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Tag: Ten Sports

  • WWE signs a series of mobile deals

    WWE signs a series of mobile deals

    MUMBAI: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has signed new content agreements with mobile firms.

    The deals are with communications company Orange, Britain’s third-largest network operator; Heylife, a mobile, internet and TV content producer and distributor based in Portugal; and German broadcaster Tele5, which currently airs weekly installments of SmackDown. In India, viewers can catch WWE on Ten Sports.

    The deal will see Heylife rolling out WWE standard and premium package downloads, including video streams, voicetones, ringtones, wallpapers and SMS alerts.

  • FIH announces enhanced TV exposure for hockey World Cups

    FIH announces enhanced TV exposure for hockey World Cups

    MUMBAI: Hockey’s governing body FIH has announced that the recently held hockey World Cups generates strong TV exposure.

    The BDO Hockey World Cup Men, played in Monchengladbach, Germany early September, generated a television audience of 645 million viewers worldwide. This FIH states is a record for hockey and an increase of 50 per cent compared to the Samsung Champions Trophy for men. In India the events aired on Ten Sports.

    The German based company IFM International Sportanalysen recently presented these figures to the FIH.
    The men’s hockey World Cup saw 3,512 broadcasts across 77 TV channels globally. There were 266 live broadcasts and 645 million cumulated audience. There was a sponsoring value of EUR 2,416,573 from 233 hours of screen time for BDO as title sponsor (calculated at 10 per cent of advertising spot rate)

    For the women’s World Cup which took place from 27 September – 8 October 2006 there were 2,597 broadcasts across 78 TV channels worldwide. There were 225 live broadcasts and a 380 million cumulated audience. The sponsoring value of EUR 1,330,935 from 96 hours of screen time for Samsung as title sponsor (calculated at 10 per cent of advertising spot rate).

  • ESS plays it cool on Zee acquisition of Ten Sports

    ESS plays it cool on Zee acquisition of Ten Sports

    NEW DELHI: In the face of the acquisition of Ten Sports by Zee Telefilms, rival ESPN Star Sports has presented an unruffled visage, though the scene could be different in the boardroom.

    Star officials avoided commenting during the day, but in the evening, ESPN India head RC Venkateish said: “It changes nothing in the landscape.”

    The deal between Zee Tele and Ten Sports will give Zee for the first time access to high-viewership international programmes, especially cricket, and also a foothold in the West Asian markets. Would this not give ESPN-Star some competition in India? “I don’t think so,” Venktateish told indiantelevision.com.

    “ESPN is the world sports TV leader. Zee Sports was there already and so was Ten Sports, and they were already having many sports properties. What has happened is a change in the pattern of ownership. Why should it make a difference to us?” Venkateish pointed out.

    “We are focussing on what we have already,” he added.

  • Zee, Ten-Infront, Nimbus table ICC global rights bids

    Zee, Ten-Infront, Nimbus table ICC global rights bids

    MUMBAI: The bidding for the audio-visual rights for International Cricket Council (ICC) conducted events from late 2007 to 2015 is certainly not going according to the expected script. For starters, there have only been three global bids tabled and a significant absentee from the list is ESPN Star Sports.

    As it turns out, two of the global rights bidders — Zee Telefilms and Ten Sports-Infront — are acting in consort while the third contender is the now familiar name in all matters cricketing — Harish Thawani’s Nimbus.

    As for ESPN Star Sports, sources familiar with the developments say it has tabled a territory bid that covers the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East.

    Confirmed bids have also come in from DirecTV (North America); a combined bid by Supersport and SABC (South Africa Broadcast Corporation) for the Africa territory; News Corp’s Sky for the UK; Geo TV (for the Pakistan territory); and ARY for Middle East/Pakistan/ Europe and UK.

    Another likely bidder is Channel 9/Fox for Australia.

    ZEE’S GLOBAL BID $ 620 MILLION?

    What seems to be emerging out of all this is that the fears of “crazy bidding” that Set India CEO Kunal Dasgupta expressed, which ultimately kept Sony out of the bid process altogether, might well prove unfounded.

    This is best exemplified by the comments Zee Telefilms CMD Subhash Chandra made in an interview to business news channel CNBC TV18 following that announcement that his company had taken a 50 per cent controlling stake in Taj Television, the Dubai-based holding company that owns and operates Ten Sports.

