MSM unleashes high voltage plans for IPL season 8

MUMBAI: India is pumped up as cricket mania of another kind is all set to take the entire country by storm just as Chris Gayle’s massive sixes. As India Ka Tyohaar, the Indian Premier League (IPL) welcomes Indians in its eighth season, official broadcast network Multi Screen Media (MSM) is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that India’s hot selling multimillion dollar property reaches audiences across the length and breadth of the country.

MSM's newly launched channel Sony Kix will carry Tamil and Telugu feeds, Sony Six will have the English feed, while Max and Sony Aath will have Hindi and Bengali feeds respectively.

“Our flagship show Extraaa Innings will continue this year as well. It will be a pre-show, mid-show and post analysis of the match that will be common across feeds. Our marketing plans involve a nationwide campaign focused on a 360 degree plan, right from radio, print, television as well as outdoor. Along with the BCCI, we will have mass scale screenings in 16 cities with 10,000 odd capacities,” informs Sony Six and Kix business head Prasana Krishnan.

The commentators for the Telugu feed will be Venugopal Rao, Venkatpathy Raju, and MSK Prasad, while for the Bengali feed it will be Arun Lal, Devdas Gupta, Abhishek Jhunjunwala, Devang Gandhi, Savadun Mukherjee and Ranade Bose. On the other hand S Ramesh, Hemang Bhadani, V Chandrashekhar, Satyanarayan, and S Srinivas will be the match commentators for the Tamil feed.

The network is clearly betting big on outdoor to reach a wider range of audience. Throwing light on the marketing activations, Max marketing head Vaishali Sharma says, “Apart from mass media, we will come up with clutter breaking innovations. We have already started a countdown ticker at Juhu beach in Mumbai along with LED lights and it will continue till 8 April. Fireworks display will start before the opening match.”

Sharma also informs that LED projections along with the IPL logo and fireworks will be displayed on prominent buildings as projector vans move across Mumbai.

“We will also project our TVCs keeping in mind India Ka Tyohaar and it will continue for a couple of days. Something similar has also been planned in Kolkata besides Mumbai since the games begin there,” adds Sharma.

Speaking about the plan to stage screenings in 16 cities, Sharma opines that the concept is completely new to the country. People who do not have a chance to visit the stadiums will be able to experience the magnitude of the games and the in-stadia experience. A huge outdoor hoarding has also been displayed near Hotel Tulip Star Juhu in the western suburbs of Mumbai. Accompanying this hoarding is a photo booth where people can go and click pictures as India rejoices in an all new season of the IPL. 

“Canters will move across the city creating a high amount of buzz of dhol baaja announcing and encouraging people to come and visit these venues. The entry is free and people can come and cheer together,” says Sharma.

Sharma also adds confidently that year on year the network has increased its audience base and already has a cumulative viewership of 190 million so far. “It’s only going to go up further with the addition of all the language feeds we have launched this year besides the great season we have this year,” concludes Sharma. 

The tournament will feature a total of 60 matches, including the live telecast of the opening ceremony on 7 April, the home and away matches between the franchises, the qualifying playoffs and the finals. The knockout stage will be from 19 – 22 May and conclude with the final match on 24 May, 2015. As MSM bets big on this season of the IPL, we wish it all the very best.

BCCI to launch workshop for match officials before IPL

MUMBAI: Twenty six match officials, which includes umpires and referees, will participate in a two-day workshop organised by the BCCI in preparation of the upcoming Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) season. 
 
The Umpires and Match Officials Workshop will be conducted by Simon Taufel, a former member of the ICC Elite Umpire Panel, five-time winner of the ICC Umpire of the Year Award, and presently the ICC umpire performance and training manager. 
 
The workshop, now in its third year, is an ongoing initiative as part of the BCCI Match Officials development programme. 
 
With 60 matches scheduled, the Pepsi IPL will provide an opportunity for top Indian match officials and this workshop will prepare them for the eighth editing of the IPL.
 
The Pepsi IPL 2015 season will see 26 match officials, 13 Indian umpires and four match referees, who will be officiating throughout the tournament.
 
