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Tag: Ten Sports

  • Ten Sports’ properties clash; Zee Sports to air French Open

    Ten Sports’ properties clash; Zee Sports to air French Open

    MUMBAI: French Open 2006 has graced Ten Sports at a time when its hands are full with the India-West Indies cricket series. The broadcaster has however found a way out by roping in Zee Sports as a telecast partner for the tennis tourney.

    According to a deal inked by both the broadcasters, while Ten Sports retains the marketing rights, Zee Sports will exclusively telecast all the final matches, which include Men Singles, Men Doubles, Women Singles, Women Doubles and Mixed Doubles live. The other matches will be available on both channels.

    This arrangement has been necessitated because Ten Sports’ focus will of course be on West Indies versus India cricket series which is shaping up to be a real classic confrontation.

    Ten Sports VP programming Peter Hutton comments, “We have been concerned for some time about the clashes every year between West Indies cricket and our live coverage of the French Open. This new arrangement will allow viewers to choose between their favourite sporting events so that no one loses out.”

    Zee Sports business head Himanshu Mody adds, “We are delighted to conclude the broadcast sharing agreement with Ten Sports for one of the most exciting tennis events of the year.” He further added, “This acquisition adds to the exciting line up of tennis properties on Zee Sports which includes WTA, Davis Cup and Fed Cup.”

    The agreement marks increasing co-operation between Ten Sports and Zee Sports, after Ten recently sub-licensed the India versus Pakistan cricket from Abu Dhabi from Zee for the Pakistan region, points out an official release.

    French Open 2006 is scheduled for 27 May to 13 June, while the cricket series will go on till 30 June. The countries have already played three One Day Internationals. The remaining matches will be played as per the following schedule: May 26 Fourth ODI Trinidad / May 28 Fifth ODI Trinidad / Jun 02-06 First Test Antigua / Jun 10-14 Second Test St Lucia / June 22-26 Third Test St Kitts / June 30 – Jul 04 Fourth Test Jamaica.

  • Windies tour: SC bars Doordarshan from coercing Ten Sports on feed share

    Windies tour: SC bars Doordarshan from coercing Ten Sports on feed share

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has brought to an abrupt halt pubcaster Doordarshan’s “unfettered acess” to coverage of the India cricket team’s tours abroad.

    In a ruling that will for the present hold only for the forthcoming West Indies tour by the Indian cricket team, the apex court ordered today that Ten Sports has exclusive telecast rights to the series and need not share it with the pubcaster.

    A two-judge Bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice LK Panta directed that Prasar Bharati (which manages DD) will not take any coercive step or action for taking the live feed of the matches, a Press Trust of India report said.

    India is scheduled to play five one-day matches and four Tests in the Caribbean in a tour that kicks off with the first ODI on 18 May.

    The court, according to one of the parties involved in the case, said that the clause in the downlink guidelines relating to making available feeds of all events of national importance to DD on a mandatory basis lacks proper legal teeth.

    In the absence of a detailed and written order, which will be issued later by the court, the ramification of this order cannot be fully gauged in terms of the overall downlink guidelines, which is being sought to be implemented by the government from 10 May by when all stipulations have to be fulfilled by a channel to get landing rights in India.

    “Going by what the court has said DD will have to do without the West Indies tour, but the ruling is limited to only Ten Sports and the cricket tour concerned for the present,” DD director-general Navin Kumar told Indiantelevision.com.

    Asked if DD will be restrained from carrying French Open tennis, for which Ten Sports holds exclusive rights for the region, Kumar added, “I suppose Ten Sports will have to move a separate application in the court for that. We cannot comment at the moment on what will be our future course of action.”

    Last week, Dubai-headquartered Ten Sports had moved the court arguing that if interim relief was not granted to it this time round, a judgment of the court delivered before the recent Indo-Pak series would become infructuous.

    Taj Television Ltd, owner of Ten Sports, had in its original petition on the matter sought a stay on the government guidelines making it mandatory for the sports channels to share feed of sporting events of national importance with Prasar Bharati.

    It also contended that the court should be guided by the earlier verdict in the India-Pakistan series wherein DD was just a carrier of the Ten Sports signals on its terrestrial network and had also deposited a sum of Rs 150 million in the court towards possible compensation to Ten Sports.

    Ten had said it has already sold distribution rights of the West Indies tour to Set Discovery Pvt Ltd, which will have the right to license throughout the country.

