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Tag: WWE

  • WWE partners Vuclip for ‘Direct-To-Fans’ mobile service

    WWE partners Vuclip for ‘Direct-To-Fans’ mobile service

    MUMBAI: Video on demand (VOD) platform Vuclip has partnered with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to engage WWE fans in emerging markets of the world with video clips on their mobile phones. Through this partnership, Vuclip will make available WWE’s video clips on the Vuclip service in the markets of India, Africa, Middle East and South East Asia.

     

    Via this arrangement, WWE fans can stream the following mix of video clips on their mobile devices: match highlights such as Slam of the Week from both RAW and Smackdown; The Vault, a flashback to a monumental match; WWE Classics from legends of the past; and WWE Countdown which shows favourite superstars and match moments.

     

    Vuclip director and head of distribution Nikhil Naik said, “For more than three decades, WWE has been entertaining its fans across the world. With emerging markets such as India and Africa seen as ‘Mobile first’ markets, Vuclip will help pave the way for engaging WWE’s fan base in these countries along with deepening the engagement in the Middle Eastern and South East Asian markets. We are happy to offer WWE fans premium mobile entertainment in these markets.”

  • Ten Sports undisputed leader in sports TV viewership courtesy WWE

    Ten Sports undisputed leader in sports TV viewership courtesy WWE

    MUMBAI: Ten Sports has been dominating sports television ratings week after week with the only exception being when team India hits the lush green cricket field and another broadcaster is relaying it. That’s the only time when Ten Sports loses the top berth. 

    So what helps the channel garner such high ratings? In three powerful words, it’s the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

    As per S-group (an analytical arm of TAM media research) analysis, Ten Sports is the leader in the sports genre with average weekly viewership of 28 GRPs in the last four weeks. The closest competitor this week was Sony Six, which garnered half the viewership.

     

     

    Ten Sports global CEO Rajesh Sethi and his programming team are the main reason behind that. Repetitiveness is the biggest enemy of quality content, it kills the flair and develops a scenario of same programme, different day. However, the smart programming strategy of Sethi and team has successfully managed to avoid that for over a decade now.

     

    Close to 85 per cent of Ten Sports’ viewership comes from the telecast of WWE matches alone with a duration dedication of only 25 per cent.

     

     

    Sethi asserts, “Ten Sports Network has been the home of World Wrestling Entertainment in India since 2002. Over this period, WWE broadcast has evolved significantly with an increased focus to deliver quality to viewers. The broadcast delay from USA to India has completely been reduced. Ten Sports is now offering WWE RAW live in India. The initial inhibitions that the time difference will affect viewership numbers has been dispelled with very good ratings for the Live airing, which airs Tuesday mornings at 5.30 am India Time.”

     

    Ten Sports has sealed a five-year deal with WWE, which makes the fight sport their exclusive asset till 2019. Both Ten Sports and WWE came together in recent times to launch numerous on-ground initiatives to popularize the sport in India.

     

    “The new agreement between WWE and Ten Sports has seen a host of new initiatives taken by the broadcaster. New shows have been introduced with Ten Sports bringing popular show Main Event to India from January of this year. NXT, which brings the best action from upcoming WWE Superstars and Total Divas, a WWE reality show have been getting a major push from a marketing standpoint and not only existing viewers are taking to this programme but these shows are helping cater to new audiences,” adds Sethi.

     

    He further informs, “RAW and Smackdown, the established marquee shows of WWE continues to garner great ratings. With prime time airings getting ratings of almost 1 TVR, we can safely say that WWE has established itself as a leader in sports entertainment. These numbers are second only to LIVE India Cricket and WWE is closing this gap as well. Ten Sports reaches around 150 million households across the Indian sub-continent and garnering such ratings in a very diverse and unique market like India for an American product like the WWE speaks volumes to what Ten Sports has done over time to making this product acceptable at first to an Indian to now becoming a part of the viewer’s habit.”

     

    Ten Sports has started offering these flagship shows in shorter versions, including a customized one hour RAW programme called RAW Sunday Dhamaal.