A wide range of topics, which involve the match officials in the conduct of the game will be covered during the workshop, from clothing regulations, to on-field player behavior and the overall playing conditions.
 
Taufel will travel with the Match Officials team during the initial part of the tournament to the various venues. 
 
The workshop will be held at the Cricket Centre Mumbai on 4 and 5 April, 2015.
 

Special Report | Five Reasons Why Hotstar is Hot

Special Report |

Five Reasons Why Hotstar is Hot

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With 10 million users in just 40 days, it set a benchmark in the digital space. In a record time span, Hotstar the new app from the Star India network, catapulted the audience's attention and is showing continued signs of growth.

While VOD platforms are being selective in drawing up their content map, Hotstar has opened its large library for users, that too in regional languages. With smartphones increasingly altering the consumption landscape in the country, Indiantelevision.com gives you five reasons why this is a must have app for your phones.

News Headline | Hot Star takes to cinema advertising to reach younger TG : Feb ’15 CAM report

Hot Star takes to cinema advertising to reach younger TG : Feb ’15 CAM report.

MUMBAI: Being the newest entrant on the bloc, Star India’s digital baby Hot Star has managed to create the necessary buzz around it. The digital app, in a bid to reach a wider segment of young audiences, has chosen cinema advertising as part of its mega marketing campaign. 
 
Using the movie Roy as a case study, the CAM report for the month of February 2015 found that out of the 200 screens, they were present in 32 per cent of the screens, which is close to 65 screens. "This number is more than the category that four wheeler and mobile phones undertake for their campaigns," said Interactive Television CEO Ajay Mehta.
 
According to industry experts and estimates, Hot Star undertook cinema advertising because of the demographics to reach out effectively to their TG i.e young audiences. The campaign for cinema advertising undertaken across the eight metros could have cost Star India close to Rs 50 - 70 lakhs. Such campaigns are usually undertaken for a period of four weeks. In the past, apps such as Free Charge, Viber and Hike have used cinema advertising extensively in similar patterns. 
 
The report also found that during the same period, a total of 297 brands were active. Banking and Finance have emerged as the top category spending with State Bank of India topping the list. F&B followed with beauty and Personal care coming third in the hierarchy. 
 
“There has been a three per cent increase in the number of brands active on cinema with the movie Roy in February 2015 round as compared to the earlier round,” adds Mehta.
 
There has also been a major increase in spending of clothing/apparels category from 45 per cent in January 2015 to 79 per cent in February 2015. The automobile category has increased from 34 per cent to 57 per cent during the same period. Online portals too increased their spending from 21 per cent to 48 per cent for the same period. Choc On has the highest recall with 24 per cent present in 152 screens followed by Syska LED with 20 per cent present in 136 screens.

MSM's Rohit Gupta bullish on IPL; 95% ad inventory sold.

MUMBAI: The “We won’t give it back” mantra didn't work, unwillingly though India had to give the cricket World Cup back as Australia defeated New Zealand in the finals to clinch the title. The ICC Cricket World Cup may be over but the cricket fever is far from over. The mania is set to unleash with the India Ka Tyohaar (India’s festival) - Indian Premier League (IPL) just around the corner.
 
Multi Screen Media (MSM), the official broadcaster of the flagship tournament, is leaving no stone unturned in order to ensure that the eighth edition is bigger and better. The channel has lined up multiple innovations to take the level a notch higher and produce an allusive presentation for both viewers and advertisers.
 
Sony, in association with BCCI, will project matches in huge screens in cities not hosting live matches to enhance ground awareness. This innovation will rope in more opportunities to local advertisers to use IPL as a platform to promote themselves and also fans will get an exclusive opportunity to witness the extravaganza at a mass gathering.
 
Multilingual feed is the other innovation that Sony has in store for the flagship tournament. IPL will be aired in English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Telegu across various Sony channels. It must be noted that Star followed the same policy during the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup. 
 
Talking about the various innovations, MSM president Rohit Gupta said, “IPL 2015 is going to be bigger and better. Our association with BCCI will enable people to see match in big screens across various cities. And the multilingual feed is something that Sony has done before too. The FIFA World Cup matches were showcased in numerous languages.”   
 