    The Bench had given an inkling on its thinking on the matter at the last hearing itself in actual fact. During the brief hearing last Friday, the Bench observed that last time it was a series with Pakistan and “matches of Indo-Pak series are different from the others.” It added, “For West Indies, many people may not be interested.”

  • Ten Sports moves SC against Prasar Bharati over Windies series telecast

    Ten Sports moves SC against Prasar Bharati over Windies series telecast

    NEW DELHI: The government proposes. Ten Sports disposes. And, the courts find themselves in a bind. Most of the time this could be story of cricket telecasts involving India.

    Now that Ten Sports, which has exclusive rights to telecast the upcoming India-West Indies cricket series, has again moved the Supreme Court today seeking to restrain Prasar Bharti from downlinking the live feed of the matches (read sharing with Doordarshan), the government is likely to act tough.

    A Bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhan and LK Panta posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday (9 May) asking Solicitor General GE Vahanvati to seek proper instructions on the issue as the Dubai-based sports channel has declined to provide the link without payment, a report put out by Press Trust of India states.

    The private channel filed an application contending that if the matches of the Test and one-day international series were simulcast on Doordarshan, it will suffer a huge loss.

    The petitioner said it has already sold the distribution right to Set Discovery Pvt Ltd, which will have the right to license throughout the country.

    Interestingly, Ten Sports has taken refuge behind an earlier SC judgment, saying if interim relief was not granted to it this time round, a judgment the court delivered before the recent Indo-Pak series would become infructuous.

    Taj Television Ltd, owner of Ten Sports, had filed the petition seeking stay of the government guidelines making it mandatory for the sports channels to share feed of sporting events of national importance with Prasar Bharati.

    The court had allowed the live telecast of Indo-Pak ODIs on DD after an agreement was reached between Ten Sports and Prasar Bharati that latter would deposit in court a sum of Rs 150 million and carry the “dirty” Ten signals in toto without booking any advertisement of its own.

    During a brief hearing today, according to PTI, the Bench observed that last time it was a series with Pakistan and “matches of Indo-Pak series are different from the others.” It added, “For West Indies, many people may not be interested.”

    Contacted by Indiantelevision.com, Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma refused to comment on the matter saying it was sub judice.

    However, government sources indicated that the I&B ministry is unlikely to bend down easily this time round.

    A source familiar with the developments said, “The government’s plea before the court would be to uphold the downlink guidelines, which are in the process of being implemented.”

    The downlink guidelines state that events of national importance, including cricket, will have to be shared with the pubcaster on a mandatory basis. The ministry has come out with the listed events also, which has been upon after consulting industry stakeholders.

    In an earlier petition in a Mumbai court, Ten Sports has challenged the validity and legality of the downlinking guidelines terming it as arbitrary without the authority of law.

    The sports channel had challenged the Bombay High Court order of 21 December 2005 refusing it any relief. Later the matter pending before the High Court was transferred to the apex court.

  • Set Discovery promotes Gurjeev Singh Kapoor to SVP, sales & marketing

    Set Discovery promotes Gurjeev Singh Kapoor to SVP, sales & marketing

    MUMBAI: Set Discovery Pvt. Ltd., which distributes a bouquet channels under the brand name One Alliance, has promoted Gurjeev Singh Kapoor to the position of SVP, sales & marketing.

    In his new position, Kapoor will look after the company’s India sales and marketing operations. He will also take up the additional responsibility of international marketing.

    Based out of Mumbai, Kapoor will be reporting to Set Discovery President Anuj Gandhi.

    Set Discovery has also promoted about 17 executives in the junior and middle level management categories, across the country. “We have promoted people across the board. There are senior managers who have become AVPs and managers who have been assigned as senior managers,” informs Gandhi.

    Kapoor has earlier worked with ESPN and Zee International before joining Discovery Communications. He moved to Set Discovery in April 2002, when the joint venture between Sony Entertainment Television and Discovery Communications was formed.

    SET Discovery distributes channels including Sony Entertainment Television, Max, Discovery, Ten Sports, Discovery Travel and Living, MTV, Sab TV, AXN, NDTV India, NDTV 24×7, NDTV Profit, Nick, Animal Planet and Animax channels through the One Alliance brand.

  • Ten Sports partners with MindShare for Pepsi movie festival

    Ten Sports partners with MindShare for Pepsi movie festival

    MUMBAI: Ten Sports is now going the movies way. The channel will air five greatest sports movies of recent times during April and May.

    As part of its philosophy to bring wholesome sports entertainment to its viewers, Ten Sports will become the first sports channel in the country to telecast sports-based feature films.

