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Tag: Sri Lanka

  • Higher taxes fail to dampen demand for Indian soaps in Sri Lanka

    Higher taxes fail to dampen demand for Indian soaps in Sri Lanka

    MUMBAI: In spite of stringent levies on imported content, the popularity of Indian shows is seeing an upward trend in the Sri Lankan market. Indian soaps have resonated well with audiences in the island nation, courtesy the flashier nature of the content in contrast to the rural and simple lifestyle-based Sri Lankan shows.

    Knowing the threat from Indian shores, the country’s creative community–film and TV producers and actors–have for long been lobbying with the government to levy a higher import tax on content. An industry expert talking to Indiantelevision.com said that it is not economically viable to import Indian shows for the Sri Lanka market. “There will be only blockbuster shows short-listed along with the reduction in the content. For example, earlier there were two or three dramas in the prime time, now there will be one drama and one blockbuster, as many of the dramas are becoming non-profitable because of the increase in levy.”

    Earlier in November, Sri Lanka’s Finance and Mass Media minister, Mangala Samaraweera, issued a set of regulations which increases the levy that the government will be imposing on imported dubbed teledramas, films and commercial programmes to SL Rs 150,000 from SL Rs 90,000 earlier.

    The expert revealed that Star Plus’ Yeh Hain Mohabbatein and Diya aur Baati Hum were among the most popular shows on one of the Sri Lankan channels. “Sinhalese culture is very close to north Indian culture,” he added. SL audiences have followed Bollywood and Hindi drama and Shanti was the first Sinhalese-dubbed content on one of the channels in Sri Lanka that garnered great traction from the viewers. Since then, there has been no turning back. Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was also telecast and the trend continued later on.   

    Shows such as Meri Aashiqui Tumse Hi (Sadahatama Oba Mage) garnered traction when it started off on Derana TV. Other Indian shows like Bandhan (Ali Maliy Mamai) and Meri Durga (Duwana Lamaya) and among others on Derana TV were some of the Indian shows dubbed in Sinhalese.

    Naagin (Prema Dadayama) on Sirasa TV also bagged good viewership from all age groups but the second season was a dud. Likewise, Kumkum Bhagya (Adarei Man Adarei) did well when it started but later the viewership dwindled. The expert revealed that the makers of Kumkum Bhagya first had negotiations with Sirasa TV but the show eventually went to Hiru TV.

    The decision to syndicate a particular show is always a 50-50 proposition because viewers’ tastes are fickle and change from time to time. Shows are picked on gut feelings that a particular kind of content would work. Over time, its acceptance is likely to see a more scientific approach.

  • 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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  • Sri Lanka’s higher TV content import levy to hurt Indian TV channels

    Sri Lanka’s higher TV content import levy to hurt Indian TV channels

    MUMBAI: Ouch! India's content syndication executives are yelping in pain. Sri Lanka’s (SL) finance & mass media minister Mangala Samaraweera, earlier this month,  issued a set of regulations which increases the levy that the government will be imposing on imported dubbed teledramas, films and commercial programmes to SLRs 150,000 from SLRs 90,000 earlier.

    The idea behind the move: push local creativity and production and ensure the propagation of the emerald isle’s culture and values.

    The country’s creative community – including film and TV producers, actors –  has for long been lobbying the government to levy a higher import tax on content.  

    Says a media observer: “The Sri Lankan market accounts for around six to seven per cent of Indian broadcasters and distributors global exports of TV and audiovisual content. With this 60 per cent tax imposition, broadcasters there are definitely going to take a hard look at their expense sheets and probably halve their imports. And this will impact exports from India which are likely also to fall.”

    Over the past few years, Sri Lanka’s broadcasters have been increasing the import of popular shows from India and dubbing them in Tamil and Sinhalese. “In the case of some of them, Indian shows have made up to 20-50 per cent of their prime time programming,” says a private satellite TV executive.

    Adds another Sri Lankan media observer: “People in Sri Lanka love quality programmes and when the content buyer is buying content from India or any other players the quality is guaranteed. All the imported programmes are always on top of the charts and  local programmes are not doing that great.”

    Sources reveal that Star Plus’ library show Yeh Hain Mohabbatein was amongst the most popular shows on one of the Sri Lankan channels.

