AsiaSat 7 replaces the ageing AsiaSat 3S today

MUMBAI: In early October 2010, Asian satellite service provider, AsiaSat, and International Launch Services (ILS) had announced a contract for the launch of the AsiaSat 7 satellite on an ILS Proton.

AsiaSat 7 was configured as a replacement satellite for AsiaSat 3S, one of AsiaSat‘s flagship satellites, operating at the orbital location of 105.5°E. AsiaSat 7 will carry 28 C-band and 17 Ku-band transponders, and a Ka-band payload. Its region-wide high power C-band beam covers Asia, the Middle East, Australasia and Central Asia, with Ku-band beams serving East Asia, South Asia and a steerable Ku beam.

According to plan, the AsiaSat 7 satellite was successfully launched in Hong Kong on November 26, 2011, on an ILS Proton Breeze M launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Nine hours and 13 minutes after lift-off, AsiaSat 7 successfully separated from the launch vehicle. Over the next few days, the satellite will arrive at the geostationary orbit, some 36,000 km above the Equator.sia

“With AsiaSat 7 successfully launched well ahead of the planned date for AsiaSat 3S‘s replacement, we can assure continuity of service to customers, while at the same time, adding to our on-orbit capacity to service new business,” said AsiaSat president, CEO William Wade, in a press statement earlier. “With this launch opportunity on the ILS Proton, we are continuing our replacement strategy to provide continuity of services to our current and potential new customers across Asia, Middle East, CIS and Australasia. We know that we can count on the professionalism of ILS and Khrunichev for a successful launch for AsiaSat 7.”

While AsiaSat 3S was launched on March 21, 1999, as a replacement for the ageing AsiaSat 1 in May of that year, AsiaSat 7 marked the launch of the fourth AsiaSat satellite on ILS Proton, the 20th Space Systems/Loral Satellite launched on ILS Proton, and the 69th ILS Proton launch overall.

AsiaSat 7 is similar to AsiaSat 3S, and has been designed with a 15-year design life and will offer enhanced power and coverage at orbital location 105.5°E.

As for AsiaSat 3S, it currently beams some of the popular channels in India which include: Zee TV, Star Plus, Star Utsav, Sahara One, Sahara Filmy, Sahara Firangi, Sahara Samay, 9X Media, 9X Jalwa, Big RTL Thrill, Big Magic, Big CBS Spark, B4U Movies, B4U Music and ETC Bollywood, among others.

AsiaSat’s business continues to be affected by The Finance Act passed in India in May 2012. The Act taxes revenue generated from the provision of satellite transponder capacity to Indian customers and any non-Indian customers considered to have earned income from any business or source in India.

The Indian government approved in its budget an increase of the royalty withholding tax rate from 10 per cent to 25 per cent, effective from 1 April 2013. Nevertheless, as stated in previous reports, the amount of AsiaSat’s revenue considered to be Indian sourced, and thus taxable in India, is still under discussion as of the date of this report. The increase in the tax rate will have a negative impact on its future business, and to remain competitive in the market, AsiaSat may make pricing adjustments which could negatively impact its margins in the coming financial year.

In other major announcements by AsiaSat, the company indicated in its operational highlights for the financial year 2014-15 that two of its other satellites, AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8, are on schedule and will launch in mid-2014 to provide new C and Ku-band capacity for business growth. Also, the commencement of the preliminary design phase for AsiaSat 9, the replacement for AsiaSat 4 in 2017, will provide new coverage and services at 122ºE.

AsiaSat chairman Sherwood P. Dodge said in a company statement: “Acquiring new business in 2014 will remain a top priority. Our expanding satellite fleet and reputation for providing quality and reliable satellite capacity, together with our commitment to our customers puts us in an excellent position to develop new business opportunities. The market remains highly competitive, but I believe our able management team and our high-quality services will enable us to move the business forward in 2014.”

The Indian ‘Paisa’ League

What began as a fledgling franchise in 2008 is today a world-renowned property with brand value pegged at $3.03 billion in 2013 and the highest at $4.13 billion in 2010.
 
The Indian Premier League (IPL) - the fallout of an altercation between the board of control for cricket in India (BCCI) and the now-defunct Indian Cricket League (ICL) - has transformed cricket into an enterprise.
 
An American Appraisal India report - based on a survey of 300 key participants of the IPL ecosystem including team managements, sponsors, advertisers, advertising agencies and broadcasters - found 57 per cent of the respondents saying that their advertising budgets towards IPL had either risen or remained constant over the last five years. Whereas only 14 per cent of the respondents said they had actually cut their ad spends on IPL over the past five years. Over 52 per cent of the respondents also said that franchise-led sponsorships could be between Rs 15 crore to Rs 75 crore per season.
 
According to the report, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have emerged as the most powerful brands valued at $72 million each, followed by Kolkata Knight Riders ($69 million), and Royal Challengers Bangalore ($51 million). Rajasthan Royals ($45 million) and Delhi Daredevils ($40 million) are somewhere in the middle, with Kings XI Punjab ($32 million) and Sunrisers Hyderabad ($25 million) at the bottom of the pile.
 
While each team is trying to claw its way back with operational improvements, trust flows with stakeholders will eventually determine the health of IPL’s long-term liquidity and profitability. For the current eight teams to sustain, their short-term operational movements need to be aligned with their strategic plans for the tourney.
 