    Asked a direct question as to whether Zee’s bid was above or below $ 750 million, Chandra stated it was well below that. The figure Zee has bid is in the region of $ 620 million, industry sources aver. If that figure proves correct when the tenders are opened on Friday at the ICC’s headquarters in Dubai, it will mark the first serious “correction” in cricket rights bidding since 2000, when Chandra and Rupert Murdoch had fought over the ICC rights.

    It is worth noting that in 2000, Zee’s global bid was an astronomical $ 650 million. This is not to imply that Zee has actually gone lower this time round though. One condition that the ICC has introduced for the current tender is that if a company bids for worldwide rights, then it has to deduct production costs (approximately $ 70 million) from the bid before submission. Add those costs and Zee’s bid works out to $ 690 million or $ 40 million higher than what it bid in 2000.

    Queried by TV18 as to the reasons for his being so conservative when Zee had nothing by way of cricket properties other than BCCI neutral venue event rights, Chandra said: “We would go up to the point where it makes sense and it makes profit. We will not be buying it as a loss leader. If it comes sensibly, then we will take the rights, otherwise we will wish good luck to whosoever buys those ICC rights at a much higher price.”

    If that much higher price is dished out by new channel on the Zee block Ten Sports, it would add yet another angle to the still unfolding equations at play. If the joint bid of Ten Sports and German sports marketing company Infront is higher than that of Nimbus, then one can expect Zee Sports to take the India rights, Ten Sports the Pakistan and Middle East rights and Infront the international rights. On the other hand if Nimbus’ bid prevails, then one would expect Thawani to keep the international rights while ESS would take up the Indian subcontinent / Middle East rights.

    That would be the logical expectation but since nothing in this drama has unfolded according to script there is another possibility that could crop up. Which is of current ICC rights “incumbent” Sony making a late play from the sidelines. Dasgupta did say as much when he earlier spoke to Indiantelevision.com regarding his network’s withdrawal from the bid process: “We believe that the terms (of the tender) are quite onerous. We do not want to put our company at risk so we are constrained to hold back our bid. But that does not take away our right to enter into post-bid arrangements with the winning bidders.”

    Friday is when the financial bids are expected to be opened (going by Chandra’s comments in the interview), so expect some more interesting twists to the tale before the final denouement.

  • Calypso Kings vs Sultans of Swing West Indies Tour of Pakistan ‘06 live on Ten Sports

    Calypso Kings vs Sultans of Swing West Indies Tour of Pakistan ‘06 live on Ten Sports

    8th November: Ten Sports, the regions top sports channel has live and exclusive coverage of the up coming Test series between Pakistan and the West Indies. The three Test series that gets underway on Saturday will see the visitors come up against a new look Pakistan line up.

    Inzamam-ul-Haq’s side has been rocked by the loss of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, two of their key players. But these will not be the only changes to the side that toured England in the summer. Out go fast bowlers Mohammad Sami and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan plus all-rounder Shahid Afridi and in come rookie fast bowler Samiullah Niazi, debutant slow left-armer Abdur Rehman and opener Yasir Hameed.

    West Indies captain Brian Lara knows that with so many changes for the home side this could be his best chance to gain his first series victory on Pakistan soil. It was 16 years ago when a young Lara made his Test debut in Pakistan and he will be looking to show the Pakistan crowds he still has all his batting skills.

    And the West Indies will head into the series on a high after reaching the final of the recent ICC Champions Trophy in India.

    While there will be two world class teams out on the pitch come Saturday morning in Lahore, there will be another world class line up bringing Ten Sports viewers ball by ball analysis from the commentary booth. Ten Sports regular Sanjay Manjrekar will be joined by Ramiz Raja, Ian Bishop and Jeff Dujon to ensure the very best coverage is brought to Ten Sports viewers.

    ABOUT TEN SPORTS: Only launched in April 2002, Taj TV’s Ten Sports is watched by more viewers than any other sports channel in the sub-continent and is available in more than 50 million cable/ satellite households worldwide. In just a short span of three years, Ten Sports has also become the world’s biggest producers of cricket. The Channel broadcasts cricket from Sharjah, the West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Morocco throughout the Indian sub-continent and Asia, as well as in Europe and the Middle East. Other cricket properties broadcast by Ten Sports in certain territories include internationals from India, the World Cup 2003 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2004.

    FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TEN SPORTS PROGRAMMES, CONTACT:

    Murtuza Madraswala – Taj Television India Pvt Ltd, 403 Manish Commercial Complex, Dr. A.B. Road, Mumbai, India. Tel no: +91 22 6662 3101; Fax no: +91 22 6662 629; Email: murtuzam@tajtv.com or visit www.tensports.com

  • Zee Telefilms picks up 50% stake in Ten Sports

    Zee Telefilms picks up 50% stake in Ten Sports

    MUMBAI: Zee Telefilms Ltd. has acquired 50 per stake in Ten Sports in an all-cash deal for $57.15 million.

    Confirming the development Essel Group CEO of corporate strategy and finance Rajiv Garg said, “The acquisition has been made with the enterprise value of Ten Sports at $114.3 million.”

    Ten Sports was in prolonged discussions with Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India, but talks were called off as differences on valuations could not be ironed out.

    Zee will have controlling interest in Taj TV as in the seven-member board, it will have four representatives while Abdul Rahman Bukhatir (Taj TV promoter) will have three.

    Zee has the option to hike its stake in Taj TV after 2009. The price of the balance 50 per cent will be decided at that stage by the two companies and an independent valuer.

    “This acquisition is an important step from Zee towards consolidation in the media industry. We are confident that this will add significant value for the shareholders of Zee. The acquisition of a stake in Ten Sports not only gives us a strong foothold in the arena of sports broadcasting across Asia but also strengthens our operations in the Middle East.

    “I have known Bukhatir for some time now and have the greatest respect for him as a businessman and his leadership as one of the most successful conglomerates in the Middle East and more particularly, the achievements that he has had in the areas of manufacturing, retail, construction, and especially the way he has popularised cricket in the Middle East. I am certain that our joint partnership will result in a mutually beneficial relationship,” said Zee Telefilms chairman Subhash Chandra.

    Taj TV’s average annual revenue for the next three financial years will be around $50 million, Zee said in a statement today. The average annual EBITDA is expected to be $14 million during this period. The Taj TV financial statements shall be consolidated on a line by line basis in Zee’s books.

    Ten Sports operates separate beams in the Middle East, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Hong Kong. Besides, it has rights to leading cricket properties like Pakistan Cricket Board, Sri Lanka Cricket Board and the West Indies Cricket Board. “These rights combined with the BCCI neutral venue rights that Zee Sports has, creates the single largest repertoire of cricket programming. Among the other sports, Ten Sports also has rights to the UEFA Champions League, WWE, US Open, Hockey World Cup, which rate amongst the most popular programs in India. Zee Sports also has the rights to Indian football, Davis Cup, WTA, Italian Serie A. Both the sports channels will be able to leverage these properties to its maximum potential across both the platforms,” the release said.

    Ten Sports is distributed by SET-Discovery’s One Alliance and is guaranteed minimum subscription revenues.

    Commenting on the deal, Bukhatir said, “Sports television is an extremely challenging business, and yet we have in a short time established ourselves as a major player. I believe that we will now take Ten Sports to unprecedented heights by joining hands with Zee and Chandra. I have the utmost respect for him as a business man and I have been very impressed by the leadership position he and his team have staked out in every line of the media business, from content to cable to DTH to international. Ultimately, I see our partnership as one which will change the industry.”

    Zee Sports and Ten Sports will draw synergies from each other in operating in the Asian market place. The two will work out plans to share the sports properties between the two channels. Also sharing of different language commentaries will be worked out. “This move would consolidate the number of sports broadcasters in India, thereby bringing about a price correction in the burgeoning rights fees for various sports properties,” the release pointed out.

    Expanding on the benefits of the deal, Zee Sports business head Himanshu Mody said,”The addition of Ten Sports gives us a significant strength, enabling further effective exploitation of all our sports properties. The operational synergies between Zee Sports and Ten Sports would be tremendous and we should be able to run the two channels at much better economies of scale.”

    The Zee scrip reacted positively today, gaining 3.33 per cent to close at Rs 341.65, after touching an intra-day high of Rs 345.50.

  • Ten Sports extends deal with US PGA Tour

    Ten Sports extends deal with US PGA Tour

    MUMBAI: Ten Sports has announced the extension of its broadcasting rights deal with the US PGA Tour, giving it coverage for the next three years.

    The deal allows Ten Sports to broadcast over 40 golf events each year.
    The Players Championship, the WGC-Mission Hills World Cup, the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, the WGC-Accenture Match Play and the Buick Invitational are just some of the events that will feature in the coverage.