    The new programme Pepsi Playtime TV – The Sports Movie Festival, has been developed along with Pepsi and MindShare, to provide complete sports entertainment to viewers.

    The festival begins on 28 April with the telecast of Remember the Titans, starring Oscar winner Denzil Washington, Will Patton and Wood Harris. Each week the movies will premiere on Friday at 8 pm, followed by a repeat on Sunday at 10:30 am.

    The other movies lined up apart from Remember the Titans are He Got Game (5 May), Color of Money (12 May), The Air up There (19 May) and The Rookie (27 May).

    Taj Television Limited CEO Chris McDonald said, “At Ten Sports, we have always tried to be innovators in our programming mix. Sports and movies are two passions of the Indian sub-continent and we are very pleased to be able to offer this powerful combination to millions of homes across India.”

    On behalf of Pepsi, MindShare Delhi general manager Sundar Raman said, “Our understanding shows affinity in viewership between the two genres of sports and movies. Pepsi is known to connect with youth in a unique and differential manner using movies and sports as platform. In Ten Sports we found an ideal partner to bring these two together. The Pepsi Playtime movies on Ten Sports is a unique way of leveraging Pepsi TV campaign by bringing these two large platform together with like minded partners.”

  • ‘We are targeting a 50% growth in 2006-07 on the back of the Fifa World Cup’ : Sricharan Iyengar – ESPN Software India Ltd vice president sales and marketing

    ‘We are targeting a 50% growth in 2006-07 on the back of the Fifa World Cup’ : Sricharan Iyengar – ESPN Software India Ltd vice president sales and marketing

    ESPN Star Sports (ESS), a monopoly in satellite sports broadcasting for years, has found challengers like Ten Sports, Max and Zee Sports with cricket content being fragmented. The latest thorn in the playing field is Harish Thawani who walked away with the coveted four-year India cricket rights from BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) for a humungous $612 million.

     

    For ESPN and Star Sports, the running in the current fiscal has been particularly tough. India-Zimbabwe series was the only India-playing cricket property ESS had. Market observers say subscription revenues from cable TV have seen a substantial dip, with various estimates putting the fall in the region between Rs 1.3 billion to Rs 1.7 billion.

     

    But ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd vice-president, sales and marketing Sricharan Iyengar has strongly dismissed these as “baseless rumours” in the market. According to him, the two sports channels have become strong brands which consumers want because of their all-round sports content. The company has managed to sustain its subscription revenues from cable TV operators, he says. Besides, direct-to-home (DTH) has thrown up an added opportunity even as Dish TV has managed to gather close to one million subscribers.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Sibabrata Das, Iyengar talks about the important properties that ESS has for the next two years including the Fifa football World Cup. Responsible for overseeing the marketing and distribution functions of ESPN and Star Sports across South Asia, he says ESS has a target of 50 per cent growth in revenues for the 2006-07 fiscal. He also elaborates on how ESS has created a wholesome sports network while pursuing with aggressive buying of cricket rights.

     

    Excerpts.

    Having lost sizeable amount of India-playing cricket, has ESPN Star Sports (ESS) entered into a phase of de-growth in subscription revenues?

     

    We have been able to sustain our revenues in the current fiscal (ended June, 2006) on the back of other sports like football and hockey. We have achieved this despite the absence of key driver programming. The only India-playing cricket property we had was the India-Zimbabwe series, but we had to share it with Doordarshan. This shows that the ESS brand stands for delivering all-round sports. And it is this that makes us optimistic about the future.

    Does this mean that you will return to the growth path in the coming year?

     

    There is no reason for us to feel that the business is unhealthy. We are, in fact, targeting a 50 per cent growth next year on the back of the Fifa World Cup and two India-playing cricket series. Actually, for the next two years, we have 9-10 driver events one behind the other (including India-South Africa, India-England, Natwest, Asia Cup, India-Australia, VB series and Euro Cup). We see healthy growth from the hotel business as well which we started two years ago. The peripheral markets like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also expected to grow. Significant contributions will come from direct-to-home (DTH) with the new operator, Tata Sky, preparing for launch by the middle of the year.

    But isn’t it hurting to be off several cable networks like ICC in Pune?

     

    The de-activation rate is just 7-8 per cent. The fact is that the viewer wants our channels because we have a spread of content across sports. Which is why in DTH, we are charging Rs 40 per month on a 100 per cent declaration. That is the power of the brand. As for our contract with ICC, we had certain commercial demands which were not agreed upon. We have consciously sold DTH in Pune. There are 20,000 people who have bought DTH in that market. For all the hoopla about we not having cricket content, all this seems to be negotiating talk. There are short term bottlenecks, but these are taken care of by total market economics.

