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Tag: WSN

  • Cricket rights: dealmakers on the prowl

    MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Who all would bid for the telecast rights of BCCI-organised home series? Or, who won’t ? Who are the serious players? How are the rights likely to be thrown open for bidding and in what format?

    Questions galore, but the picture remains hazy. Especially as regulatory changes, being contemplated by the government, may upset calculations.

    According to information available with indiantelevision.com, the bids for the home series are likely to be split up into three categories-domestic, international and broadband. A source familiar with the process said that this would help BCCI maximise returns from sale of rights as also lessen confusion up to an extent.

    Though the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), one of the richest sports bodies in the world, has not yet finalised the calendar of events and the modalities for the biding process — which would have an impact on the periodicity of rights agreement — it is expected that a four-year period would be decided on.

    Even as the industry is abuzz with murmurs of various deals and collaborations being mulled, the one that takes the cake is that the Rupert Murdoch-controlled News Corp too has jumped onto the cricket telecast rights bandwagon. It is said to be stitching a deal, which may also include World Sport Nimbus.

    This deal, which is likely to give Murdoch companies access to cricket rights as also airtime management outside India, is on the lines that was done during the last cricket World Cup where Murdoch bought out WSN in a joint venture that was handling the ICC telecast rights.

    AND THE PRIZE GOES TO…

    ESPN Managing Director RC Venkateish

    Let us now come to the likely bidders. The list includes companies like ESPN-Star Sports, Ten Sports, Sony Entertainment TV India, Indian pubcaster Prasar Bharati (Doordarshan and All India Radio) , Nimbus, Zee Telefilms and dark horses like Sahara and Reliance.

    Nimbus communications chairman and MD Harish Thawani

    Sensing that the BCCI rights would be crucial, two companies, ESS and Nimbus, have already made a master move — approach India’s national broadcaster DD for collaboration. While officials in Prasar Bharati confirmed offers from both the parties, sources in Nimbus did not confirm or deny the development.

    ESS has offered Prasar Bharati collaboration with DD for India rights. It has offered live telecast of all ODIs played under the BCCI contract at a fee of Rs 10 million per match, and Rs 500,000 per hour for daily highlights of Test matches.

    Prasar Bharati CEO Sarma

    As per the proposal given to DD, ESS would “retain and sell all the commercial inventory on the above programming telecast by DD and share 10 per cent of its total revenue with it.” In return, DD will not be required to bid for television rights nor shell out anything for production either.

    Industry feels that if this deal comes through, it’d put ESS-DD in the driver’s seat, but Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma told indiantelevision.com today that no decision on the two offers have been taken yet.

    Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani

    Pointing out that such decisions cannot be taken in the absence of data on what is on offer from BCCI, Sarma said, “We would like to keep all our options open, including bidding independently.” ESPN India was not available for comments.

    The beauty of the ESS proposition is that the government and the public alike are unlikely to raise a ruckus even if the bidding process is shrouded in secrecy. As long as DD manages to lay its hand on a good deal and cricket, things would be fine.

    Still, industry sources insisted that the Nimbus offer to DD is a ‘far interesting one, which can result in win-win for both the parties.’

    Sahara India promoter Subrata Roy

    But with Samajwadi Party political heavyweight, Amar Singh, muscling his way into cricket management through Cricket Association of Bengal, the Sahara angle cannot be glossed over. The diversified group is the sponsor for the Indian cricket team and the group promoter Subrata Roy’s friendship with Singh is well known.

    Zee Telefilms has burnt its fingers in the past over cricket rights, but it has got active in this arena again. Though ESS emerged victorious in case of the just-concluded Asia Cup, the other two bidders were Nimbus (not World Sport Nimbus it needs noting) and Zee. Nimbus bid for $ 9 million and Zee $ 7 million, information available with indiantelevision.com indicates.

    Suffice to say that when the India rights are finally given away, expect to see more of what may appear on the surface and lots of googlies.

  • Dalmiya to settle India’s World Cup money from ICC

    Dalmiya to settle India’s World Cup money from ICC

    MUMBAI: Indian cricket board chief Jagmohan Dalmiya left for London on Sunday where he will try to settle the release of India’s World Cup guarantee money from the International Cricket Council (ICC), according to a IANS report.

    The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president had given the ICC an ultimatum to pay up last November, but so far none of the $6.5 million that India is to get has been released, said the official sources. Dalmiya is expected to put forward BCCI’s case strongly at the ICC Contracts subcommittee meeting.

