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Tag: World Sport Nimbus

  • Nimbus buys out World Sport Group’s stake in sports JV

    Nimbus buys out World Sport Group’s stake in sports JV

    MUMBAI: Nimbus Communications Ltd has acquired the 50 per cent shareholding of World Sport Group Ltd in World Sport Nimbus — the Singapore based sports joint venture — making the sports marketing company a 100 per cent subsidiary of Nimbus Communications.

    Subject to regulatory approvals, the name of the venture will be changed to Nimbus Sport International.

    The management of the company will remain unchanged, with Digvijay Singh continuing as CEO. Former Sahara hand Satish Menon has joined Nimbus in India as president (Sports and Media), while Thomas Lavenant will continue as head of events and sponsor services and James Rego as head of television.

    Nimbus chairman Harish Thawani said, “I am particularly delighted that the entire management has chosen to stay on with Nimbus. This is a great team that has delivered fabulous results over the past three-four years in every part of the world and we look forward to exponential growth as our clients entrust us with bigger responsibilities.”

    News Corp- owned Global Cricket Corporation (GCC) has retained the ICC Cricket business with Nimbus, which will continue to exclusively handle worldwide sponsorship sales and services, television and radio licensing in various countries including India, and the world feed television production of the ICC Champions Trophy 2006.

    Nimbus is also contracted by GCC to handle air time sales on free TV in India of the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.

    Singh said, “We are grateful to News Corp for their continuing faith in our abilities and our commitment to excellence on the ICC business. While the ICC business remains our No. 1 priority, in the coming weeks we shall be announcing a series of new partnerships with federations, broadcasters and sponsors that shall dramatically widen our portfolio of sports assets and services.”

  • World Sport Nimbus to produce U 19 Cricket World Cup ‘live’ telecast

    World Sport Nimbus to produce U 19 Cricket World Cup ‘live’ telecast

    MUMBAI: World Sport Nimbus (WSN) has been contracted by GCC to produce the ‘Live’ television coverage of the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2004. For the very first time the U-19 Cricket World Cup will be televised live from the league matches stage itself.

    Of the over 50 matches in the event, nine matches will be televised live, including all India matches (6 max from Group C and the Super League), the semi finals and the final. Should India not qualify for the Super League phase, three alternate matches will be telecast live. 16 teams have qualified for the U-19 Cricket World Cup and have been drawn in four groups, the top two from each group will qualify for the Super League. The Super League will also be in two pools and the top two from each pool will go to the semi finals.

    India is drawn with New Zealand, Bangladesh and Scotland.

    The U-19 Cricket World Cup is being staged in Bangladesh from 15 February to 5 March 2004.

    Says Digvijay Singh, CEO, WSN: “With the enormous ratings that cricket is now getting and with U 19 players knocking at the doors of Test cricket, it makes great sense to televise the U 19 World Cup and take it to the next level”.

    India recently won the Asian U 19 title, and many consider the Indians favorite for the World title too.

    It’s all very well to talk of taking the U 19 World Cup to the next level, but with the surfeit of big matches on offer (especially with the Indo-Pakistan series coming up in March, whether it will be possible to generate any sort of excitement around this tournament remains to be seen. Too much of a good thing and all that…?

  • Nimbus adds some non-cricket sports to its plate

    Nimbus adds some non-cricket sports to its plate

    MUMBAI: “The next big opportunity area in Indian sport after cricket will be football.”
     

    Wishful thinking? Not if you ask Nimbus Communications executive chairman Harish Thawani.
    With a very successful conclusion of the cricket World Cup behind World Sport Nimbus (a 50:50 JV with World Sport Group), Thawani is now looking beyond cricket to other areas in the sports broadcast, marketing and management arena.

    One big project (if it takes off that is) could be the Jawaharlal Nehru Cup international football tournament, which WSN is contemplating resurrecting. The tournament has been in limbo since 1997 with on and off talk of its revival (the last time was in May 2002 by All India Football Federation president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi).