    So what are the goals you have set to achieve with the World Cup?

     

    We expect the strong content will provide us the handle to get our channels back on some of the cable networks where we were off and drive in higher revenues. Besides, it will help us reduce the average credit period in the market. With the World Cup, we will also start focusing in rural markets. We have packages for these operators – starting from Rs 3,000 per month. What we need to do now is sell them.

    How will you use the World Cup to drive your other football properties?

     

    We plan to make the World Cup bigger than India cricket. That, at least, is what we will strive for. The frenzy has to flow into the rest of the football properties that we have and drive in more viewership for the English Premier League (EPL) and Spanish League. The World Cup will create a bunch of new superstars who audiences will follow even after the event is over. Undoubtedly, the two leagues where these superstars will play are the EPL and the Spanish League. We hope to improve the stickiness for that kind of football as well. The big challenge for us is to exploit the World Cup in driving a new spike for football in future.
    ‘We should have marketed EPL and PHL five years back when we dominated cricket content. As market leaders, we should have used the opportunity to popularise multiple sports as drivers’

    How are you promoting and marketing the World Cup?

    Consumer interest levels are high and the World Cup offers us a brilliant marketing opportunity. On the content front, we have designed special line of programming as a build up to the event. We have already started from 13 April a 13-episode series that will bring alive the magical moments from World Cup performances of Pele, Maradona, Platini and others. Starting from 22 April, we have Fifa Marathon which profiles the past and the present stars, the teams who have and will make a difference at the World Cup.

     

    And from 3rd-24 May, we will show Fifa Preview, a series that will profile stars, coaches and also analyse each nation’s prospects against teams within their groups. Then there is a series of six half-hour programmes that will feature stories on the most surprising and shocking results in the World Cup. (Fifa Stories from 25 May-1 June).

     

    We are also doing contests around the World Cup. We have a tie up with Adidas for identifying nine kids who will be sent from India to carry the Fifa flag. We will invest heavily in hyping up the World Cup – even in pubs and public screenings. It is a big bang product for us and we will do extensive marketing around it.

    Is ESS’s entire focus now on shifting from a cricket-led to a wholesome sports network?

    A very large part of our focus is on how to develop alternative sports and generate viewership for properties like football and Premier Hockey League (PHL). The challenge is to diversify into more driver sports. Like in the US which has a love for baseball, basketball, American football and ice hockey. As our content has a wide spread of leading sports events, we have to create value for the entire network. While we are broadbasing our channels in other sports as well, we recognise the value India-playing cricket has in this country. We will continue to follow an aggressive policy of buying this cricket so that we can drive our channels to greater growth in future.

    Does that explain why ESS made a desperate bid to grab the India cricket rights from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)?

    There was no desperate bid from us. We are not in investment mode. We made our calculations and believed we would have made a profit on the amount that we bid had we bought it at that price. Perhaps, startups like Zee Sports have their own strategies and feel that they need to be in investment phase.

    Why then did you revise your bid from $230 million (global rights including India) to $308 million and subsequently to $400 million (just for India territory)?

    Since our first bid, the rates have gone up and new revenue streams of DTH have emerged which was not there two years back when we made our estimate. Even IPTV is emerging on the horizon.

    How big is DTH today?

    With Tata Sky coming in, we will see quicker absorption of new technologies. This will expand the market size for addressability. Already, we have Dish TV claiming close to one million DTH subscribers.

    Have you concluded deals with any IPTV players?

    We are in talks with Reliance Infocomm, Bharti, MTNL and BSNL. We expect some form of IPTV to launch by the year-end.
    ‘The Chennai experiment has killed the market with just five per cent of TV homes watching pay channels. Given our Pune experience, it is ridiculous to believe that such a small TV viewing population is wanting to watch sports’

    Why do you think no headway is being made on the conditional access system (CAS) front which will speed up the rollout of digital cable TV?

    The CAS meetings have become shouting matches with the main aim being to paint the other side black. All are bothered about their own selfish interests. Nobody has a genuine industry perspective.

    What is the perspective you have?

    Unless each value chain works, the system will crumble. There is no joint interest in pushing the technology. As long as the transition is seamless, we do not have a problem. But it should not become a fiasco like in Chennai. DTH is not mandated. So why have a mandated CAS? The way we see it is that a vast majority of consumers in these CAS cities are happy in paying their cable bills for the services that they currently enjoy. There is only a small minority who want to buy less channels and reduce their cable bills. Let these customers be given a choice of migrating to CAS and buying set-top boxes to pay for the channels they want to watch. Why disturb the entire city and create blackouts?