    The BCCI said if ICC’s financial arm, IDI, did not release the guarantee money with interest by November 1, it would go to the International Court of Arbitration in Laussane, Switzerland. But the board is yet to carry out its threat.

    The ICC claims to have suffered losses and faced being sued by sponsors for the Indian players’ breach of contract. Thus they have held back India’s money because of differences over cricketers’ contracts with World Cup sponsors, says IANS.

    According to the BCCI, the claims of damage by the World Cup marketing agents – Global Cricket Corporation (GCC) and World Sports Nimbus (WSN) was frivolous. It said GCC-WSN had been able to sell 97-98 per cent of television slots and they have reportedly claimed damages worth $47.34 million.

    BCCI would investigate the claims raised by GCC-WSN and also probe if they properly marketed the World Cup.

  • TV rights for Sri Lankan cricket open from next year

    TV rights for Sri Lankan cricket open from next year

    MUMBAI: The confusion over who holds the rights for cricket played in Sri Lanka has been resolved.

    The country’s cricket board, Sri Lanka Cricket, has decided to honour the agreement with Taj Television but only as far as England’s tour of the island in November is concerned. Taj’s subsidiary Ten Sports will air the matches in Asia and Europe.

    There was a three way tussle involving Sri Lanka’s cricket board, Taj Television and World Sport Nimbus (WSN) and a hearing to this effect was going on in Singapore.

    After the England tour, however, the board, which earlier this month underwent a name change to Sri Lanka Cricket (from Broad of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka), has taken the decision to start a three year agreement bidding process. This will run from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2006.

    In tandem with the change in name, a commercial arm called Sri Lanka Cricket Incorporated, was also set up to look after the business interests of the game.

    An official release issued by Sri Lanka Cricket informs that applications together with the credentials should reach its marketing director on or before 29 September. Sri Lanka Cricket intends to make the bid document available for potential bidders before 1 November.

    Taj TV’s contract was supposed to run till August 2004. Now the Bukhatir broadcaster will have to bid all over again if it wants to show the likes of South Africa and Australia, both of which have scheduled tours to the island next year.

    The broadcast rights to Sri Lankan cricket has been a bone of contention for a while now. The rights originally rested with World Sport Nimbus (WSN), in a deal that was brokered when BCCSL was headed by Thilanga Sumathipala.

    When Sumathipala was ousted from his post as BCCSL president in 2001, an interim committee under Vijaya Malalasekera terminated WSN’s contract in October 2001 citing delays in payment of dues on the part of the sports marketing company.

    The rights subsequently went to Taj TV but WSN then retaliated by filing a $ 11 million damages claim against BCCSL before a Singapore tribunal.

    Matters came to a head after Sumathipala won the presidentship of the BCCSL in elections in June this year following the board’s re-instatement and reopened negotiations with WSN.

    As regards the $11 million claim that the Singapore court was to rule on, last heard WSN had come down to $4 million, but Sumathipala was asking it be further reduced to $2.75 million. As a sop, he was reportedly offering WSN the television rights for England’s tour in November as also priority in any future television contracts with Sri Lanka Cricket.

    How the latest deal was brokered is still to be ascertained but as a result of the compromise reached with Taj TV, Sri Lanka is likely to resume their twice-a-year Sharjah tours.

    Apart from England’s tour of Sri Lanka, Taj TV owns the rights to cricket played in Pakistan, West Indies, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Sharjah and Morocco. The last two are organised by Bukhatir’s Cricketers’ Benefit Fund Series.

  • WSN claims $11m. in damages from Lanka cricket board?

    WSN claims $11m. in damages from Lanka cricket board?

    MUMBAI: If its News Corp company Global Cricket Corporation (GCC) that is claiming damages from the International Cricket Council (ICC) for non-delivery of various rights and for damage to cricket properties during the World Cup tournament, in Sri Lanka it is the former part owner of GCC that is making its own damages claims.

    World Sport Nimbus (formerly a 50 per cent stakeholder in GCC), the 50:50 JV between Harish Thawani’s Nimbus Communications and World Sport Group, has reportedly sought financial damages in the region of $ 11 million against the Sri Lanka cricket board (BCCSL).

     
    The case is a fallout of BCCSL’s early termination in October 2001 of WSN’s television broadcasting contract. As per WSN’s original contract, it held the broadcast rights for international cricket played in the Emerald Isles till November 2003. Dubai-based Taj Television, which runs Ten Sports, subsequently picked up the cricket rights for a reported guarantee fee of $13.9 million.

