group consultant Richard battle,said that there were numerous ways to promote sports. One of the most commercially successful models in India has been the Indian Premier League in cricket, which has phenomenally thrived. India now faces the challenge of replicating this model for other sports.

     
    Sahara India Pariwa publich affairs and communication VP Abhijit Sarka said that India has the talent to be amongst the top sporting countries in the world. It is also recognized that a lot more needs to be done, especially in the development of sports at the grassroots level where states have an important role to play if India has to reap the advantage of the positive momentum and claim its rightful place amongst the top sporting countries. The private sector should come forward and participate more proactively.

     
    FICCI Sports Committee co-chairman and Coca-Cola India public affair and corporate communication head Deepak Jolly said that there was both hope and optimism to make India a sporting nation. There is a long way to go but efforts are being made and India is moving in the right direction to achieve its goal. He added that India has done well in games and sports such as chess, which are primarily mind games. Sports requiring physical strength and stamina still need to be encouraged adequately for India to perform well at the international level.

     

  • Sports can only be promoted if the govt and corporate houses step in, say filmmakers

    Sports can only be promoted if the govt and corporate houses step in, say filmmakers

    NEW DELHI: Even as films on sports remain a sprinkle despite announcements by the government for promoting sports, actor Nafisa Ali has said the corporate houses and the union and state governments have to join the effort to promote sports.

    She said she was saddened that corporate houses were concentrating only on a few sports like cricket, football, tennis or badminton, and no efforts were being made to explore the talent available in smaller towns in the country.

    Nafisa was talking to indiantelevision.com after the screening of the film ‘Khwaabb’ which marks the directorial debut of Zaid Ali Khan, son of renowned shooter and Arjuna Award winner Moraad Ali Khan who has produced the film. Nafisa stars in the film along with newcomers Navdip Singh and Simer Motiani.

    Interestingly, this week marked the limited release of two films on sports: Zaid Ali Khan’s ‘Khwaabb’ which is being released in just a few cities, and Amole Gupte’s ‘Hawaa Hawwai’ about roller skating which has been released nationally.

    So far, very few films have been made on sports, and names that immediately come to mind are those of Nagesh Kukunoor’s ‘Iqbal’ about cricket, Shimit Amin’s 2007 ‘Chak De! India’ about hockey, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s real-life drama ‘Bhag Milkha Bhag’ about athlete Milkha Singh, children’s film ‘Goal’ by Gulbahar Singh about football, and Aamir Khan’s ‘Lagaan’ which touched on cricket only as part of the drama.

    ‘Khwaabb’ is about athletics and swimming, but also sends out a strong message on behalf of those sports aspirants who are unable to make it to international tournaments despite proving their talent at the local or even the district level.

    Stressing the need for promoting such films, Zaid said that the film had got tax exemption only in Delhi. It was also being released in Mumbai, Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Pune, and Dubai with a total of 60 to 70 prints but may be released later in the rest of the country.

    He said the main aim of the film was to inspire aspirants, and therefore even the music of the film including the title song by Sonu Nigam had an inspirational quality.

    “It was a real challenge to shoot some underwater sporting action in India but we could capture some scintillating action scenes with the experience of Aharon Rothschild, our cinematographer from the United States.”

    He was confident that film will work well with young children and the main subject will click with the audiences.

    He said that the film was shot at seven different locations including Jamshedpur, Morna in Uttar Pradesh, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Delhi, Faridabad and Dubai.

    Both he and his father Moraar said publicity had been done both on television channels as well as on digital media and social websites. “It is important to bring awareness amongst the masses about the condition of Olympic sports in India; ‘Khwaabb’ is a step in that direction. Everyone rejoices in winning, but it is the journey towards winning a medal which needs the real support”, said Moraad.

    Asked about what he planned to do in future, he said he would now like to attempt something for television as he felt the future of entertainment was on the small screen, but would come back to filmmaking.

    He said in an answer to a question about his comment that ‘Conventional Bollywood is very calculative’ that there was no film culture for independent filmmakers and even the government did not give much encouragement unless some big names were involved. He said he had preferred making a debut as an independent filmmaker because of lack of support from the studios, but had got good support from Salma Khan who had released his music, and shooter Abhinav Bindra.