     

    RAW Sunday Dhamaal is positioned as a weekend premier show with a local flavour tailor-made for the Indian audience. There has been a new studio designed solely for the show with popular faces anchoring the show. Bollywood is a religion in India and Raw Sunday Dhamaal has consistently been using Bollywood and top celebrities to engage fans and add a new flavour to the shows. This marriage between WWE and Bollywood has seen celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor in the RAW Sunday Dhamaal studios. WWE Superstar and 2015 Money In The Bank winner, Sheamus will also make an appearance on RAW Sunday Dhamaal soon.

     

    “WWE in other languages and a push on digital platforms is also priority for Ten Sports. Smackdown has launched in Hindi and this weekend airing is being well accepted by new viewers. With India being such a diverse market, Ten Sports is targeting a specific territory by territory approach to launching shows in different languages. Ten Sports and Zee Group, whose channels have a presence across 650 million households across the world will use group regional channels and will in due course, broadcast more WWE shows across multiple languages creating an increased affinity towards WWE. This approach will take WWE to the hinterlands wooing a new, non-traditional viewer base. On the digital front, VOD offerings on tensports.com along with leveraging social media from increased interaction and engagement with fans are the priority areas,” he informs.

     

    Fans selected through contests have been rewarded with the opportunity to not only interact with WWE superstars and divas but travel to watch WWE LIVE events across the globe.

     

    Further, as per the analysis carried out below, the viewership coming from WWE matches has been on an increasing trend for the past four years. From 5.7 GRPs in 2012, WWE obtains 9.2 GRPs per week in 2015. This analysis has been done for every 1000 minutes of WWE telecast so as to normalize the duration factor.

     

     

    The ad rate of a 10-second slot during normal WWE programming fluctuate between Rs 60,000 – 80,000 while for a Wrestlemania or Summerslam sometimes it touches Rs 1 lakh mark too informs a source closely dealing with WWE’s media planning.

     

    Baseline director & co-founder R Ramakrishnan feels that WWE is here to grow. “WWE is an evolving property, not only television viewership but licensing and merchandising will also grow. Live events will play a vital role in the growth. We saw Big Shaw and John Cena travelling to India and both Ten Sports and WWE will endeavor in launching several new initiatives. Credit must be given to Ten Sports for smartly handling the property over the years,” he opines.

     

    WWE is one of the very few American sports, which is widely spoken about in India. Kids start with WWE card games and then gradually with age change to Playstation and X-box. After United States and United Kingdom, India is the largest market for WWE. Khali’s induction in the sport has already raised the bar and got more people talking about the sport India.

     

    Overall World Wrestling Entertainment has a lot of room for growth and Ten Sports will certainly leave no stones unturned to generate as much revenue as they can from the sport.

  • WWE surpasses half a billion social media followers

    WWE surpasses half a billion social media followers

    MUMBAI: WWE has eclipsed half a billion fans through its global social media platforms, further cementing its position as one of the most-followed brands in the world.

     

    WWE’s Facebook page has more fans than the NFL, ESPN, Marvel, Google and UFC, and WWE superstar John Cena is the No.1 most followed active American athlete on Facebook with more than 36 million likes.

     

    On Twitter, @WWE has more followers than MLB, Disney, Sony and Pepsi and according to Klout, is the No. 1 most influential brand on Twitter. 

     

    On Instagram, WWE’s fastest-growing platform, @WWE has more followers than ESPN, HBO, NHL and Gatorade. With nearly five billion video views on YouTube in the past year alone, WWE is the No. 1 Sports channel ahead of the NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, ESPN and NASCAR.

     

    WWE’s Social Media Snapshot:

    • Facebook: 354 million total likes, including 98 million new likes, an increase of 38 per cent year-over year.

    • Twitter: 108 million total followers, including 18 million new followers, an increase of 20 per cent year-over-year.

    • Instagram: 26 million total followers, including 25 million new followers, an increase of 2,955 per cent year-over-year.

    • YouTube: 6.2 million total subscribers, including 2.8 million new subscribers, an increase of 82 per cent year-over-year.