    Aren’t broadcasters unnecessarily worried about the lack of infrastructure for the smooth rollout of CAS?

    The Chennai experiment has killed the pay-TV market. I don’t want to get into who is responsible but the fact is that we have just five per cent of TV homes watching pay channels. And given our Pune experience, it is ridiculous to believe that such a small TV viewing population is wanting to watch sports.

    Aren’t the cable operators better prepared this time for CAS rollout than in 2003?

    Well, the last mile operators are certainly more open about CAS this time because of impending threat from new technologies like DTH and IPTV. But there are other issues and the entire industry has to get together.

    Are you in support of the downlink policy?

    It is the government of India who decides the policy for the country. All we are saying is that we should know in advance what events are going to be shared with the national broadcaster so that we can work out our business model accordingly.

    Wouldn’t you prefer exclusive content which you needn’t share with Doordarshan?

    Yes, exclusivity would help drive our affiliate revenues better.

    But doesn’t it compensate with the advantage that you would have by selling advertisements for DD as well?

    The incremental ad revenue from DD may not be enough to offset the subscription revenue downside that we would have to suffer throughout the year if we are to lose exclusivity. Yes, downlinking policy is going to limit my business. But we are willing to live with it, no issue on that. All that we want is more clarity and we don’t want it with retrospective but prospective effect.

    Have you worked on minimum guarantee (MG) as a model to ramp up subscribers from cable operators?

    We have not used it as a business model across the country except in a few markets like Bihar.

    Would you support cable networks in markets where your signals have been de-activated or is this weapon blunted by the truce on the ground among the operators?

    We will definitely do all that is possible to remain the most widely distributed channel. This includes supporting new technologies, providing decoder boxes to new operators wherever we can, and funding free-to-air (FTA) headends.

    Is ESPN Plus ready for a commercial launch?

    We are toying with the idea of a third channel but have put it on experimental mode. We are yet to decide on what final shape it should take.

    What are the lessons ESS has learnt over the last few years which has seen the fragmentation of sports properties like cricket?

    We feel that we should have marketed EPL and PHL five years back when we dominated cricket content. As market leaders, we should have used the opportunity to popularise multiple sports as drivers.
  • Zee Sports completes deals with foreign broadcasters for Abu Dhabi series

    Zee Sports completes deals with foreign broadcasters for Abu Dhabi series

    MUMBAI: Zee Sports has reached agreements with major international broadcasters and radio players for the DLF Cup, India-Pakistan One Day International series. The entire multimedia rights for all the major television territories have been finalised.

    For Pakistan, Zee Sports has signed agreements with PTV for their terrestrial network and on Ten Sports for C&S homes. Hum FM will provide the live radio commentary in Pakistan and the Middle East. In Singapore the matches will be available on Star Hub. For the Malaysian territory, Astro All Asia Network will broadcast the two-match series.

    For the USA, the channel has entered into agreement with Echostar Satellite for the DLF Cup. Zee will leverage its international network in the United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East and South Africa, where the matches will be broadcast through its own Zee International feeds in the respective countries.

    Commenting on the deals, Zee Sports business head Himanshu Mody offers, “We are pleased to enter into agreements with various international broadcasters for telecast of this series between India and Pakistan. Our internal syndication team has been able to do a very effective job in a very short span of time.”

    Zee Sports has acquired the global media rights for all matches that India will play in non-ICC member countries. As part of the deal 25 matches will be played over a period of 5 years with an average of 5 matches per year. The global media rights comprise television, radio and Internet rights. The rights are for a period of five years from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2011.

  • Total Sports Asia, Mountain Dew launch adventure reality show

    Total Sports Asia, Mountain Dew launch adventure reality show

    MUMBAI: Mountain Dew, the drink that celebrates the adventurous pulse of the youth, has launched an adventure reality show with Mountain Dew Himalayan Challenge 2006.

    Mountain Dew has partnered with Uttaranchal Tourism and associated with co-sponsors – Ten Sports, Mentos, Hercules TI and Weekender. The event is being managed by Total Sports & Entertainment India.

    The event will see 10 teams of 3 contestants each, pitted against each other amidst the mighty range of Himalayas to win prize money worth Rs 200,000 . The Challenge will comprise of teams participating in adventure sports such as rock-climbing, rappelling, GPS navigated cross-country, white-water rafting and mountain biking.