    Under the banner of Bullseye productions, “Khwaabb” is a realistic depiction of the Indian sporting scenario focusing on swimming and athletics. It captures the dream and emotions of aspiring sportsmen. ‘Khwaabb’ is a story about the birth of a dream, of ambition and the fierce passion to achieve that dream amidst unceasing tribulations.

    It is also about the way sheer, raw talent gets wasted or destroyed by corrupt and power hungry sports administrators of our country.

    Releasing the music of the film, Salman said: “I have played almost all kinds of sports. I have done swimming, played football. I even used to play cricket, and I strongly feel that sports should be encouraged in the nation, and if there are no facilities for training, how will our sportspersons perform?”

    The title track is sung by Sonu Nigam, composed by acclaimed musician Sandeep Chowta. The album has a rustic fun track “TV ki Jai Ho” sung by Kailash Kher and a soft love ballad “Shamein” sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shreya Ghoshal. Both songs are composed by Sajjad Ali Chandwani. Young and extremely talented Amal Mallik has scored the soundtrack of the film. Top international drummer Virgil Donati has played for the title track, the lyrics for which have been penned by Sameer.

    Gupte told indiantelevision.com that his film was not only motivational and inspirational, but even showed how those who failed to get any help could attempt to reach their goals on their own.

    He hoped the film would inspire others to make films on sports and encourage worthy aspirants. His main cast including son Partho Gupte, Saqib Saleem and Pragya demonstrated their skating skills at I-Skate in Gurgaon to promote the film. The film also stars Makrand Deshpande among others.

    Answering a question, Amole said it is easy to work with children. “You just need to understand them and let them be comfortable with you”. He had got inspired to make this film while escorting Parth for skating classes, he added. He said it was a film about people who dare to dream and then work to fulfill that dream.

    Partho said, “My dad, the director, never scolds me on the sets and it is very interesting to work with him”. Performing the role of coach in the movie, Saqib Saleem said, “Sharing the sets with Partho was fun, and working under the captainship of Amole Gupte helps you learn a lot”.

    The song ‘Kuch Sapne Sone Nahin Dete’ summarises the theme of the film, produced by Fox Star Studios.

    Amole had earlier co-directed ‘Taare Zameen Par’ with Aamir Khan, and directed ‘Stanley Ka Dabba’ starring his son Partho. 

  • Genesis Burson-Marsteller launches Step Up

    Genesis Burson-Marsteller launches Step Up

    MUMBAI: Genesis Burson-Marsteller has launched a new initiative, Step Up, catering exclusively to the communication needs of the two most important stakeholders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem: the start-ups and investor networks.

     

    Designed to provide affordable and relevant service offerings spanning traditional as well as new digital formats, Step Up, helps young companies and SMBs take the next leap in their journey to success, by not only narrating their story creatively but also by communicating on what impacts their business.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Genesis Burson-Marsteller principal and founder Prema Sagar said, “Step Up is our endeavour to go back to our roots. We know, feel and understand the challenges having been a start-up ourselves, 22 years back. With Step Up, we have already begun to partner with new and upcoming brands in their journey so as to take it to the next big thing. What differentiates Step Up from the rest is our strong understanding of the ecosystem and the changing media scape, the right talent and the ability to provide affordable services.”

     

    The new initiative offers customised services from branding and partnerships to media engagement. The offering to start-ups have been created keeping in mind various challenges faced by early-stage ventures. These offerings aim to develop and device a compelling and effective communication strategy to narrate the story of the ventures in the most innnovative manner.  

     

    Genesis Burson-Marsteller public relations president Nikhil Day said, “We are delighted by the creativity of our young colleagues to have come up with the idea, presented the strategy to the India Management Team, developed the proposition and already won their first client!. Our firm has, from the very beginning, encouraged entrepreneurship – it is for our people to take the initiative.  And Step Up is a great example.”

     

    The clients could be from Consumer (e.g. FMCG, beauty, sports, art, theatre, music, movies), Technology (e.g. products, services) Health and Wellness (e.g.pharma, services, ayurveda) and Corporate (e.g.financial, engineering, aviation).  Genesis Burson-Marsteller’s experience already exists for large companies, learnings from which will be applied for Step Up companies.

