YuppTV, an over-the-top (OTT) South Asian content provider, has acquired the broadcast rights for the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 that’s on till November 13, 2022.
YuppTV bagged the exclusive broadcast rights for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Australia 2022 for 75 countries, including Continental Europe, Malaysia (Non-exclusive), Japan, China, Hong Kong (Non-exclusive), Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, and Southeast Asia (Except Singapore). Tournament will be telecasted LIVE over YuppTV’s platform.
Speaking on the successful acquisition, Uday Reddy, CEO & Founder, YuppTV said: “Cricket is one of the biggest sports in the entire world, with more than one billion fans situated in different corners of the globe. T20 began as an exciting format, and in recent years, has become one of the most watched and loved forms of the game. The exciting match-up between International teams, nation versus nation, for world dominance is guaranteed to be an enthralling experience for viewers, who will be gearing up from the comfort of their homes to watch the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 to support their favourite teams and take them to victory. It brings us immense pleasure to bring the tournament to millions of people across Asia and Europe, and we look forward to having users tune in to the match on our platform to catch all the action live!”
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd and Disney Star have signed a strategic licensing agreement. Disney Star will license the television broadcasting rights of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Men’s and Under 19 (U-19) global events for a period of four years, to Zee. Disney Star will continue to be the exclusive home for streaming of all ICC tournaments through its digital platform – Disney+ Hotstar. ICC has in principle approved this arrangement.
This association enables Zee to be the exclusive television rights holder of ICC men’s events, including the coveted ICC Men’s T20 World Cup (2024, 2026), ICC Men’s Champions Trophy (2025), and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup (2027) along with key ICC U-19 events.
Speaking about the strategic development, Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. said: “This is a first-of-its-kind partnership in the Indian media & entertainment landscape, and this association with Disney Star reflects our sharp, strategic vision for the sports business in India. As a one-stop television destination for ICC men’s cricket events until 2027, ZEE will leverage the strength of its network to offer a compelling experience for its viewers and a great return on investment for its advertisers. Long-term profitability and value-generation continue to be our areas of focus across the business, and we will always evaluate all the necessary steps that will enable us to make sports a compelling value proposition for the Company. We look forward to working with ICC and Disney Star, to enable this strategic offering for our television viewers in India.”
Added K Madhavan, Country Manager & President, Disney Star: “By securing the IPL television broadcast rights for 2023-27 and now opting to retain only the digital rights for ICC tournaments for 2024-27, we have in place a balanced and robust cricket offering for our audiences across linear and digital. Over the years, Disney Star has strengthened the appeal of international cricket in India, enabling it to reach diverse age groups and cultural demographics across all parts of the country. As India’s leading media house, we will continue to do so with our strong portfolio of cricket properties across television and digital.”
Games24x7, a multi-game platform, has launched a mass media campaign during the T20 World Cup targeting cricket fans.
Speaking about the promotional campaign, Avik Das Kanungo, Director – Brand and Marketing Strategy, Games24x7 said: “We are very happy to have a partner like The Script Room in conceptualising and launching this campaign. We set out to give a tribute to the game of cricket, celebrating the passion of Indian cricket lovers, and the campaign captures the sentiment extremely evocatively. We’re delighted with the initial response from all quarters, and are glad that cricket fans are enjoying yet another unique offering from My11Circle”.
Added Rajesh Ramaswamy, Co-Founder, The Script Room: “It’s a very simple and fundamental thought. All of us know that India has a huge attachment and crazy following for cricket. And this love and passion often gets expressed through what is called ‘fan-giri’. The films are trying to capture this through multiple stories – deewangi for our favourite stars, and deewangi for our favourite game. We are really lucky and super delighted that Abhinay Deo came on board. Only he could’ve captured this madness in the scale and spirit that it finally came out.”
In case you have not realiSed, we are halfway through this terrible year already. Where do we go from here? That’s the question on everyone’s minds. The pandemic has brought with it an unprecedented level of uncertainty. A lot of discussions these days feature a line that goes: “It will take another X months”. The value of X, varies from 2 to 24, depending on the subject matter of the discussion and the optimism level of the speaker. Predictions in these times are tough, if not futile. But I’d hazard a few anyway.
An oft-asked question is: When will theatres reopen nationally so that big Hindi films can be released? I’d say October 2020. Delhi (and not Mumbai) could be one of the last markets to open the theatres. Till both Mumbai AND Delhi are open, new films releasing seems out of question. Theatres will open with ample safety measures and restrictions, and the audience will take their time to make that visit. Sooryavanshi releasing on Christmas 2020, is my other forecast in this regard.