    The event will air over five episodes on Ten Sports, from May to June 2006. Besides this, the event will be promoted through heavy activation in press and outdoors to create awareness and build participation.

    Pepsi India executive VP, marketing – flavours Pratik Pota says, “The Mountain Dew Himalayan Challenge 2006 is designed for all adventure enthusiasts who dare to challenge and showcase their competitive streak. The event exemplifies Mountain Dew’s daring imagery and we are positive that this will help strengthen Mountain Dew’s association with adventure sports as well as enhance consumer connect in India”.

    Total Sports Asia director business development Shail Kapri says, “We are proud to associate with Mountain Dew and launch the mega ‘Mountain Dew Himalayan Challenge 2006’ in India. Adventure sports is fast gaining popularity in India and the event is a reflection of the adventurous spirit that has caught the attention of the youth. We are positive that such initiatives will give a boost to the competitive sport segment in India”.

    The event will be held in Auli and Rishikesh from 23 to 25 April. On the first day, the teams will compete across rock-climbing, rappelling and cross-country in Auli. On the 25th, they will raft down from Kaudiyala to Laxman Jhoola in Rishikesh, followed by mountain biking through Rajaji National Park till end at Rishikesh Barrage. The prize presentation ceremony will take place on the eve of 25 April, which will also see the winners of the ‘Runner-Up Trophy’ and the ‘Mentos Trophy’ for the ‘quick thinking’ team.

    To participate in the event consumers can fill entry forms, available at any of the 52 Weekender stores across the country. They can also log on to www.dewdares.com and enter the challenge. The last date for entries is 18 April. The teams will be selected from across 40 cities and will comprise of 3 members each. The nationwide selection will be on the basis of various parameters such as fitness, health, past experience etc. Entry is open to all above 18 years of age and is free of cost.

  • Ten Sports’ Arun Poddar appointed Zee Turner CEO

    Ten Sports’ Arun Poddar appointed Zee Turner CEO

    MUMBAI: It’s all happening at Subhash Chandra’s Zee Group as the network aims to move up a gear on all fronts. Even as Zee Telefilms moves to split its broadcasting business into three entities — news operations, broadcast and content creation, and Siti Cable — there is also action on corporate hierarchy front.

    The Zee Turner distribution bouquet has appointed a new CEO in Arun Poddar, currently vice-president (distribution), Ten Sports. Poddar, who has already put in his papers at the Dubai-based sports channel, is expected to take up his new assignment by the second week of April.

    Poddar’s move to Zee was confirmed to Indiantelevision.com by a senior executive in the company who said, “Arun Poddar is a fine professional and we expect that he will take Zee Turner to greater heights.”

    As regards the present Zee Turner CEO Siddharth Jain, it is not clear at this juncture but the expectation is that he will likely be reassigned to a different position within the group.
    Poddar cut his teeth in the distribution business with ESPN Star Sports. From there he moved on to news channel India TV as vice-president (distribution). He joined Ten Sports as head of distribution in April 2005.

  • Ten Sports to telecast Players Championship

    Ten Sports to telecast Players Championship

    MUMBAI: Ten Sports will telecast live the Players Championship from 23 March.

    The tournament will be played at the TPC of Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The four-hour long live telecast of the Players Championship will air at 11:30 pm on each of the four days.

    The live telecast of the Championship follows Ten Sports’ recent signing of an exclusive deal with the US PGA Tour, which makes it the home for the world’s biggest golf tour in the sub-continent.

    With Ten Sports also having the exclusive rights for the European PGA Tour, the world’s second biggest tour after the US PGA, and the Indian PGA Tour, the channel has the most complete bouquet of golf for the growing number of fans in the sub-continent.

    All ten players in the top ten of World Rankings, including world number one Tiger Woods, number two Vijay Singh of Fiji and number three Retief Goosen of South Africa, will be in action in the four-round 72-hole tournament, the tickets of which were sold out last week.

    Atwal, who will be playing his first Players Championship, said, “I am eagerly looking forward to playing the Players Championship, which is often referred to as the ‘fifth major’ by most of us. And it is heartening to know that Ten Sports will be telecasting the tournament live back home. I hope to perform well and that many of my friends and fans of the game can see what the tournament is like.”

    Apart from the various tours, Ten Sports also has exclusive rights of the biennial Ryder Cup showdown between the USA and Europe, and also the PGA Championship, the fourth and final major of the year.