By Our Staff
Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India has bagged the exclusive media rights to broadcast the Saudi Pro League 2022-2023. As part of the deal, the broadcaster will get the exclusive rights to televise the league across the Indian subcontinent – India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan & Sri Lanka and non-exclusively in Afghanistan. The partnership will also give SPN the rights to live-stream all the matches on its premium OTT platform, SonyLIV.
By Our Staff
Sony Pictures Network (SPN) India has announced appointment of Saugata Mukherjee as Head – Content, SonyLIV. In his new role, Mukherjee will lead the content division for Sony digital businesses. He will report to Danish Khan, Business Head – Sony LIV, Sony Entertainment Television (SET) and Studio Next.
Said Mukherjee: “I have witnessed the platform’s growth and proud to be part of its growth story once again. SonyLIV has always pushed the boundaries of content by telling stories that have never been told, explored, or shown before, making my role, a challenging but exciting one.”
By Our Staff
SonyLIV 2.0 is celebrating the second anniversary of its relaunch. To mark the two years in its new avatar, SonyLIV 2.0 is expanding its content offering with 50+ Hindi and 50+ other language premium content.
Notes a communique: “SonyLIV will soon foray into Tamil originals with its first web-series Meme Boys, Tamil Rockerz among others; followed by originals in Telugu and Malayalam.”
By Our Staff
Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has acquired the exclusive media rights to broadcast Davis Cup tie between India and Denmark. As part of the deal signed with the All India Tennis Association, SPN will broadcast the tournament on Sony TEN 2 channels across India and the subcontinent, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as well as live-stream the tournament on their premium OTT platform, SonyLIV.
The Davis Cup matches are scheduled to start from Friday, March 4, with a 15-minute opening ceremony, followed by the final day of the Indian Leg on Saturday, March 5.
Said Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India: “We are pleased to acquire the media rights of the highly anticipated Davis Cup Tie between India & Denmark. With India being the host for the tournament, tennis fans in India are looking forward to watching Team India serve up Denmark with the home ground advantage. Our viewers will get to cheer on top Indian players like Rohit Rajpal, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan who will be playing for their country.”
By Our Staff
Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has acquired the exclusive media rights for 2022 Asian Games. This association will give SPN exclusive rights to broadcast the 19th edition of the Asian Games on its sports channels across India and the subcontinent including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Maldives and will also be available on their premium OTT platform, SonyLIV.
Said Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India: “The 2022 Asian Games is expected to be one of the biggest multi-sporting events in Asia this year and we are pleased to bag the exclusive media rights for India and the subcontinent. The outstanding performance of Indian athletes at Olympics Games Tokyo 2020 has laid a strong foundation and we are happy to bring to our viewers another marquee multi-sporting event that will see participation from the top Indian athletes. With the addition of E-sports and breakdancing, we expect a bigger audience and the introduction of T20 Cricket format at the Asian Games will undoubtedly add to the excitement of the nation.”
By Our Staff
Legends League Cricket (LLC) has announced its partnership with Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) to live telecast all the matches of the league to be played in January 2022, on Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3 channels as well as livestream the matches in India on SPN’s premium OTT platform, SonyLIV.
Said Raman Raheja, CEO of Legends League Cricket: “We are extremely happy to announce this partnership with Sony Pictures Networks India. They have a very credible history of making sporting events a grand success, including the most premium T20 cricket leagues in the world. We wish to walk a long mile with them and ensure viewers are treated with a very competitive and entertaining form of Cricket. The league starts January 20th 2022.”
Added Rajesh Kaul Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India: “It’s a very exciting partnership to get into and having these stalwarts on the ground playing competitive cricket will definitely engage our viewers across India. Sony Sports has always served its viewers with its diverse portfolio of premier sports content and with the Legends League Cricket, we will present our viewers a great viewing experience of watching these legends in action on our sports channels.”
Actor Amitabh Bachchan has joined Legends League Cricket as its ambassador and will be promoting the League. The League also has former India Head Coach, Ravi Shastri, as its Commissioner looking after the cricketing aspect. As a host Oman has presented itself a very promising destination for cricket after successfully hosting the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup matches recently.
By Our Staff
Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has acquired the exclusive television and digital rights for the twenty-ninth season of Meiji Yasuda J1 League (the Japan Professional Football League) till December 2021.The broadcast territories will include India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The matches will be aired live on Sony Ten 2 channels in India and live streamed on SonyLIV, SPN’s OTT streaming platform.
Notes a communique: “The league has been home to some of the most exciting players from across Europe such as Diego Forlan, Lukas Podolski, Hulk, Jorginho and Andreas Iniesta among others.”
Football Fans can now watch exciting action from 2021 Meiji Yasuda J1 League every week LIVE on SONY TEN 2 channels.
By Our Staff
Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has returned as the official broadcast partner for the second edition of Abu Dhabi T10. The tournament is slated to take place at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium from January 28 to February 6, 2021.
All 29 Abu Dhabi T10 matches will be telecast live on Sony Six in English and 27 matches on Sony Ten 3 in Hindi and will be livestreamed on its on-demand OTT platform SonyLIV which will allow viewers to watch the tournament on their mobile phones, bumping potential viewership numbers for the event.
This year’s Abu Dhabi T10 will feature eight teams: Maratha Arabians, Bangla Tigers, Delhi Bulls, Northern Warriors, Deccan Gladiators, Qalandars, Team Abu Dhabi and Pune Devils that will face each other in 29 action-packed matches across 10 days.