    Adds the observer: “With duties being imposed at the rate of SL Rs150,000  for  a maximum of a four part programme slot of two hours, with each show being of 30 minutes duration, SL broadcasters will have to perforce give a boost to the sagging SL production sector.  (The second four part slot will attract a penalty of SL Rs 250,000 and SL Rs 350,000 for anything beyond that.”

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    India’s syndication executives are, however, hoping this is a temporary phenomenon. Last year, Pakistan’s government had put up a full stop to TV shows and film imports from  India, which had left audiences there annoyed and the ecosystem reeling.  It however, backtracked this year and allowed Pakistani’s TV channels to import TV shows and film, with some restrictions.

    Indian executives had heaved a sigh of relief then. Hopefully, that will be repeated in the case of Sri Lanka too.

  • Star Sports inspires all to ‘Believe’ in Kohli’s mission

    Star Sports inspires all to ‘Believe’ in Kohli’s mission

    MUMBAI: Star India is confident that cricket fans across the country will join to cheer the men in blue as they reach their true potential in the exciting home season.

    Star Sports has released a film on Virat Kohli’s mission to take the Indian cricket team to the top spot in all three formats this home season.

    The film showcases his determination and perseverance in the pursuit of excellence.

    One of the most sought-after global sportspersons, Kohli’s discipline, relentlessness and unmatched drive has made him the leading ODI and T20 batsman in the world and an inspiration for legions of young fans in India.

    The film takes the viewers through a day in the life of Kohli, portraying his never-say-die attitude. It begins with Kohli waking up at the crack of dawn, driven by a commitment to his goals. His day begins at the gym, as he works out to stay focussed and fit, and always aiming to better his last best performance. 

    At the practice pitch, Kohli is seen honing his batting prowess, as the film calls-out his cricketing achievements. “When you’re ready to expend every ounce of your energy, all you need to do is Believe,” says Kohli, as the film concludes.

    A Star India spokesperson said, “We, at Star Sports, constantly strive to raise the bar when it comes to showcasing world-class cricket, and bringing fans closer to the sport and its heroes. Virat Kohli embodies a commitment towards sport and fitness. Under his dynamic leadership, Team India is looking to dominate world cricket across all formats.”

    The season ahead promises to be full of anticipation and excitement, with Team India playing against Australia currently, followed by New Zealand and Sri Lanka later in the year.

  • Sony sports channels to broadcast India’s cricket tour of Lanka

    MUMBAI: The Sony Pictures Sports Networks will broadcast India cricket team’s tour of Sri Lanka, which kicks off on 26 July 2017. The recent rebranding of sports channels has helped Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI) to devote Sony SIX, Sony SIX HD, Sony Ten 3 and Sony Ten 3HD for cricket coverage in English and Hindi, respectively.

    Viewers on the go can also watch the series by live streaming it on the SonyLIV app and on its website, according to a statement from SPNI.
    The series promises to be a treat for cricket enthusiasts with three Tests, five ODIs and a standalone T20 to be played across four scenic venues in Sri Lanka.

    India’s tour of Sri Lanka will also see the Sony network’s celebrated live wrap-around analysis show ‘Extraaa Innings’ hosted by Harsha Bhogle. Cricket expert lined up for such pre, post and live match coverage and analysis include Sunil Gavaskar, Ajay Jadeja, Murali Kartik, Russel Arnold and Simon Doull.

    SPN India president, distribution and sports business Rajesh Kaul said, “With two channels dedicated to cricket, we are committed to offering Indian cricket fans with the finest of cricketing action in 2017.”   

    SonyLIV EVP and head-digital business Uday Sodhi said, “SonyLIV has established its foothold as India’s premium digital entertainment destination when it comes to entertainment and sports, and it further reinforces its position as the ultimate online destination for the sports fan with India’s tour of Sri Lanka.”

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    Also Read:

    India-Sri Lanka test series net  a bagful  of ground & instadia sponsors

    Sony ropes in Tendulkar as it rebrands sports portfolio, adds two HD channels

    ITW bags ad rights from Sony, India series sponsor & partners’ announcement shortly

  • India-Sri Lanka test series net a bagful of ground & instadia sponsors

    MUMBAI: The folks at India-based sports management firm ITW Consulting are sporting broad smiles on their faces. The reason: a clutch of brands has signed up as on-ground sponsors for the upcoming India vs Sri Lanka test series starting 26 July in the Emerald isle.