     

    Step Up India lead Atul Sharma added, “In the last few years, the Indian start-up environment has made a mark on the global entrepreneurial map by producing unique and globally relevant propositions. Being noticed by the right audience can make a great difference to a young company’s journey. This unique initiative by Genesis Burson-Marsteller, Step Up, aims at empowering these innovative start-ups to create a space for themselves in an otherwise cluttered market. We are looking to create the next ‘whatsapp’ story in India! ”

     

    Step Up is inspired by Genesis Burson-Marsteller and has the same gene pool of expertise and excellence but, it aspires to bring alive creative communication in a completely different genre of companies, which may have not enjoyed the benefits of experienced communications partners owing to their size.  

  • GroupM ESP India and SportzPower launch sports sponsorship report 2014

    GroupM ESP India and SportzPower launch sports sponsorship report 2014

    MUMBAI: The sports & entertainment arm of GroupM, GroupM ESP and provider of sports business news and knowledge, SportzPower, have collaborated to bring the most comprehensive report on sports sponsorship.

     

    The study will capture the trends and developments in the Indian Sports Industry from 2008 to 2013. The report for the Indian Sports industry, documents important events during these years including the emergence of league-format sports in India like the Indian Premier League (IPL), Hockey India League (HIL), and Indian Badminton League (IBL) and traces developments in the Indian sports industry when sports business was in its nascent stages.

     

    Elaborating on the future of sports marketing in India, Group M south Asia CEO CVL Srinivas says, “This decade will transformational for Sports in India with a spectator base of over a billio n people, a dozen sports television channels beaming content round the clock and a rapidly growing list of keen corporates and brands waiting to invest in cricket and other alternate sports. The next few years marketing investment in sports will no longer be peripheral, and it will be paralleled with that of entertainment and mainstream cinema.”

     

    The report examined advertising investments in Indian Sport from four angles – On Ground, Team Sponsorship, Athlete Management, and Media Spends, and offers a comprehensive overview of sponsorship in Sport. The key takeaway the study offers is as follows:

    ·    Spend in Sport in India are dominated by cricket, and within it the Indian Premier League in particular.

    ·    Sports marketing spends between 2008- 2013 advertising investments in Indian sport rose roughly two fold with a total spend of Rs 21.39 billion in 2008 which rose by 92% to Rs 41.1 billion in 2014.

    ·    The market is slotted to grow exponentially in the next few years with other sports like Football, Basketball, Distance Running, Golf, Motorsports, Tennis, Hockey, Badminton and Contact sports complementing the Cricket Story since  the real opportunity lies in these under-leveraged and monetized areas.

     

    Focusing on the key developments expected in 2014, GroupM ESP national director sports and live events Vinit Karnik says, “Even though the IPL is off to a rough start this year, in the long run accountability, better corporate governance, more transparency, are all good for not just the IPL, but the BCCI too. The successful launch of HIL and IBL has set the stage for an action-packed 2014 as far as franchise-based leagues are concerned in cricket, football, hockey, badminton, tennis, wrestling and kabaddi. The big news of 2014 will be the inaugural edition of the IMG-Reliance-Star co-owned Indian Super League, which is set to bring all the bells and whistles associated with the IPL to football. There is also the commitment that IMG-Reliance, the commercial rights holders for football in the country, to improve the country’s top-tier soccer tournament. The I-League clubs will be hoping that IMG-R walks the talk on that front, though the prevailing sentiment is one of wariness as to what the future holds.”

     

    SportzPowerco-founder Thomas Abraham further discusses the future of sports broadcasting inIndia, “Indian sports TV broadcasting was, is, and will continue to be dominated by Cricket for theforeseeable future, contributing to 80 to 85% of the total television sports media revenues. However, other sports are also gaining prominence, especially Football, though interest remains predominantly for international leagues/tournaments. That is expected as the I-League improves as a television- friendly product and also with the launch of the Indian Super League (ISL) later this year. Other sports such as Badminton and Hockey have also started making their presence felt because of improved performances  by  Indian  players  in  the  international  arena,  coupled  with  increased  investments flowing into the two sports due to the launch of the Indian Badminton League (IBL) and the Hockey India League (HIL) respectively.”