     

    Earlier this year, WWE won awards for Overall Social Media Excellence and Social Media Dream Team at the 2015 Cynopsis Sports Media Awards and 2015 Cablefax Digital Awards, respectively. WWE’s 12 social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Periscope, Google+, Vine, Foursquare, Tumblr, Pheed and Pinterest.

  • Pakistan Cricket Board renews deal with Ten Sports for next five years

    Pakistan Cricket Board renews deal with Ten Sports for next five years

    MUMBAI: The Board of Governors from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have approved awarding broadcasting rights to Ten Sports and Pakistan Television, the joint-bidders for PCB’s next rights cycle for five years.

     

    Ten Sports had previously bagged five-year cricket rights from PCB in 2008 reportedly for $140.5 million dollars. The current cycle of rights begins from April 2015 to early 2020. Ten Sports has been the rights holder for PCB for the last 10 years.

     

    The package will also include India versus Pakistan matches, besides some other strong matches. According to information available with Indiantelevision.com, among those bidding for the rights for this cycle were Sony and OSN Sports, apart from a few brokering companies. 

     

    As part of the arrangement, India and Pakistan matches are scheduled for the latter half of this year around November-December 2015, subject to government approvals from both sides.

     

    When contacted, Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi said, “Ten Sports is a market leader in the sports segment in Pakistan. When it comes to cricket, we have a great partnership with PTV as they are our valued partners. Besides cricket, Moto GP and WWE too are very strong properties that are performing well in Pakistan.”

  • Ten Sports to bring MotoGP to India; introduce new racing league

    Ten Sports to bring MotoGP to India; introduce new racing league

    MUMBAI: The avenue for non-cricket sports properties like kabaddi, tennis, wrestling, and football, which saw a great start last year is set to grow bigger. The newest entrant is the niche sport Moto Grand Prix popularly known as Moto GP.  

     

    According to sources, Ten Sports has inked a five year deal with the sports property. Previously, Moto GP was a non exclusive property shared by three sports networks; Star India, Neo Sports and Ten Sports. But with the new deal coming in place and the two partners reaching a fine print, Ten Sports has gained an exclusive deal with Moto GP beginning from 1 February 2015.

     

    If multiple sources are to be believed, there will also be a set of new programming and races wrapped around it including studio produced shows to propel the sport’s popularity in India. What’s more, the network is also looking to foray into introducing a new racing league in the country.

     

    When contacted, Ten Sports officials denied the development. 

     

    On the other hand, the network is in a celebratory mood with the success of another property-World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). “The response has been fantastic as we have reached out to a mass audience via Facebook, Twitter Google Hangouts etc. When India was playing against Australia in Oz and we declaring we were going live with RAW, we were trending much above India playing with Australia on Twitter,” says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi. Ten Sports had decided to go live with flagship properties like RAW and specials like Royal Rumble during the early morning slot at 6:30 am. 

     

    “We thought we were not going to do well but received more than 900 emails with regards to it. I am happy the way our ad revenues are shaping too,” adds Sethi.

     

    The network is also looking at the prospect of airing WWE in regional languages. Besides, with the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and the network having the rights of Pakistan cricket, it is busy promoting the mega event in the neighbouring country and will be announcing its plans soon.

  • WWE adds 25% ad revenue growth for Ten Sports

    WWE adds 25% ad revenue growth for Ten Sports

    MUMBAI: “In the last quarter, we saw 25 per cent growth in ad revenue from WWE,” says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi while adding, “We are expecting this to jump higher by at least 50 per cent in the next calendar year with our fresh content and programming lineup.”

     

    The network in the last quarter has added four new advertisers from FMCG and e-commerce sector, who have previously not advertised with WWE.

     

    The optimistic note comes as Ten Sports gears itself to launch the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in a new avatar for Indian audiences, next year. Properties like RAW and specials will simulcast from USA on Ten Sports, beginning January 2015.