    Among the brands which have come on board include: Seagrams Royal Stag Cricket Gear and Servo Lubricants as the title and powered by on-ground partner. The other key partners are Hero MotoCorp (HERO), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Kent RO Systems (KENT), Dalmia Cement Bharat Limited, MDH Limited, Syska and Byju’s Learning App.

    “The response to this series from brands has been very positive given the unique mix of technology and innovation we are offering to elevate the brand association,“ says ITW Consulting Co-Founder Bhairav Shanth. “We will shortly announce the title partner for the ODI and T20 series.”

    Adds ITW Consulting director M.S. Muralidharan: “At ITW, we have ensured that we bring in some latest and most innovative in-stadia technologies in cricket and other sports to ensure fans are engaged throughout the match with a crowd facing interactive display system.”

    Cricket fans attending the matches during the tour will get to see the world’s largest high definition sight screen along with 100 per cent LED HD quality systems, and crowd facing LEDs allowing for fan engagement not experienced before.

    The highlight of the ODI series is that the player of the series wins an Eicher Polaris Multix MS – BS IV vehicle.

    Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India president distribution and sports business Rajesh Kaul highlights, “We have on-board some big brands as our advertisers. We aim to make the broadcast experience on the India Tour of Sri Lanka Test Series 2017 a memorable one.”

    The 45-day long cricket extravaganza will reach a wide Indian, Sri Lankan and global audience cheering for the powerhouses and superstars of the likes of Angelo Mathews, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga as well as their Indian counterparts like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Ravi Ashwin amongst others. The series will be telecast by the official live broadcasting partner, SPN India on SONY SIX and SONY TEN 3 channels and will be livestreamed on SonyLIV. Scheduled to reach prime time audiences in India and Sri Lanka, the match preview, pitch report and toss will commence 30 minutes prior, followed by the match at 10:00 am IST for Tests, 2:30 pm IST for ODI’s and 7:00 pm IST for the T20.

    ITW Consulting recently announced the acquisition of certain exclusive rights from SPN India the sole and exclusive media rights holder of the series. The deal with SPN involves title rights, on-ground and in-stadia advertising rights for all the cricket matches to be played during the series.

  • ICC Champions Trophy makes its presence felt Across Genres

    BENGALURU: Indians are cricket crazy – a cliché if ever there was one – but a cliché that makes itself evident every time there is a major cricketing event. And an event such as the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 is sure to attract eyeballs galore.

    Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data for week 23 of 2017 (Saturday, 3 June 2017 to Friday, 9 June 2017) – List of Top 10 Channels Across Genre: All India (U+R): 2+ Individuals revels the entry of three channels that air the Champions Trophy into its fold. Star Sports 1 Hindi at second place, DD National at ninth place and Star Sports 1 at tenth place entered this list, while Sony Max which had aired the T20 IPL season 10 that ended in week 21, exited the top 10 channels across genre list in week 23.

    That the Champions Trophy is responsible for the high ratings of non-sports channel such as DD National is substantiated by the fact that two Champions Trophy matches – the one between India and arch rivals Pakistan and the one between India and its island neighbour Sri Lanka were amongst the top 5 most watched programmes for the Hindi GECand Hindi GEC – Rural and HindiGEC – Urbangenres in week 23 according to BARC data.Even in the case of the Hindi GEC – Urban genre, the Indo-Pak on DD-National match was the fifth most watched programme in week 23 of 2017.

    Besides the channels that aired the Champions Trophy, one Tamil and Telugu GEC each and five Hindi GEC channels were also present in the list of top 10 channels across genres list for week 23.

    As has been the norm, the Sun TV Network’s Tamil flagshipGEC Sun TV headed the list with weekly impressions of 1055.419 million, followed by Star Sports 1 Hindi with weekly impressions 777.806 million. Also from the Star India stable- its Hindi GEC flagship channel Star Plus stood third with 660.801 million impressions followed by Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) Sony Pal with 543.309 million weekly impressions.

    Network 18’s Hindi GEC Rishtey was ranked fifth across genres in week 23 with weekly impressions of 532.853 million followed by the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV with 522.673 million weekly impressions at sixth rank. Also from the Zeel stable was Hindi GEC Zee Anmol with weekly impressions of 490.769 million at seventh place followed by The Sun TV Networks Teluguflagship channel Gemini TV with 478.453 million impressions at eighth place.