Another commonly-asked question is: When will content production begin like before? This is a lot more complex one to predict, because “like before” will surely have to wait for the vaccine to be available globally. Till then, shoots will restart, but don’t be surprised to see dodgy make-up, empty frames with less characters, no foreign locations, and visually-disorienting content in general.
Another popular one is: Will IPL happen this year? I’d predict that it indeed will, but without crowds and in a curtailed format. The T20 World Cup in Australia in Oct-Nov 2020 is likely to get moved to 2020 (there’s the next edition in India next year anyway), and that slot should pave way for IPL to happen. It could be an event restricted to two or three cities, but with no spectators and ticket sales, that wouldn’t matter much anyway. ThE business models will have to be reworked, but given what’s at stake, BCCI and Star will be extremely keen to hold the event in some capacity, than skip an edition altogether.
Then there is the larger question about the recovery of the economy: Will the Diwali festive season see regular levels of adspends and consumption, perhaps (as some suggest) on a rebound? Here, I’d go with a sCeptical view. The general public is quite tentative, and expecting festivity levels anywhere close to normal in the bigger cities is certainly ruled out. The economic pressure adds to the fear of the pandemic, and while people may start going out a bit, the festive mood will take another year to be revived. I’d expect at least 60% drop in ad revenue in the traditional media (TV, print, radio, OOH, etc.) in the festive season this year vis-à-vis last year.
The way it looks, the second half of the year will continue to be one of uncertainty and very slow recovery. Patience is a prized virtue to have in these times. Hold on to it!
GroupM’s ESP Properties released its ‘Business of Indian Sports Playbook’ in the backdrop of Covid-19. The playbook is a guide for multiple stakeholders like broadcasters, fans, sponsors, right holders, and the government, who play a vital part in the sporting ecosystem.
It notes that the sports sponsorship industry in India has been growing at a CAGR of 12.8 per cent over the last 10 years, with the overall sports sponsorship market in India crossing the mark of Rs 9,000 crore for the first time, highlighted the GroupM ESP report on the business of Indian Sports in the wake of the crisis.
Further, it states that mobile gaming will be the biggest gainer in the post Covid-19 era, with 20 per cent increase in the monthly active users during the lockdown in India, with daily average session going up to 45 minutes and frequency of these sessions increasing to 5-7 per day.
The report also states that the situation is an opportunity for sports in India. India is a sporting nation in the making with the sector showing strong growth in the last 6-7 years. At a world level, everything is a standstill. It therefore needs to focus on athletes and performance of sports and have a strong vision for 2024 and 2028 Olympics. Keeping the fans engaged is an important KPI for a rightsholder and broadcaster.
Government partnerships in the sports realm are the need of the hour, it states. Government and sponsors have worked together as Public-Private-Partnerships.
Talent needs to make full use of the lockdown to enhance relationships with fans via social media. Live talent interaction on social media has caught the eyes of a large fanbase since the fans need to see some action happening between the talent instead of no-action. Gaming & virtual sports should definitely be in the consideration set for active fan engagement, it noted.
Here’s the executive summary:
Business of Indian Sports COVID-19 Outlook Context – Sports sponsorship industry in India has been growing at a healthy CAGR of 12.8% over the last 10 years, with overall Sports Sponsorship market in India crossing the mark of INR 9,000 Crore for the first time
1. 2020 was a year of Tokyo Olympics, T20 World Cup, Euro 2020 along with major tournaments like Vivo IPL. With most of the sports tournament either cancelled or indefinitely postponed, YOY growth / estimation for year 2020 pre COVID-19 will not hold true.
– While there are many speculations around Sports to be conducted for TV audience only with no fans or limited fans in the stadium, anything is a possibility at this point in time. But from an audience appetite standpoint, fans are hungry and waiting for live sports.
– Sports is a universal language that connects people regardless of their origin, background, religious beliefs, economic position. Sports brings us together. Once the dust around COVID-19 settles down, sports will play a pivotal role in helping fans deal with the emotional stress, post-pandemic trauma and give people at large reasons to look forward to.
– This situation is also an opportunity for sports in India. India is a sporting nation in the making with the sector showing strong growth in the last 6-7 years. At a world level, everything is a stand still. We need to focus on our athletes and performance of sports and have a strong vision for 2024 and 2028 Olympics.