    These are the facts of the case: The BCCSL cancelled its three-year $27.1 million broadcasting agreement with WSN in October 2001 after complaining that WSN had “repeatedly missed payment deadlines”. The BCCSL then signed a fresh three-year deal with Taj Television valid from mid-2002 to mid-2005.

    When WSN went to court on the matter, the BCCSL obtained an injunction against WSN in Sri Lanka but the legal wrangle moved to Singapore where WSN finally obtained an injunction overruling Colombo. A Singapore tribunal has ruled that BCCSL had wrongfully terminated WSN cricket website cricinfo.com recently reported.

    The tribunal has thus far ordered the BCCSL to pay $768,667 plus legal costs of approximately $250,000 to WSN. Additionally, it has ruled that WSN is “entitled to recover from the BCCSL damages to be assessed.”

    While the hearing date has been set for September, sources close to the proceedings say that WSN is claiming $ 11 million in damages. That means that the damages bill that has been thrown at the BCCSL is over $12 million.

    And considering that the BCCSL board announced a $900,000 loss for 2002 (due primarily to the lack of inbound tours but also because of increased player salaries), the Singapore tribunal’s ruling has the potential of bankrupting the Lankan board.

    New BCCSL president Thilanga Sumathipala, who was elected by a landslide last Friday (it was BCCSL’s first election in three years), has his task cut out trying to reach a fair settlement. It was Sumathipala who negotiated the original deal with WSN in 2000.

  • WSN to do production for MAX ‘Extraaa Innings’

    MUMBAI: Sony has appointed World Sport Nimbus (WSN) to handle production on Extraaa Innings – the two-hour pre-match and one-hour post-match programming that MAX has developed for the upcoming cricket World Cup in South Africa.
    Extraaa Innings is a segment MAX introduced in September 2002 during the ICC Champions Trophy to broadbase viewership and increase the entertainment element around the cricket. And it’s entertainment with a capital “E” that WSN has been mandated to produce to showcase the 54-day “festival of cricket” that kicks off in South Africa on 8 February.
    The Sony team will closely supervise the entire production work, Peter Dempsey, of Topline Sports Vision – a division of Closeview Pte, which is overseeing Sony’s sports production, told indiantelevision.com yesterday. Dempsey was speaking on the sidelines of a media briefing in Mumbai announcing Sony’s plans for the World Cup.
    According to Dempsey, the brief given to WSN is to ensure that the cricket on show is glitzier, slicker, more palatable and more watchable during this World Cup. 
    “The Australians haven’t attempted it, neither have the English. It’s a forward-thinking, ambitious enterprise,” says Dempsey of the attempt.
    A WSN company spokeserson when contacted claimed that WSN put its best foot forward, both qualitatively and financially, when pitching for the MAX business. But the official refused to give any financial details. 


    CHARU’S ANGELS: Presenter Charu Sharma and his trio of ‘Extraaa Innings’ co-presenters Mandira, Sandhya and Maria strike a pose.
    “WSN has arguably the best cricket production team in the world, unparalleled experience in various parts of the world, a full fledged and running operation in South Africa through its wholly owned subsidiary World Sport Nimbus (SA) Pty Ltd, excellent knowledge of what makes the Indian viewer tick and the ability to mesh entertainment with cricket: all factors that it would like to believe are important to broadcasters when awarding large scale production contracts for the Indian region,” the spokesperson adds.
    Extraaa Innings programming: 


