MUMBAI: Sony Six, Multi Screen Media?s sports channel, has inked a three-year deal with National Basketball Association (NBA) to become the sole broadcast partner of the American professional basketball league in India.

The broadcast rights were earlier shared between Sony Pix, the English movie channel from MSM, and Zeel-owned sports broadcaster Ten Sports.

Sony Six, which has Indian Premier League (IPL) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as its tent pole properties, has identified NBA to attract young audiences towards the sports and entertainment channel.

The sportscaster sees a fit with the property and feels it can develop it in India through aggressive marketing which includes drawing on Bollywood?s popularity to attract new audiences.

"Our study shows that the youth want new sports which are fast paced in nature and Basketball is a fast paced sport. We see huge opportunity to build NBA in India and have big plans to promote it," MSM CEO Man Jit Singh tells Indiantelevision.

The comprehensive partnership with Sony Six will include live NBA games, original programming, and a joint commitment to host grassroots basketball events on the ground.

The two partners will create customised local programming and will focus on engaging Indian youth by bringing together talent from the NBA, Sony Entertainment and Bollywood.
Before Ten Sports and Sony Pix, ESPN Star Sports (ESS) was the long standing broadcast partner for NBA in India but decided not to renew its partnership due to poor viewership. Singh, however, is unfazed.

"NBA was never promoted properly in India. Our plan is to work in tandem with NBA to promote the sport by bringing in NBA players, through college festivals, and 3x3 Basketball that will have NBA players pitted against basketball fans," he added.

Singh feels NBA is a viable sport for the broadcaster in the long run but in the short-term it will invest in the sport. "It is definitely a viable property but we are looking at it from an investment point of view," he asserted.

He did not see any issue with the timing of NBA games which are generally aired early in the morning, "Every sport fan wants to watch a game live. However for those who can?t watch NBA games early in the morning we have repeats in the prime time," he reasoned.

Apart from IPL, UFC and NBA, Six has also identified racquet sports and football to build the channel even as it continues to evaluate cricket boards that are coming up for renewal. MSM has also placed bids for English Premier League rights which are currently held by ESS.

The broadcaster had unsuccessfully bid for England Cricket Board and West Indies Cricket Board rights which were eventually retained by incumbent broadcasters, ESPN Star Sports and Taj Television respectively.

Most of the cricket rights are locked in excluding Sri Lanka Cricket Board, Pakistan Cricket Board, Bangladesh Cricket Board and New Zealand Cricket.

"We will certainly bid for properties as and when they come up. Having said that, we are not going bid crazy amounts," Singh averred.

NBA India Senior Director Business Development & Partnerships said the reason the league decided to partner Sony Six was because of its overall package they offered which includes favourable time slot and other on-air and on-ground initiatives that are critical engaging fans.

"We spoke to different broadcasters but Sony Six was the one who presented the most comprehensive partnership. They were willing to partner not just on the air but on the ground as well," Jain said.

"They are giving us a favourable timeslot on air. Besides matches, they will air magazine shows and highlights. They will also have local content by showcasing the basketball scene in India. They will also have instructional content for coaches and players."

Sony Six will air live NBA games each week on Thursday, Friday and Sunday with replays in prime-time. The Sunday game will be the "Game of the Week" featuring the NBA game airing at noon or 1:00 pm ET in the U.S.

In total, fans in India will have access to 72 NBA regular season games, up to 18 NBA Playoff games, the Eastern and Western Conference Finals, the NBA Finals and NBA All-Star events including the All-Star Game, All-Star Saturday Night, and the Rising Stars competition.

The NBA and Sony Six will also create a weekly NBA lifestyle program and a series of instructional vignettes that will help educate fans on the rules of the game and basketball terminology.

Apart from metros, NBA will also work with Sony Six to viewership in second and third tier cities.