– Mobile gaming will be the biggest gainers in the post COVID-19 era. We’ve already seen 20% increase in the monthly active users during the lockdown in India, with daily average session going up from 30 min. to 45 min. and frequency of these sessions increasing to 5-7 per day as against 3 sessions per day during pre COVID-19. Internationally, we’ve also witnessed rightsholders toying with gaming and virtual sports as a concept to keep athletes and fans engaged in the lockdown times (for example: UAE Tour launching cycling event namely ‘UAE Tour Mubadala Ramadan Virtual Challenge’ on virtual cycling platform Zwift). We see more of these pushing the envelope of virtual and real-world merger.
– In a parallel world, esports has been trying to emulate traditional sports for some time now to reach a larger and more mainstream audience. It had already become a billion-dollar industry pre-COVID pandemic with tournaments witnessing arenas filled with screaming fans and sponsors increasingly injecting monies in the ecosystem globally. With the lockdown in place and millions forced to stay at home; esports has shifted to online format filling up the void for many of the LIVE sports’ hungry fans worldwide.
Further breaking the playbook down, here are the key takeaways:
I. The post COVID-19 time is expected to define “new normalcy” which in turn will have a telling effect on all aspects of business including sports
II. Keeping the fans engaged is an important KPI for a rightsholder & broadcaster. The lockdown times could be a perfect opportunity for both to make heroes off their fans
III. Broadcasters should toy around with various non-live sport-ainment formats as the fan acceptability quotient is high right now. Innovative content formats need to be thought of between the talent and broadcaster to make the most out of a fan’s interest in some sporting action.
IV. Government partnerships in sports realm is the need of the hour. Government & sponsors have worked together beautifully as Public-Private-Partnerships. Post COVID-19 time will call for many such initiatives
V. Talent needs to make full use of the lockdown to enhance relationships with fans via social media. Live talent interaction on social media has caught the eyes of a large fanbase since the fans need to see some action happening between the talent instead of no-action. Gaming and virtual sports should definitely be in the consideration set for active fan engagement during current times taking a cue from how cricket world cup winner Ben Stokes engaged with his fans through F1 esports Vietnam Grand Prix.
As I write this, I’m watching the Indian women’s cricket team bow out in the T20 World Cup, losing their semi-final game to England after a lacklustre performance. Thus far, it’s been an excellent World Cup for the team, where they won everything on offer, and fairly emphatically too.
You can’t win everything. But the Indian women’s cricket team has been winning a lot more in recent times than ever before. The 2017 ODI World Cup in England is where the surge started. India reached the final and should have won it against the hosts, chasing. a modest total, but lost by nine runs in a tight finish. But the run of performances leading to that final made the media and the audiences sit up and take up notice. In particular, the semi-final performance against Australia, featuring a dream innings by Harmanpreet Kaur, where she scored an unbeaten 171, was the gamechanger in this regard. The rise of women’s cricket in India was covered in this column too at that time, which can be read here.
Since then, the team has built on its strengths, and has now three clear stars headlining the unit. Mithali Raj is a veteran with many records to her name, while Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana are exciting, young batters who play a brand of cricket that’s immensely entertaining and new-age.
During the ad breaks in today’s game, I saw Kaur endorsing a natural fruit juice brand. Raj has been endorsing brands too, and I’m sure Mandhana is beginning to get her share of credit on that front. This was unthinkable two years ago.
Star Sports have done well to promote women’s cricket with all sincerity, well knowing that the ratings will take time to come. It’s too early to expect these games to show up on the top programme charts. But the rise in interest is definitive. When India’s men’s team lost the first T20 to Australia earlier in the week, an English news anchor covered it in the headlines, specifically prefixing “men’s†to avoid confusion. That tells you something about the progress that has been made.
The women’s cricket team is on a fine journey, but it’s just the start. They will need to be consistent over the next couple of years to build a bigger fan base. That’s when the stars will come into their own, becoming sporting stars like Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu or Sania Mirza.
In the Ormax Sports Stars October 2018 report, four Indian sportswomen feature in the Top 25 most popular sportspersons in India (across sports, nations and gender), and these are Nehwal, Sindhu, Mirza and MC Mary Kom. Raj follows at no. 26, at less than 10% popularity share of Nehwal. So clearly, there’s a lot of fan base to still cover.