“With 11 sponsors, we have sold 95 per cent of our ad inventory and this is the first time that we have managed to garner such a response before the start of the tournament. All the matches are played in prime time and fans don’t need to wait for a week time to witness a close encounter,” adds Gupta.
 
Many new brands have joined IPL as sponsors and a few elevated themselves across different categories. IPL, besides all the controversies, is still a destination for advertisers to endorse, as the viewership is always in ascending order.
 
Helios media managing director Divya Radhakrishnan said, “IPL is a much safer option for advertisers as all the matches are highly poised and the audience loves it. In IPL you don’t need to wait for an India match and all the Indian players are playing in different teams, which makes every match equally important for fans and hence advertisers like the tournament when it comes to promoting their brand.”
 
“The way the Indian team played in the World Cup (especially after a forgetful Test and ODI with Australia), is very encouraging. Am sure IPL will perform well and advertisers will be happy. IPL, over the years, has become a marketing campaign in itself for brands. Brands plan their campaigns keeping the IPL in mind. Whether it is being associated with teams (as sponsors) or through on-air spots, brands are using IPL smartly and will continue to do so,” asserted Maxus ESP client leader Jigar Rambhia.

Special Report |

Star Sports-Sony spar over World Cup, IPL performances

MUMBAI: Even as the national sides are battling it out on the pitches in Australia-New Zealand to decide who will take home the World Cup in the quarter final stage, a behind the scenes slugfest is taking place between two rival broadcasters, which have both laid big bets on the sport. We are referring to Star India and Multi Screen Media (which runs the Sony Entertainment Television network in India).

The former is telecasting the World Cup and has the rights to India cricket internationally, while the latter is gearing up to telecast the cricket league – the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the next two months, apart from Euro 2016 qualifiers, FIFA International friendlies and various Fight sports. At stake is close to Rs 4,500 crore that is likely to be spent by advertisers on sports television this year. Of this ginormous pie, approximately Rs 2000-2,200 crore is estimated to be spent on the World Cup and IPL. It’s no wonder then that the two are resorting to sledging within the confines of advertisers’ and media agencies’ cabins and to journos.

Star India began its World Cup innings just about three weeks ago - rather shakily. A Sony spokesperson reveals that the Star ad sales team had just about managed to raise Rs 100 -150 crore or so in ad and sponsorship deals before the once-in-four-years tourney began. “They were really desperate,” he says. “India were performing abysmally on their tour overseas.”

The Star spokesperson is quick to respond, “In the first two weeks only, the advertiser as well as sponsor count for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was 50 per cent higher than 2011 edition as well as the IPL.”

The Sony spokesperson’s rejoinder to this is that India’s stupendous display against Pakistan in their opening encounter helped bail out Star Sports. Advertisers flocked to its doors, cash in hand ready to pay premium to air their TVCs. Estimates are that Star India will raise anywhere from Rs 800 - 900 crore from this year’s contest, which ends late in March.

And even as Star has been screaming that this year’s edition has generated the highest ratings ever, and in its trail ad revenues, Sony’s spokesperson has been rubbishing the numbers. Says he: “The ratings in this edition have seen a substantial decline when compared to the 2011 edition. Moreover fans had to wait for a week to witness an India match; the decline is constant in the non-India matches too. Whereas in IPL, each and every match is entertaining and is showcased on prime time.”

He adds, “After 31 matches, the bouts involving India are generating 6.1 TVRs, which was 10.3 during the 2011 edition and the decline is constant in non-India matches too wherein it has dropped from 3.6 TVRs to 1.3 TVR.”

Terming those figures as absolute no-balls, the Star India spokesperson asserts, “The cumulative reach of the ongoing World Cup touched 534 million viewers after the first 29 matches (TAM data CS4+ extrapolated to the universe using a standard conversion factor). In terms of TVRs, the India vs Pakistan match garnered 14.9 TVR, India vs South Africa got 12.7 TVR, and India vs West Indies managed 13.1 TVR and the non-India match ratings are fluctuating from 2 to 2.5.”