Further, the report estimates the merchandising valuation of IPL at $40 million, as compared to $2 billion for Spain’s La Liga. Despite having a population which is 25 times larger and an economy which is at least 25 per cent larger than that of Spain, India’s IPL is only two per cent of Spain’s La Liga in terms of merchandising. The reason is piracy and the availability of counterfeit products apart from the fact that the prices of original IPL merchandise are quite high from an Indian point of view.
 
While there is a huge potential for the merchandising market to grow, the report also predicts it will grow ten-fold by 2020 - from $40 million to $400 million.
 
Coming to broadcasters in the IPL universe, the tourney is currently in its seventh edition and will continue its long-standing association with Multi Screen Media (MSM), the official broadcaster of IPL, after Sony coughed up nearly $1 billion for a period of 10 years in 2008. Between 2008 and 2012, DLF was the sponsoring partner ($50 million) while from 2013 to 2017; Pepsi won the title sponsorship for a bid of nearly $66.5 million, beating its closest rival in Airtel.
 
For the seventh edition, MSM’s two channels - Sony Max and Sony Six - have already started their Pepsi IPL campaign. The network is reportedly hiking its ad rates by 15-20 per cent and expects the revenue generated to be anywhere between Rs 900 - Rs 950 crore, despite the reduction in the number of matches played from 76 to 60. The broadcaster is learnt to have floated rates in the range of Rs 4.75- Rs 5 lakh per 10-second spots, and expects to increase them as the tourney gathers momentum.
 
As far as viewers go, IPL’s reach was pegged at over 200 million viewers in 2013, as against about 163 million viewers in 2012. The total viewership in 2013 has been 2.6 per cent, up from the 2.2 per cent in 2012. Correspondingly, MSM earned Rs 750 crore in ad revenues in 2012 and upped it to Rs 950 crore in 2013, according to FICCI KPMG 2014.

SET launches Pepsi IPL’s ‘Come On, Bulaava Aaya Hai’ campaign

MUMBAI: The IPL fever is set to grip the cricketing world once again beginning 16 April 2014 and this time around the first half it is set to kick-off in the UAE.

The first phase of Indian Premier League (IPL) matches will be played in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

The official broadcasters of the IPL - Sony Max and Sony Six - have announced their big ticket marketing campaign for the Pepsi IPL 2014 coined ‘Come On, BulaavaAayaHai’.

The broadcaster claims that the campaign is inspired from the fact that Pepsi IPL is the biggest cricketing extravaganza in the world. The word ‘Bulaava’ connotes the ‘calling’ with the main premise that the year’s most awaited and anticipated cricketing event has finally arrived and there is no way anyone would want to miss it.

Talking about the upcoming season of the Pepsi IPL 2014, Sony Max EVP and business head Neeraj Vyas said in a statement: “In India, nothing supersedes the passion for cricket and during the IPL, that passion rises to an all-time crescendo. That is where we draw our latest campaign ‘Come On, BulaavaAayaHai’ emphasising that irrespective of anything that takes place in your life, the calling for the IPL will always reign supreme. This enthralling campaign coupled with world class talent on display is sure to entertain our viewers through this edition of IPL.”

The campaign kicksoff with a series of four films set in diverse situations of different people’s life reaching a crescendo with three surprise films and culminating into a final Bulaava film. Be it a runaway bride drawn to the call of the IPL bugle, a son by the side of his ill mother or a priest struggling to free a woman possessed with a spirit, all films have the essence of the key nuance of IPL ‘Bulaava’, prompting people to literally drop everything to watch Pepsi IPL.

Speaking about the campaign, Sony Max VP marketing and communications Vaishali Sharma added, “IPL entices people across age groups, gender and languages. This year’s campaign “Come On, BulaavaAayaHai’ is a unique thought that stems from the insight of how the passion of IPL overtakes every aspect of these different people’s lives highlighting their hunger for the tournament and eventually creating a huge national frenzy”.

The marketing campaign jingle is one of the most awaited elements of this striking tournament. After the splendid response and adulation of last year’s jingle, Max has once again roped in the musical duo Vishal and Shekhar. Basing on the campaign theme, the duo has come up with yet another catchy song. The broadcasters feel the jingle is sure to be a mega hit and will set the nation grooving to the tunes.

The entire campaign is the brainchild of the creative agency Havas Worldwide and has been directed and filmed by noted ad film director Rajesh Saathi of Keroscene Films.

On the association with Max on the films Havas Worldwide ECD Vivek Rao stated: “The campaign idea of 'Come on, BulaavaAayaHai' is played on a simple truth - no other property provides more action, more entertainment or more opportunity whether you're a viewer or a player. So no matter what calling you have, it's the call of the IPL that's more irresistible. After last year’s campaign, we needed something that would entertain as well as move the IPL brand forward. This seemed instinctively right.”

Stretching across a four week period till the launch of the tournament, the Pepsi IPL 2014 campaign will have a complete 360 degree rollout across mass media. Starting with the campaign films on television, the communication will be seen by viewers across mediums like television, print, radio, digital, outdoor, onground, mobile, BTL and out of home. The campaign can also be viewed on www.SonyLIV.com, the online home of Sony Entertainment Network.