The men’s team has done very well in the ODI and T20 formats in recent years, and now enter most series or tournaments as the favorites to win. That’s the next target for the women’s team. And it may not be too far away.
Leo Burnett India’s Sachin Das Burma, has created a new anthem for the 2017 edition of the T20 World Cup for the Blind. Burma is the Group Executive Creative Director with the agency and has independently taken up the task of creating the campaign. The tournament, that began on January 30, 2017, is in its second year, with India having won the inaugural edition last year. Eight other nations apart from India are participating in 2017, including Pakistan, England, New Zealand and Australia.
The anthem, titled ‘AaoShorMachao’, spreads awareness about the T20 World Cup for the Blind. Apart from Burma, SavitaHiremath of Tandav Films has co-created the campaign, while Shiladitya Moulik has directed the film. The anthem has gone viral over the last week, and even caught Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attention! The PMO’s Office tweeted the anthem out at the start of the tournament, adding mileage to the popularity of the anthem.
Speaking about the new campaign, Burma said, “The entire campaign happened in a discussion about what we can do to promote the 2nd edition of the t20 world cup for the blind. Though India was the champion team of the 1st edition, there was very little awareness about it. We felt it is time that the other man in blue also getshis much deserved place under the sun.â€
For Burma, the idea of doing his bit for the cause of promoting the tournament made him take it up independently, with Hiremath. He feels that as a creative, this is one way to do his bit. “The huge task that we set to achieve in terms of creating something that will touch the hearts of people, and at the same time, not doing something that begs for support, was the biggest challenge,†he said.
The tournament, so far, has seen top Indian cricketers including Virat Kohli being very vocal about their support.
Said SavitaHiremath, “The T20 World Cup for the Blind is not very popular among those who love the cricket. However, the new campaign has already done its bit to change this mindset. Roping in top cricketers of the Indian team, the advertising fraternity came together to create a campaign that intends to generate interest and support for the cause.â€
Radio stations and brands planning to commercially exploit the T20 World Cup that starts in Sri Lanka next week (Sept 18-Oct 7) need to beware.
According to an official communication sent by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to the Association of Radio Operators for India, the exclusive rights holders for radio/audio stream services across all mediums, including the internet in India are BIG FM and All India Radio (AIR).
The biggest rider is that “member agencies (of Association of Radio Operators) may not undertake any unlicensed commercial exploitation or selective commercialization of ICC Proprietary Content through third party sponsorship and presentation of the same”.
A point in the statement reads, “Other than International Management Group (IMG) and its licensees, BIG FM and AIR, no entity operating or making available radio/audio stream services is entitled to use ICC Names, ICC Marks and ICC Proprietary Content, claim official association or commercially associate in any other way, either expressly or impliedly, including through marketing promotions, contests, advertising, score updates or other commercial activity (including by monetizing any of the ICC Proprietary Content), with the ICC or the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012.’
It further states, ‘Should your member agencies fail to adhere to the above, the ICC will engage with them to bring to their attention the permissible parameters of activity and work with them to resolve the matter. However, should such activities persist, your member agencies will be deemed to have knowingly breached the exclusive rights granted by the ICC to IMG and its licensees, BIG FM and AIR, and the ICC will have no other option but to initiate further action, including legal recourse.’
Lauding the initiative, Tarun Katial, CEO, Reliance Broadcast Network said, “In an extremely encouraging move, ICC has decided to come down on anyone misusing content to offer packages to advertisers. As radio partners, we look forward to offer consumers the best possible entertainment package with exclusive and highly engaging content, while offering marketers an approved and ethical platform by which they can reach out to their audiences.”
Strict action against channels which do not adhere to the stipulations laid down by the governing body will be taken this year.
A source close to the development said that the ICC diktat doesn’t mind score updates interspersed in the programming, but radio stations can’t get these get sponsored.
In case you have not realiSed, we are halfway through this terrible year already. Where do we go from here? That’s the question on everyone’s minds. The pandemic has brought with it an unprecedented level of uncertainty. A lot of discussions these days feature a line that goes: “It will take another X months”. The value of X, varies from 2 to 24, depending on the subject matter of the discussion and the optimism level of the speaker. Predictions in these times are tough, if not futile. But I’d hazard a few anyway.
As I write this, I’m watching the Indian women’s cricket team bow out in the T20 World Cup, losing their semi-final game to England after a lacklustre performance. Thus far, it’s been an excellent World Cup for the team, where they won everything on offer, and fairly emphatically too.