     

    Explaining the reason behind doing so even though the programme will be aired as early as 5:30-6:00 am, Sethi says, “We are trying to kill the time gap of 72 hours that exists today and move as close as possible towards live feed. Secondly, this will also help kill digital piracy which we want to curtail.”

     

    The network with this move wants to provide flexibility and opportunity for fans to watch WWE as close as possible.  To avoid being affected by ratings, the channel will have repeats of the show through the week. It will also air the repeat telecast of RAW with Hindi commentary. As it sees the Hindi feed as a value addition to the property. “WWE is a property that has deep penetration in the Indian hinterlands and is not confined to tier I and tier II cities. To further expand our base and coverage of WWE, we are going ahead with the Hindi feed for some programmes and after measuring the response, might get into other regional languages also,” he adds.

     

    The lineup of WWE has been changing from the  last three to four months as fictional aspects are being brought in, which is where female audience share been able to connect better to the property. “In addition, we have the young people who are our captive audiences.  DIVA, aired in the evening, has a huge segment attached to it. We are summing up together different segments rather than just the teenage segment,” Sethi informs.  According to Sethi audiences from the age group of seven to seventy can connect to the property. A customised special show with local connect will be seen on the network soon while to attract kids, animated snippets revolving around WWE will be aired.

    A live on-ground event too is being planned for the next year between October and November, which will have WWE superstars performing live in India.

    The channel head also plans to have VoD on its digital channel in the year ahead.

     

  • Ten Sports to have WWE Hindi feed starting January 2015

    Ten Sports to have WWE Hindi feed starting January 2015

    MUMBAI: World Wrestling Entertainment popularly known as WWE is set to further grow as a sports property and find a new flavour in India.  Taking a leap, the network Ten Sports has decided to provide language commentary in Hindi for the repeat telecast of RAW. A special customised show is also being introduced which will be in Hinglish produced out of a studio. Another programme, the Main Event will be introduced for the first time in India, which will be a combined package of RAW and Smackdown.

    According to sources, established flagship properties like RAW and specials will have a live simulcast on Ten Sports as from USA, beginning January 2015.  The timings for these programmes will be between 5:30 am to 6 am.  Not to be deterred by ratings, the network will telecast repeats of the show.

    The development comes in the wake of Taj TV and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) signing a new agreement in September 2014, as per which starting January 2015, WWE will be available exclusively on the Ten Sports Network, for a further five years till 2019.

    WWE has been broadcast on Ten Sports since the launch of the channel in 2002. WWE together with Ten Sports will be investing little over $100 million in the Indian market as part of the new agreement.

    Ten Sports which is looking at a major revamp early next year, also has acquired the Indian sub-continent broadcast rights for the 2018 Common Wealth Games to be held in Gold Coast Australia. The network has a bouquet of premium football properties from across the globe including UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League among others.

     

  • WWE: Ready to wrestle it out

    WWE: Ready to wrestle it out

    MUMBAI:  If you grew up in the 90s then you would clearly remember the greatest moment of WWE’s attitude era. That day, Stone Cold, arguably the most known face of the time, drove a beer truck straight into the arena where wrestler The Rock, WWE (then known as WWF) chairman Vince MacMohan and his son Shane were busy shooting a promo. The tension between Cold and MacMohan was known but what he did that day left fans spellbound. Cold left the three drenched as he sprayed them with tones of beer leaving them as well as audiences stumped.  

    The period also had the likes of The Undertaker, Triple H, Chris Jericho and the New Age Outlaws, who were household names. When not on screens, these names came alive through trading cards that kids, especially teenagers, invested their pocket money in.

    Fans will definitely remember the animosity shared by the Cain and Abel; The Undertaker and his half brother Kane. The matches were not just mere fights, but spectacles of rivalry clubbed with excellent storylines, metallic music entrances, blazing fire and aerial stunts, all for the ultimate Championship belt that signified attitude, glory and honour.

    ‘If you smell what the Rock is cooking’ wasn’t a kitchen related term at all but the most memorable catchphrase of The Rock, which was on everyone’s lips.