    DD National with 466.696 million weekly impressions stood ninth followed by Star Sports 1 with 462.214 million weekly impressions.

  • India’s average internet speed increased in fourth quarter of CY-16

    BENGALURU: India lags behind Sri Lanka with a global rank of 97 versus the latter’s rank of 73 in terms of Average Connection Speed (IPv4) by APAC Country/Region as per Akamai’s State of Internet report for the fourth quarter of calendar year 2016 (Q4-16). However, the average internet speed in India in Q4-16 at 5.6 Mbps has improved 36 percent as compared to the speed of 4.1 Mbps mentioned in Akamai’s State of Internet report for Q3-16. Year-on-year (y-o-y), India’s average internet speed has almost doubled, it has grown by 99 percent.

    India was ranked 105 globally as compared to Sri Lanka’s rank of 75 in Q3-16. Sri Lanka’s average speed in the Q4-16 report was 7.3 Mbps, 21 percent more than the 6 Mbps average speed in Q3-16.

    About 38 percent of the internet connections in India have peak connection speeds in excess of 4 Mbps, a low number when compared to the 97 percent that South Korea which is the world leader with average internet speeds of 26.1 Mbps. The overall y-o-y change in the percentage of connections for internet speeds above 4Mbps was 123 percent in the case of India. In the case of an internet mature nation like Korea, the y-o-y change was 0.6 percent while the quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) change was 0.7 percent.

    In the Asia-Pacific region, Vietnam and India were the only two countries/regions to enjoy double-digit growth, as they saw 4 Mbps Broadband adoption rates increase 18 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

    The report speaks of positive developments in India, specifically mentioning Bharti Airtel’s launch of V-Fiber broadband service in the fourth quarter, offering 100 Mbps fixed broadband access. Initially rolling out in Chennai, Bharti’s service is slated to become available to 87 cities in India within a few weeks. Now if only TRAI could reclassify connections with speeds in excess of 2 Mbps as broadband as it had earlier. TRAI later backtracked then reduced the broadband classification speeds to more than a measly 512 Kpbs.

  • Zimbabwe-Sri Lanka-WI cricket tri-series live on dittoTV

    Zimbabwe-Sri Lanka-WI cricket tri-series live on dittoTV

    MUMBAI: Cricket lovers who miss their favourite matches due to various reasons can breathe a sigh of relief. Over the top (OTT) platform dittoTV will provide live feed of the Zimbabwe – Sri Lanka -West Indies cricket tri-series match, which commenced on 14 November 2016.

    The matches can be watched live on Ten1 HD channel available on the digital platform. The series comprises six round-robin matches and subscribers can watch the channel at 1 pm on November 14, 16,19, 21, 23 and on the concluding day, 27 November.

    “Cricket is unarguably the most celebrated sport in India. However, with the tri-series airing in the middle of the day, working professionals and students may miss out on the matches. With dittoTV, cricket enthusiasts can catch up on all the action live via their smartphones, laptops or any internet connected device. We are very excited to bring the tri-series live to viewers on our platform,” said dittoTV business head Archana Anand in a statement.

    The dittoTV app is available on Android and iOS platforms, with a monthly subscription charge of Rs 20.

  • Zimbabwe-Sri Lanka-WI cricket tri-series live on dittoTV

    Zimbabwe-Sri Lanka-WI cricket tri-series live on dittoTV

    MUMBAI: Cricket lovers who miss their favourite matches due to various reasons can breathe a sigh of relief. Over the top (OTT) platform dittoTV will provide live feed of the Zimbabwe – Sri Lanka -West Indies cricket tri-series match, which commenced on 14 November 2016.

    The matches can be watched live on Ten1 HD channel available on the digital platform. The series comprises six round-robin matches and subscribers can watch the channel at 1 pm on November 14, 16,19, 21, 23 and on the concluding day, 27 November.

    “Cricket is unarguably the most celebrated sport in India. However, with the tri-series airing in the middle of the day, working professionals and students may miss out on the matches. With dittoTV, cricket enthusiasts can catch up on all the action live via their smartphones, laptops or any internet connected device. We are very excited to bring the tri-series live to viewers on our platform,” said dittoTV business head Archana Anand in a statement.

    The dittoTV app is available on Android and iOS platforms, with a monthly subscription charge of Rs 20.