     

    All in all, 2014 has more upsides than down. While there will be no Indian Grand Prix next year, there will be more leagues, sports like basketball are making rapid strides, and the whole wellness and fitness movement is gaining ever increasing traction, which in turn means more interest in sport as a participation activity and not just as spectator engagement.

     

     

  • GSEAMS signs sports icon Sangram Singh as its exclusive talent

    GSEAMS signs sports icon Sangram Singh as its exclusive talent

    MUMBAI: GSEAMS (Global Sports Entertainment And Media Solutions) – which in less than a year’s time – after successfully establishing the intellectual property division and movie marketing division has forayed into its third division “GSEAMS – Talent Management”  which has signed on its first talent sports star, actor, youth icon and Bigg Boss finalist Sangram Singh.

     

    Speaking on this new found association Arjun Singgh Baran and Kartik Nishandar say: “We are very happy to have Sangram Singh on board with us. He epitomises the youth of the country as well as his connect with the common man is tremendous. Our core focus in the coming few months would be on youth and fitness brands which can have a good connect with their target audience by associating with Sangram Singh. Sangram has been one of the only few candidates who has come out with such a clean image even from a show like Bigg Boss. Sangram also has no vices and he believes in high moral values and a no supplement fitness regime. He believes that through the power of the mind one can achieve anything. We are in talks with multiple television channels, production houses for roles best suited for him. We also would soon be launching a range of sports apparel and accessories under Sangrams own label and are in talks with prospective partners for the same.”

     

    Commenting on the association Sangram Singh says: “I have known Arjun and Kartik from a long time and have seen the work both of them have put in building the Big Live division they set up at Reliance Broadcast and also the way GSEAMS has been doing in the past one year. I am very excited with the plan that they have in store for me and look forward to working with them.”

     

    After having a successful stint with Reliance Broadcast Network Arjun Singgh Baran & Kartik Nishandar started GSEAMS 10 months back. Since the inception of the company there has been no looking back for the media duo wherein under the media solutions division the team has been involved in marketing more than eight movies with banners such as Viacom, Eros and others, providing media solutions to clients like Reliance Infra and creating television content be it their own IP such as the IMA Marathi Music Awards on Star Pravah or producing shows for other channels and clients.

     

    Clear domain understanding and a passion for media marketing through new age channels and mediums are the reasons why Arjun and Kartik chose to foray into the above divisions and now the talent management wing.

  • 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.

  • Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC) presents the much awaited Fusion 2014

    Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC) presents the much awaited Fusion 2014

    MUMBAI: The Indian Merchants’ Chamber is organizing its 3rd edition of ‘IMC FUSION,’ the Conference on Entertainment, Media & Sports on Saturday, February 15, 2014 at Grand Hyatt in Santa Cruz, Mumbai.  

     

    The IMC FUSION Conference represents convergence of today’s three most dynamic sectors – Entertainment, Media & Sports. This year, the conference is being organized under the auspices of IMC’s Entertainment Committee chaired by Mr. Manmohan Shetty.  Renowned Bollywood film, mainstream television and theatre star Kabir Bedi will be the Host of FUSION 2014.

     

    The third edition of IMC FUSION will feature renowned personalities as speakers from the three sectors deliberating on a wide array of topics covering current issues and trends, emerging technologies and new-age engagement with the consumer, content and creation, talent and involvement, influence of social media and App. world, technical aspects of Indian cinema, and other contemporary developments in ever evolving and dynamic sectors of Sports, Media and Entertainment. 

     

    Dr. J. Murali Manohar, Saundarya Rajnikant, Subhash Ghai, Rakesh Roshan, Shekhar Kapoor,  Pritish Nandy, Arnab Goswami, N. P. Singh, Annurag Batra, Komal Nahta, Suchitra Iyer, Kirthiga Reddy, Rajan Anandan, Agnello Dias, Steve Waugh, Surya Mantha, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, Dr. Prannoy Roy, among others will likely form panels of speakers during the day-long Conference. 

     

    The daylong conference will also feature Awards for Excellence in Entertainment, Media & Sports.