In addition to its massive subscriber base, Sony Pictures Networks India brings broadcast expertise and strong credentials to its part of the deal. The network is the premier destination for cricket in India, with rights to four international cricket boards – England and Wales Cricket Board, Cricket Australia, Sri Lanka Cricket and Cricket Ireland. The broadcaster is also the official broadcaster of the ongoing India tour of Australia and the Big Bash League.
Said Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India: “Cricket has always been India’s passion and we are excited to partner with this innovative, fast paced format in the Abu Dhabi T10 once again. Abu Dhabi T10 has grown from strength to strength & cricket lovers can look forward to some of the biggest names in the game producing power-packed performances this season.”
By A Correspondent
On Friday, October 9 SonyLIV will unveil ‘Scam 1992 – The Harshad Mehta Story’, an original around the stockmarket operator Harshad Mehta and the securities scandal of the early 1990s.
The 10-episode show is produced by Applause Entertainment in association with Studio Next and is based on the bestseller book ‘The Scam’ written by journalists Debashis Basu and Sucheta Dalal.
Said Indranil Chakraborty, Head, Studio Next: “We are delighted to foray into OTT with a series like ‘Scam 1992 – The Harshad Mehta Story’ that reflects on a landmark event in the Indian stock market. The incident was integral to shaping up India’s financial security systems and hence was a story waiting to be told. It’s a new storytelling format for us and we had the visionary – Hansal Mehta leading us through this process.”
Added Sameer Nair, CEO, Applause Entertainment: “With ‘Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story’, we have raised the bar of premium series in India in terms of creativity and production. We have put together a great ensemble of actors directed by the National award winner Hansal Mehta and a team of talented writers who worked tirelessly on the show. Based on the book written by Sucheta Dalal and Debashis Basu, this show marks another chapter in Applause’s slate of book adaptations where we have dramatised the story while staying true to the essence of book. This is the fourth show under our partnership with SonyLIV after the successes of Your Honor, Undekhi and Avrodh.”
Said Ashish Golwalkar – Head-Content SET, Digital Business, Sony Pictures Networks India: “’Scam 1992 – The Harshad Mehta Story’ is our fourth offering with Applause Entertainment and also a special one as we have Studio Next venturing into OTT with this for the first time. The story offers an apt mix of talent, storytelling and technique. We are hopeful that like our previous offerings, Scam 1992, will also open to a warm audience response and reinstate our promise of bringing ‘stories of India’ to the audiences.”
By A Correspondent
The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has announced SonyLIV and Lionsgate as the latest amngst the leading Online Curated Content Providers (OCCPs) in India to sign the Universal Self-Regulation Code. The code has garnered support from the industry and has onboarded 15 OCCPs like Zee5, Viacom18, Disney Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, MX Player, Jio Cinema, Eros Now, Alt Balaji, Arre, HoiChoi, Hungama, Shemaroo, Discovery Plus and Flickstree.
Said Tarun Katial, Chair, Digital Entertainment Committee, IAMAI: “I am overwhelmed with the support received on the code and delighted to welcome SonyLIV and Lionsgate as the 16th and 17th leading OCC providers in India to sign the ‘Universal Self-Regulation Code’. We already have India’s leading OTT providers as the signatories and expect more players to join the initiative in the coming weeks.”
Added Ashok Nambissan, General Counsel, Sony Pictures Networks India: “We are delighted to join the league of signatories of the Universal Self-Regulation Code. We look to working closely with the IAMAI and other OTT players to get broader acceptance for the Code as well as the Government’s support for the industry’s efforts at self-regulation.”
The Code is effective from August 15, 2020 and allows OCCPs to comply with all the guidelines in a time-bound manner. Each signatory to the code has agreed to appoint an external advisor as part of the grievance redressal mechanism within 60 days from the launch of the code – that September 4, 2020.
By A Correspondent
Applause Entertainment, a venture of the Aditya Birla Group, has announced a content licensing deal of four premium drama series with SonyLIV, the video streaming service from Sony Pictures Networks India.
Speaking on this association, Sameer Nair, CEO, Applause Entertainment said: “We are glad to partner with SonyLIV and to be able to contribute to their original content strategy. It aligns well with our philosophy of creating premium content and working with our platform partners to entertain and delight their customers. We hope this slate of 4 shows is only the start of a long & successful relationship with SonyLIV in our pursuit of creative excellence.”
The four drama series that will have their home at Sony LIV are – ‘Your Honor’, ‘Avrodh’ ‘Undekhi’ and ‘Scam 1992’.
Added Danish Khan, Business Head – Sony Entertainment Television, Studio Next & Digital Business: “Sony Liv plans to acquire and retain its premium subscribers through a robust line up of Original Content – content that is cerebral and relevant and brings a sense of authenticity, drama and storytelling. We are collaborating with the best story tellers in the industry. Applause Entertainment is one of the most prolific creators of premium series and we are extremely happy to partner with them. We are confident that these shows will entertain & engage the varied audience segments of SonyLiv.”
By A Correspondent
Sony Entertainment Television has announced the 12th Season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). The show will be produced by StudioNEXT and the selection process will be conducted digitally, through SonyLIV.
Sony Entertainment Television will commence registrations for the 12th Season of KBC from May 9 until May 22. Anchor and megastar Amitabh Bachchan will ask one new question every night on Sony TV and users can answer it either through SMS or through Sony LIV.
Said Amit Raisinghani, Head – Business Planning and Communication, Sony Entertainment Television: “We are certainly excited to announce the 12th Season of our iconic show – Kaun Banega Crorepati. And for the first time in the history of KBC, the entire screening and selection will be managed digitally. Each time we embark on a new season of KBC, we are pleasantly surprised with the growing numbers of aspirants, which speaks volumes about the show’s popularity. This is the season of firsts and we are confident that this season will redefine the power of knowledge.”