    The scenic Table Mountain in Cape Town
    Elaborating on what was involved in, Dempsey said the mammoth exercise will involve 15-20 cameras, and three placement screens within the stadium. There will be three to four camera crews travelling across South Africa. The entire activity will be coordinated from a studio in Cape Town, that has the scenic Table Mountain backdrop. The various cities (venues) such as Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Centurion, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, East London, Potchefstroom, Kimberley, Paarl, Benoni, Pietermaritzburg, Bulawayo, Harare will be showcased.
    Dempsey states that MAX has finalised the programming flow for Extraaa Innings component. The emphasis will be on providing personality-based information on cricketers; likes and dislikes; sight-seeing; cuisine; shopping; tarot-reading and celebrities. The programming team will ensure that several aspects of the lifestyles of Indian cricket team members will also be showcased on India on Tour . This is to be a daily feature, irrespective of whether India matches are scheduled or not.
    Pre-match two-hour duration: During the first hour of the pre-match programming, the focus will be on lighter aspects and entertainment, essentially for the uninitiatied viewer. In the second hour, as the show leads in towards match time, the overall pitch is directed at the purists and several cricket-related statistics, analyses and predictions will be made. Wisden will provide the statistics and analysis, Dempsey reveals.
    Post match one-hour duration: If the pre-match segment goes from light to heavy across the two hours, the post-match show does the exact opposite. The first 30-minute segment will comprise serious post-match analysis and the like. The second segment will include more of entertainment and lighter tidbits.
    Queried as to whether Sony had been dissatisfied with the work done by TWI, the television arm of IMG, which won the production contract for the Champions, Dempsey replied in the negative. It was more an issue of scale, Dempsey said. According to him, while TWI had done a satisfactory job in Sri Lanka, he believed the WSN team had the greater expertise to handle the logistics involved in covering the World Cup (54 days of cricket across three countries).
    In the case of national broadcaster Doordarshan, however, it will be done in-house. DD has slotted a one-hour pre-match segment that will be handled out of its own studios. All DD will be using is the WSN world feed for match telecast.
    Earlier this year, Doordarshan (DD) had however, awarded the television production contract for cricket matches played in India to WSN wherein the state-owned broad-caster has to pay Rs 284.6 million for cricket-related programming production between 21 February, 2002, to October 2004. WSN will have to arrange for production of 81 days of cricket.

  • “We expect to garner Rs 2.1 billion or 60% of the total ad spend on air time during the World Cup 2003” : Harish Thawani Nimbus communications chairman and MD

    “We expect to garner Rs 2.1 billion or 60% of the total ad spend on air time during the World Cup 2003” : Harish Thawani Nimbus communications chairman and MD

    He cuts an impressive figure. One of the few to have seen the potential in the sports business and made money out of it. Meet Harish Thawani, the promoter of Nimbus Communications and the co-chairman and managing director of Singapore-based World Sport Nimbus (WSN). Filled with oodles of derring-do, the tonsured Thawani did a Palace coup when he managed to acquire the rights to the cricket World Cup under the noses of larger multinationals and then resold it to Sony Entertainment Television for a humungous figure apart from limited matches rights to state owned pubcaster DD.

    Currently, his firm is in the thick of finding sponsors, partners and advertisers for the cricket matches that are being aired on DD National. An economics graduate from Mumbai University, Thawani is a mean chess player having outplayed some of the nation‘s top players.

    Oozing confidence and in a pretty usual combative mood, Thawani took time off to speak to indiantelevision.com‘s Ashwin Kotian on his company, cricket and the World Cup.

    Excerpts:

    First, ‘Let‘s Talk’ (pun intended) cricket! Who are your favourites for the finals of the World Cup 2003?
    Well, everybody is talking of an Australia-South Africa final.

    However, I would urge everyone to watch out for West Indies. A new-born West Indies without Brian Lara was one of the few teams that recently beat India in ODIs on the Indian pitches.

    But naturally, my business acumen makes me pray that the Indian team advances to the finals. After all, any incremental gains in our revenues would depend on India‘s progress.

    There is an interesting joke doing the rounds; that “Harish Thawani should have invited Saurav Ganguly and the Indian cricket team to the function on 18 December at the Taj Land‘s End Hotel in Mumbai. This would have enabled them to get the pleasure of holding the coveted World Cup trophy as it might be their only chance to do so and hog the media limelight.”

    Well, I feel that there is no need to be so pessimistic. I believe that India will definitely do well.

    What is the DD-Nimbus combine offer to the viewers?
    Amongst the four major obsessions of India: cricket, religion, films and politics, only cricket transcends caste, creed, language, social, economic and geographic boundaries.

    The hectic four-year wait has come to an end as cricket‘s mega event has become bigger and better. With spectacular timings, guaranteeing full prime time coverage and the highest ever fan following of Indian cricket, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 holds the promise of killer ratings and new audience delivery records. All this is possible on DD, the single largest audience delivery media vehicle.

    The true action and ratings lie in the ‘Big Gun‘ matches; the bulk of which are obviously India matches, key weekend matches, ‘Super Sixes‘ weekends, Semi Finals and Final.

    DD will also be airing a one hour daily highlights package throughout the 43 day tournament, apart from the Opening Ceremony and the Concert of the Official Music Album of the Cricket World Cup 2003.

    Additionally, for the first time ever the Cricket World Cup‘s broadcast on Doordarshan will be supported by a multimedia promotional campaign including Print, FM radio, outdoor, the Internet, mobile telephony, on-air promos, consumer contests etc.