     

    The Conference will host delegates from the entertainment, Media and sports fraternity as well as young professionals and students of mass communication, journalism, film institutions and management schools. FUSION 2014 will provide a unique opportunity to the delegates to network with industry peers and share their thoughts and ideas with some of the top thought leaders of the industry. 

     

    Commenting on FUSION 2014, IMC President Mr. Shailesh Vaidya said, “With the exponential growth in the content industry across multiple platforms and with the dynamic trends governing its momentum, FUSION 2014 will contribute the best insights under one roof. With this conference IMC, being one of the leading industry bodies, will offer a unique platform for the industry to ponder over the course that it would take in the future and gear up for the challenges ahead. The conference proceedings as well as the Awards for Excellence will offer something for everyone connected with the entertainment, media & sports industry.”

     

    Mr. Manmohan Shetty, Chairman – IMC Entertainment Committee said, “This year IMC FUSION will focus on all aspects in the fastest growing sectors – entertainment, media and sports.  IMC FUSION Excellence Awards in the evening following the conference will be a star-studded event honoring winners chosen by an eminent panel of judges.”

     

    Veterans from the Sports, Media and Entertainment fraternity- Mr. Mir Ranjan Negi, Former India Hockey Player & National Coach, Mr. Sanjoy Chakrabarty, Managing Partner Zenith Optimedia, Ms. Bharathi Pradhan, Editor, The Film Street Journal are the Co-Chairperson’s of the Committee.

     

    Indian Merchants’ Chamber, as the pioneering trade body of the country since 1907, has been actively involved in promotion of the business interests of its various constituents.  In this process, our endeavour has been to reach out to different industry groups, understand their views and perspectives and present them to the policy makers and other decision makers to facilitate growth of that sector, in particular, and industry in general.

     

    Key issues identified during the FUSION 2014 Conference together with suggestions and outcomes from different sessions will be collated for taking up at appropriate levels.

     

    Registration for the limited seats and B2B exhibition space is currently open. Information about registration is available on the IMC website www.imcnet.org.

     

    For more information, contact:

     

    Malika Bhavnani

    Shraddha Teli 

    9867596309

    shraddha@fort.madisonindia.com

  • ESPN International to lure sports fans with digital shops

    ESPN International to lure sports fans with digital shops

    MUMBAI: The sports fans are in for a pleasant surprise as ESPN is coming up with the launch of digital shops across its ESPNcricinfo.com and ESPN.com.au sites. The announcement was made today. The online stores, developed in collaboration with Velocity Brand Management’s retail division (VBM Retail), will provide global cricket fans and sports fans in Australia and New Zealand a wide range of licensed and fan-specific merchandise along with branded and co-branded products. Fans can access the shops through a “Shop” tab and button, available in the navigation of each of the ESPN site homepages.

     

    Additional digital shops will debut across other ESPN digital properties globally in 2014, including ESPN Scrum and ESPN Footytips.

     

    The ESPNcricinfo.com shop, available on Shop.ESPNcricinfo.com and ESPNcricinfoshop.com, features a full range of cricket products including apparel, accessories, novelties, equipment and memorabilia. Additionally, the shop will offer a wide array of licensed team merchandises along with ESPNcricinfo branded and co-branded products.

     

    “Around the world ESPNcricinfo reaches tens of millions of sports fans on computers and mobile devices every month,” said head of ESPNcricinfo and ESPN Digital Media India Ramesh Kumar. “As consumer purchases through digital channels increases globally, we’re excited to be able to bring a convenient and trusted place for fans to buy the gear and equipment they are looking for.  Part of being a fan is the pride we all take in our teams and passions, and these shops will be a be a great platform for fans  looking to find the right products to showcase that pride or find great products.”

     

    The shop is set to offer Indian fans across the cricket-loving nation an opportunity to purchase and collect cricket items for use, for personal memorial value or as investment. In addition to an extensive collection of sports-related and fan-specific merchandise available to consumers in Australia and New Zealand, Shop.espn.com.au and ESPNShop.com.au, offers league licensed products from the AFL, NRL, Cricket Australia, V8 Supercars, rugby union, football, netball and the NBA.  It will expand to include items from the NFL, NHL, NCAA college sports and ESPN Licensed products.