    In India however, as other sporting leagues came into being and with GECs serving a variety of shows, it didn’t take much time for the WWE mania to phase out. Over the years, terms like chokeslam, brainbuster, piledriver lost their charm.

    The early 2000s did see little spurts of excitement and mentions when India saw the debut of The Great Khali on WWE television on Smackdown, pitted against the Undertaker in 2006.

    WWE programming is broadcast in more than 150 countries and 35 languages and reaches more than 600 million homes worldwide. In terms of global viewership, India is ranked third after the US and UK reaching 140 million viewers a year.

    The fresh five year deal with the wrestling body to air WWE matches on Ten Sports has been pegged at close to $100 million and will see investments in multiple forms to grow the WWE ecosystem in India.

    While other broadcasters had shown a keen interest in acquiring the property, WWE India general manager Rukn Kizilbash says, “We can’t imagine another partner. There were others who were interested since WWE is a hot property but ultimately the best choice was Ten Sports.”

    He informs that specials like Wrestlemania alone receive 2.5 million viewers per airing.

    Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi proudly says, “Monthly specials including Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series have seen its popularity increasing among viewers in India. Specials along with the weekly RAW show will for the first time be carried live in India on the network with the new deal and will also include the popular Main Event.”

    The channel has taken a step forward as it will air content in multiple Indian languages and will also have live events probably like the GrandSlam being held in India.

    As for the WWE licensed products, which are created by more than 130 licensees worldwide and available at major retailers like Kmart, Walmart, GameStop, Tesco, Ackermans etc abroad, in India Kizilbash says licensing is still in a very nascent stage. He informs that their licensing agent in India is Dream Theatre and Pro Line, its apparel partner will be launching its collection next month.

    WWE India also has plans of coming up with stand alone WWE stores in India in a year or two.

    “WWE products are available in product categories for kids and adults but our focus is on kids. These products include lunchboxes, schoolbags, backpacks, playing and trading cards, video games etc. But the toy Mattel figures are our basic staple merchandise” says Kizilbash. Since 2010, global toy company Mattel has been WWE’s master partner in the toy category and for the third consecutive year in 2013 saw WWE ranked as the number two action figure brand in the US (NPD January 2013 – December 2013) says the website of WWE. While counterfeits products are a challenge to WWE, the publicly traded company has a strong legal team, based in the US which looks after the same.

    While games like Super Mario and the joystick enthralled kids of the 1990s, WWE games have entertained kids in India too. Now, it is launching the much awaited video game WWE 2K15 which will be launched worldwide on 31 October 2014. E-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon in India have currently priced it at Rs 2,499.

    To promote the sport in India, WWE recently got superstar and Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett better known as Bad News Barrett to the country. Ten Sports also organised a special visit of another superstar ‘Big Show’ at New Delhi and Mumbai earlier in the year. These visits are part of the deal between the two partners and will see similar promotional tours.

    Group M ESP national director- entertainment sports and live events Vinit Karnik says it is not difficult to host on ground events in India once the necessary approvals like security and crowd management have been taken care of.

    WWE is set to grow in India due to a growing younger population and an increased spending power of consumers. “WWE as a premium property has a massive fan base in India especially among kids” he adds.

    With a blueprint in front, the sport is all set to make a comeback and thrill the Indian youth, once again.

  • Ten Sports signs mega five year deal with WWE

    Ten Sports signs mega five year deal with WWE

    MUMBAI: One of India’s premier sports broadcaster, Ten Sports today signed a five year deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).  The five year deal is slated to begin from 2015 to early 2020.

     

    According to sources, the matches will have now have multiple language broadcasts.  Not only that, fans will be able to watch live, the on ground events in India, which may include Grand Slam.

     

    Detailed announcements are expected in a few days.

     

    Ten Sports which is looking at major revamp early next year, also has acquired the Indian sub-continent broadcast rights for the 2018 Common Wealth Games to be held in Gold Coast Australia.

     

    The network has a bouquet of premium football properties from across the globe including UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Copa Del Rey, French League, A-League, Capital One Cup, German Cup, Copa Italia, Skybet Championship and Club TV programming of leading European Clubs.