    DD is taking precautions to ensure that the telecasts in the viewers homes will be of top class digital quality (DD National is also a must carry channel, hence cable operators will be forced to carry it).

    What about pre-match programming?
    The world feed will start 15 minutes prior to the first ball being bowled and Nimbus will be involved with this portion of the programming.

    DD has agreed to create 60 minutes of programming prior to the beginning of the match and 30 minutes after the match ends. The total DD-Nimbus programming will start 1:15 hours prior and will continue 30 minutes after the match ends.

    Additionally, the commentary team includes Ravi Shastri, Barry Richards, Sanjay Manjrekar, Ian Botham, Martin Crowe, Rameez Raja, Ian Healy, Michael Holding, David Gower, Ian Bishop and Bob Willis and this will ensure that the viewers stay hooked.

    However, I feel that there is no concrete evidence that substantiates the necessity of creating pre-match programming in excess of what we are planning to do. During the Champions Trophy, the pre-match programming TVRs reached a high of around 6; but the viewership was concentrated roughly around the 1-hour period prior to the match.
    “For the first time ever, the cricket World Cup‘s broadcast on DD will be supported by a multimedia promotional campaign “

    Will the preparation for the school and college exams affect viewership during the afternoons?
    Actually, February-March is a peak ‘cricket‘ period and a lot of matches are played during these months. In many places, the exams are usually slotted for April and May.

    In Mumbai, we might face a situation wherein the students might be preparing for their Board exams in March. But the beauty of our packaging is that we have got the best 16 matches. Many of the Big Gun matches involving India (or not involving India) will be telecast during the weekends.

    Even if the parents place restrictions on the viewing, it will be on watching all the 54 matches. The parents will definitely allow the youngsters to watch the important matches; namely our 16 Big Gun matches, over the weekends.

    It is possible that the weekday Big Gun matches might be affected but that is a normal trend. Even, in these cases, the zest and passion for the game might override any restrictions on viewing.
    “We have already tied in 10 major sponsors who will account for 70 percent of the total spend.”

    How does DD score over the C&S channels?
    Every match which matters from a ratings viewpoint and weekend big matches will air on DD National. The TRPs of the 16 Big Gun matches are likely to range between 11 and 15 with daily highlights attaining a 3-4 TRP.

    The cricket World Cup 1999 ratings of the Big Gun matches were 40 percent to 62 percent higher than that of even the ICC Knock Out 2000 (The ICC Knock Out was reformatted and re-named as ICC Champions Trophy from 2002

    The total GRPs for the telecasts as a whole on DD would potentially be around 320 with a cumulative gross reach on DD exceeding 2.5 billion.

    With a reach span of 80 million TV homes, Doordarshan came out a clear winner in the recently concluded ICC Championship Trophy 2002. The satellite channel showed a drop of 50 percent in viewership from India semi final to non-India semi final, whereas DD viewership remains constant. DD out-performed satellite channel by 165 percent in non-India matches. Outside of ‘Big Gun‘ matches, TVRs on satellite channel drop to a mere 1 percent.

    In fact, our estimates show that the Big Gun matches, Frequency builder matches, also-ran matches and highlights can deliver a total GRP of 320, almost 19 percent higher than the satellite channel.

    Over 20 major advertisers including Hindustan Lever , Cadburys , LG , Colgate , Godrej soaps , Kodak , Samsung , P&G , Boost , Sansui , Nirma , Balsara , Marico , Pidilite etc advertised exclusively on Doordarshan during the ICC champions Trophy 2002.

    What is the total size of the advertising pie in terms of revenues? What will be your share?
    We expect that the total size of the pie would be around Rs 3.5 billion.

    In terms of our pre-sales mapping, we had clearly identified the categories which we could target. The initial feedback is that brands in nine different categories have committed to advertise on DD.

    These nine categories are soft drinks, television, appliances and white goods, two-wheelers, lubricants, adhesives, airlines, FMCGs, banking and insurance.

    In fact, we have already tied up Rs 2.1 billion that constitutes around 60 percent of the chunk. It would not be fair on my part to announce the names right now as the agreements have to be signed. We shall be making the announcements about the advertisers (whom we have tied up) just before Christmas.

    We can accommodate only 18 or 19 advertisers. We have already tied in 10 major sponsors who will account for 70 percent of the total spend. The smaller sponsors will account for the remaining 30 percent. We have already tied-up 4,180 seconds out of the total of 6,000 seconds of advertising time available for each match.

    We have got a favourable response for more than half of the remaining time. We should be able to tie up the entire 6,000 seconds within a week..