    Says Thawani: “We will bring football events to India. We’ve been asked to rejigg the Nehru International soccer tourney and take it up on a long-term contract. It’s a great tournament that didn’t make its mark which we believe has to do with the quality of brand management that goes into running an international event. Our partners (WSG) are in charge of the Asian Football Confederation. The entire Asian circuit is handled by them so there is strong expertise already in the group for football.”

    “We haven’t said yes yet (to the Nehru Cup) so I can’t definitely say we will be doing it this year. If not we will be doing something else in football because we believe it is the next big opportunity area.”

    Though football still remains only an opportunity for Nimbus, more definite projects on the immediate horizon are bowling, snooker and golf.

    “We’ve been signed on by the World Bowling Federation and we are managing the World Bowling Championships in Malaysia in August-September, doing the TV production and the worldwide distribution,” asserts Thawani. “We’ve just been signed on by the World Snooker Federation as the Asian leg franchisee,” he adds.

    Speaking of golf he says, “In a quick rollout we are bringing more golf events to India because of our affiliation through our partner with the Asian PGA.”

    Queried as to whether hockey, which is currently seeing some sort of a revival in the country, would get a look-in, Thawani replies in the negative. “Hockey is a non-television game. It’s too fast moving, the ball is too small, and there are not enough breaks. Squash and badminton face the same problems. If it is too fast moving a sport, if the object, the ball, is too small, and if you don’t have enough breaks, that’s death as far as television is concerned,” he says.

    Football, with just one half time interval as a break, happens to be by far the world’s most popular sport. But that could be said to be the exception that proves the rule.

  • World Sport Nimbus appoints Digvijay Singh as chief executive

    World Sport Nimbus appoints Digvijay Singh as chief executive

    World Sport Nimbus (WSN) has a new chief executive in former Zee Telefilms president Digvijay Singh. 

    Singh, who joined the WSN board last month, was appointed worldwide chief executive last week, Harish Thawani, co-chairman of the Singapore-based WSN confirmed to indiantelevision.com tonight. 

    Queried as to when Singh would officially take charge, Thawani said he expected Singh to start work by 26 August or thereabouts. It was more a logistics issue of how long it would take Singh to relocate from Mumbai to Singapore than anything else, Thawani said.

    As to why WSN decided to appoint a CEO at this stage, Thawani said the business had grown to a size where the board felt a chief executive was essential. WSN has been operating till now with two co-chairpersons in Thawani and Seamus O’Brian. 

    Thawani said Singh’s name was picked from a final shortlist of three. His experience “across three continents” – Africa, Europe and India – as well as his exposure to television, print and the Internet was what finally landed him the job, Thawani added.

    Singh’s CV includes stints at Hindustan Levers in a marketing capacity, Zee Telefilms, at the Indian Express Group as CEO, as well as a short-lived tenure as CEO of india.com, the Indian subsidiary of mail.com that went down almost before it had gone up. 

     

  • World Sport Nimbus issues clarification on ICC rights

    World Sport Nimbus issues clarification on ICC rights

    In response to the report ” News Corp takes financial charge of global rights for ICC cricket ” World Sport Nimbus (WSN) has issued the following rejoinder: 

    “World Sport Nimbus (WSN) continues to and will continue till 2007 to fulfil the responsibilities and functions by virtue of its agreement with GCC (Global Cricket Corporation) in relation to ICC cricket, which include exclusive management of sponsorship sales worldwide, event management, television licensing in specified territories, radio licensing in specified territories, and television production of specified events. 

    “World Sport Group (plc) and World Sport Nimbus Pte Ltd will not comment on any speculation regarding business restructuring except that neither of these two companies have been or are proposed to be acquired by GCC or Newscorp. 

    “Further, WSN has already achieved or exceeded its targets with regard to all broadcast licenses for television and radio in all its specified territories, and remains on course for its sponsorship targets. Contrary to a speculative report which suggests that four sponsors have been firmed up for the World Cup, WSN confirms that eight sponsors have already been firmed up for the World Cup and with eight months to go for the World Cup, ongoing negotiations to sign on four more are comfortably progressing.

    “The eight sponsors are Pepsi, I.G., Standard Bank, South African Breweries, MTN, Hero Honda, South African Airways and Toyota (SA).”