    Ten Sports viewers will be treated weekly golf from players such as Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods.
    Ten Sports’ parent Taj Television CEO Chris McDonald said, “The US PGA Tour is the world’s premier tour and we are delighted to have renewed our existing contract. It proves once again Ten Sports ambition to continue to provide the very best in sports entertainment and set the highest standards in sports broadcasting.”

    Ten Sports had originally signed a short-term trial agreement with the Tour for 2006 for six events. Ten Sports VP programming Peter Hutton said, “The success of our coverage in 2006 means that we are now happy to sign a much bigger agreement for the next 3 years, which guarantees us live coverage of the world’s top golf on a weekly basis.”

    Ten Sports is already the rights holder to the European Tour and the US PGA Championship.

  • WWE gets over 14 million votes online for pay per view event

    WWE gets over 14 million votes online for pay per view event

    MUMBAI: World wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has announced that its Cyber Sunday interactive pay-per-view sent fans into a record breaking voting frenzy.

    About 2.5 million fans cast more than 14.6 million votes for interactive elements in the Cyber Sunday pay-per-view, more than twice as many votes as were cast for last year’s interactive pay-per-view, Taboo Tuesday. In India WWE airs on Ten Sports.
    Voting during Cyber Sunday’s live broadcast last night got as high as 6,000 votes per minute during the three-hour pay-per-view. The free voting for Cyber Sunday ran from October 16 through the end of yesterday’s pay-per-view.

    WWE senior VP interactive media Chris Chambers says, “The interest of our fans in deciding the various interactive elements of Cyber Sunday just blew us away.”

    WWE.com last month increased monthly unique visitors to more than 17 million. WWE says that it continues to add daily new content and video for fans to view around the clock online.

  • Taj TV to produce Cricket Plus channel for DirecTV in the US

    Taj TV to produce Cricket Plus channel for DirecTV in the US

    MUMBAI: Taj TV has reached an agreement with US pay TV platform DirecTV to produce its new Cricket Plus Channel which goes on air later this month.

    Taj TV operates the channel Ten Sports in India.
    The 24 hour cricket channel has rights to all ICC competitions for the North American territory as well as cricket from the West Indies, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

    DirecTV will broadcast matches live, on a pay-per-view basis, while Cricket Plus will show delayed coverage of matches as well as broadcasting same day highlights.

    Along with the cricket coverage the channel will also broadcast daily sports news bulletins as well as other sports relating to the South Asian community living in the U.S. such as hockey. Cricket Plus has acquired the rights to broadcast live all the major international hockey events including the men’s and women’s world cups and the Champions Trophies.

    DirecTV VP international programming Aaron McNally says, “Cricket Plus is an exciting new addition to our cricket programming lineup and we believe it will attract a large and loyal following among DirecTV customers. With its 24-hour, in-depth coverage, this is the perfect channel for cricket lovers and we’re pleased to be the exclusive provider of Cricket Plus in the United States.”

    The Dubai based Taj TV says that it already has experience in running some of the best known sports channels for a variety of clients through its Dubai Media City operation, currently handling Ten Sports Middle East, Ten Sports India, Ten Sports Pakistan, ART Prime Sport, Showtime Sportsnet, Showtime Sportsnet America and Citrus TV.

    Taj Television CEO Chris McDonald said, “Taj TV is delighted to have entered into this agreement with DirecTV. With the expertise within our organisation working on Cricket Plus, the US market is assured of a first class cricket channel.”

  • WWE ‘Raw’ to air 700th episode tonight in the US

    WWE ‘Raw’ to air 700th episode tonight in the US

    MUMBAI: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has announced that its show Raw will air its 700th episode in the US tonight 23 October.

    In India viewers can catch WWE on Ten Sports.

    The first episode of Raw aired on 11 January, 1993, from the Manhattan Center in New York City and since has been broadcast from arenas around the world, including Madison Square Garden, Staples Center in Los Angeles, as well as London, England and Tokyo, Japan.

    On 1 August, 2005, Raw surpassed previous record holder,Gunsmoke as producer of the most original episodes of any weekly fictional entertainment programme ever on American television.

    Raw airs in the US on USA Network. Since its return to USA Network last October, it has averaged a household rating of 4.03 and delivered an average of 5.1 total viewers including 2.6 million in the 18-49 age group.