    What does the DD-Nimbus combine offer media planners and buyers?
    For the first time ever, media planners and buyers can avail of ‘Flexi-buys‘ pick & choose your matches. They can choose a package and top it up with individual match buys. They can even specify position in matches and are not compelled to buy more.

    However, there is a limit of 500 seconds per match for each advertiser, with the exception of sponsor partners.
  • Prasar Bharati, WSN reach agreement on terms for ICC cricket telecast

    Prasar Bharati, WSN reach agreement on terms for ICC cricket telecast

    MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati has agreed to accept a third-party guarantee for minimum revenue from Nimbus Communications Ltd for the ICC cricket matches to be telecast on national broadcaster Doordarshan.

    Doordarshan has bagged the terrestrial telecast rights after negotiations with World Sport Nimbus, a joint venture between World Sport Group and Harish Thawani’s Nimbus Communications.

    Though some doubts were raised initially, the decision was taken because of the legal validity of a third party giving the bank guarantee and the top honchos of Prasar Bharati decided to accept the offer. After all a bank guarantee is a bank guarantee.

    The guaranteed payout varies depending on whether the cricket match is classified as A, B or C. But the average MG works out to between Rs 9 and 10 million. The per match MG varies between a low of Rs 7.5 million to a high of 15 million.

    As per the agreement that was signed, Nimbus Communications and not WSN will issue a bank guarantee to DD for their share of the revenues. The escrow account will be used and reciprocal jurisdiction will apply.

    However, Prasar Bharati has referred a clause of the contract between it and WSN to the I&B ministry for an opinion.

    The contract with WSN stipulates that in case of any arbitration, it will take place in London under the rules of ICC. Prasar Bharati has been insisting that any arbitration, if necessary, should be done under the Indian laws and as per the Arbitration Act of the country.

    “We have sought the ministry’s advise on the issue and whether Prasar Bharati should insist on its stand on arbitration in India as per Indian laws, or agree to the offer of having the arbitration settled in London under ICC rules and regulations,” a senior Prasar Bharati official said. The advise from I&B ministry is still awaited.

  • DD seals ICC cricket terrestrial telecast deal; WSN to handle air time sales

    DD seals ICC cricket terrestrial telecast deal; WSN to handle air time sales

    MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television, which has the cable and satellite telecast rights for all ICC cricket tournaments including the next two World Cups, has a serious fight on its hands for the advertising pie from national broadcaster Doordarshan, which has secured the terrestrial rights for the ICC World Cup cricket tournaments. 

    As per the terms of the acceptance letter that came in this evening from World Sport Nimbus on behalf of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp subsidiary Global Cricket Corporation, the GCC has reached a revenue-share agreement with Doordarshan whereby advertising revenues will be split on a 80:20 basis. This was confirmed to indiantelevision.com by a senior official of pubcaster Prasar Bharati today. The deal was actually reached last evening though. 

    World Sport Nimbus (WSN) will not only be handling marketing and ad sales for DD, it will also be the producer of all the shows that are developed around the events. As for the matches themselves, it is responsible for the technical arrangements and will produce and deliver the signal to Doordarshan at its uplinking facility. 

    Three DD channels – DD1, DD Metro and DD Sports – will be used as platforms to push the cricket. While, the actual match telecast will be on DD1, what is envisaged is programming around cricket that will run year-round but will build up in intensity as each individual tournament draws near.

    According to sources, WSN will be running vignettes and interstitials on DD1, programming through the week on DD Metro and weekend programming on DD Sports.

    One advantage (which will allow for seamless programming on match day) as far as pushing ad sales is concerned is that DD has guaranteed that all news bulletins will be shifted to DD Metro, sources say. Before each game there will be a one-hour pre-match special as well as a post-match half-hour wrap that WSN will produce.

    And in what should serve as a notice to Sony, DD has already got on board big spenders Pepsi, Hero Honda and South Korean electronics major LG as advertisers. All three are World Cup sponsors.

    It is clearly a win-win situation for DD as it has negotiated a guaranteed revenue for each of the World Cup matches it telecasts. This ranges from Rs 7.5 million for the early rounds to Rs 17.5 million for the semis and the finals. 

    The revenue-share deal between GCC and Doordarshan calls for telecast of 15-18 of the total 54 matches in each of the World Cups. These will include all India matches, the semi-finals and the finals, as well as the Super Six matches involving the best teams. In the Champions Trophy or Mini-World Cup Series, DD will telecast live 8-10 of the 15 matches. 

  • 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.