Media observers also point out to the fact that the reporting of the ratings has also changed since 2011. “In those days, LC1 towns were not factored into the ratings. Hence, a pure comparision is also not possible,” says a media expert. “It’s like comparing apples and oranges.”

The Star India spokesperson in turn takes a dig at MSM’s telecast record of the IPL, saying the trend is clear. “The IPL reach has declined continuously since season one and sharply in the last three years. Post World Cup in 2011, the tournament suffered as both foot fall and engagement dropped.”

Terming these allegations as “baseless,” the MSM official shared the cumulative reach of IPL since its inception.

The official also added, “Not only in terms of cumulative reach every year but also in terms of ad revenue we witnessed an eight – 10 per cent increase.  IPL is an established entity and considering the fact that the tourney has survived through many ifs and buts in past years, the asset is now beyond question.”

The Star spokesperson says that MSM has a major challenge on its hands over the next few weeks. It is going to telecast the IPL very soon after the World Cup ends; at a time when the sports ad spends appetites of some advertisers may have been satiated courtesy the World Cup. However, to MSM’s advantage is the fact that most big spenders are beginning new financial years (the year end for most large corporates in India is 31 March) and hence will have fat wallets. Nonetheless, Sony has to raise anywhere from Rs 900 to 1,200 crore to make this year’s IPL outing pay off.

The Sony spokesperson quickly reverts that this is a given. “While we don’t comment on internal financial figures, we will meet and maybe even beat the revenue target we have set for this year’s IPL,” he says. “Advertiser interest is rising thanks to the excitement that is building around cricket.”

Even as they are taking digs at each other’s performances, the fact remains that both broadcasters are well aware of the importance and valuation of the two flagship tournaments. Moreover the fact that Star's Hotstar platform is the digital partner of IPL and Max was the destination of the World Cup not long back, proves that the two desire both the tournaments equally. Star India probably is hungry for growth in sports. Its CEO Uday Shankar has outlined the broadcast network’s intentions very clearly: it wants to pitch in a big way to grow the sports ecosystem in India. And in the process, also bring in mountains of revenues for his network.

When the next bidding process for the IPL begins by next year or so, you can be sure Shankar and his team will be on the frontlines making a definitive attempt to acquire its rights. Of course MSM’s NP Singh will be up front too. The rivalry will continue.

CEAT hops on as segment sponsor for IPL 2015

MUMBAI: CEAT has hopped on board as one of the central sponsors for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015. 
CEAT will be the prime sponsor for the Strategic Time Out segment in Pepsi IPL. CEAT and Pepsi IPL association leverages on common values between both the brands i.e. premium and dynamic. The association also acts as a perfect marriage between two brands that are youth centric.
 
CEAT as a brand has always been associated with cricket, which includes CEAT Cricket Ratings amongst others and recently launched CEAT Cricket gear. The tie up with Pepsi IPL will make CEAT’s association with cricket even stronger. The partnership with Pepsi IPL will leverage CEAT as a global brand, increasing its brand awareness in key markets. 
 
CEAT will also be leveraging the partnership with Pepsi IPL through multiple on-ground and digital activations during the upcoming season. For its Facebook and Twitter followers, CEAT has planned contests around Strategic timeout. The contest will comprise tricky questions around strategic timeout creating buzz around this segment for cricket enthusiasts.

 
Additionally, this property will also allow the brand to be actively visible on various platforms for entire IPL period. CEAT will also be launching an app on cricket that will have elements of the IPL theme.
 
CEAT managing director Anant Goenka said, “We have signed a three year deal with BCCI by picking up the sponsorship of Strategic Time Out for Pepsi IPL. Pepsi IPL has emerged as the biggest cricket property in India and given CEAT’s long term association with cricket this became the perfect platform for us to come on board. This property allows us to bring saliency around the brand through which we hope to build value for our customers over the next three years. Further, this allows us to be synonymous with Pepsi IPL in the tyre category and bring excitement to both our internal & external customers.”