"The aim is to showcase the NBA experience and lifestyle. We will package elements from this and create a platform. We will be doing marketing activities to create awareness about the partnership which includes social media, promos, and contests. Fans will get the chance to go to the US. They will get opportunity to attend games and get Behind The Scenes VIP Access to meet players," Jain added.

MUMBAI: Ten Sports has extended the live and exclusive telecast rights for the US Open Tennis Championships for a period of four years, starting with the next edition in 2013.

Ten Sports has been telecasting US Open since 2005 and has acquired the rights for India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

In addition to the television rights, Ten Sports has also acquired the mobile, internet and video-on-demand rights.

The prime tennis properties are divided with Neo Sports having the French Open, while ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has the rights for Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande said, ?We are proud to be associated with the US Open, one of the biggest sporting events in the world. The conclusion of this agreement is of vital strategic importance as TEN Sports continues to deliver top-flight programming to our viewers. Rights holders know we have the best distribution of any sports network in the South Asian Market and they appreciate the value we bring to their product not only through having the largest audience, but also the way we present their product, through scheduling, production and expert commentary.?

USTA executive director Gordon Smith commented, ?We are very pleased that Ten Sports has agreed to continue their relationship with the US Open. Ten Sports has been a good partner of the US Open for many years and their support demonstrates the continuing appeal of the US Open to a worldwide audience.?

MUMBAI: Zeel-owned sports broadcaster Ten Sports has said that it was close to signing a deal with IMG Reliance for the broadcast rights of India?s premier club competition I League and Federation Cup, an annual knockout style football tournament.

"Ten Sports has been supporting I league for the last 6 years and will continue to do so if given the opportunity. We are close to coming to an agreement with IMGR," Essel Group sports business CEO Atul Pande told Indiantelevision.com.

He also refuted claims by senior All India Football Federation officials that Ten Sports backed out of the Federation Cup deal at the last moment thereby leaving the football governing body and the commercial rights holder IMG Reliance in lurch.

"The claim made by some AIFF functionaries that we walked out of the deal is baseless and without merit," Pande asserts.

To the contrary, Pande said that the sports broadcaster will put the property on-air as soon as it gets the feed from IMGR. The production of the property is being taken care of by IMGR.

"IMGR has to share feeds so that we can put it on-air," said Pande.

According to industry sources, IMG Reliance is out in the market for a three year deal for both Federation Cup and I League. The negotiation with Ten Sports is stuck because IMGR feels the value it is being offered doesn?t even cover its production cost.

It is talking to other national and regional broadcaster.
Earlier, the lack to live telecast had irked clubs who were promised by AIFF that its commercial partner IMGR was close to clinching a three-year deal with Ten Sports which would have guaranteed live telecast of atleast 15 games of Federation Cup and 75 games of I League.

Doordarshan had come to the rescue of AIFF agreeing to provide live coverage of the semi-final and final matches of the Federation Cup, which began 19 September.

In the previous edition of the Federation Cup, IMGR had roped in News Time as regional broadcast partner for West Bengal and Assam.

Pune FC head operations and I-League Professional Football Clubs Association? (IPFCA) general secretary Chirag Tanna is extremely disappointed with IMGR?s lack of vision for the sport.

"IMGR has not been able to fulfill the commitments that they made to the clubs whether its marketing of I League or the broadcast part of it, they haven?t delivered anything," Tanna lamented.

MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprise Limited?s sports broadcasting network Ten Sports has inked a five-year broadcast rights agreement with Elite Football League of India (EFLI) till 2016 that will see the sportscaster televising approximately 370 matches.

Ten has acquired broadcast rights across cable & satellite, terrestrial, IPTV, HITS, DTH, Mobile, Internet and other distribution platforms.

The broadcaster has acquired rights for India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Europe, US, Caribbean, Australia & New Zealand, South Africa, Middle East, Asia including South East Asia and will try and distribute the EFLI games in all of these Markets.

Zee Sports Business CEO Atul Pande said, "We are delighted to partner with Elite Football League of India, the first professional American football league in India. We are looking forward for high decibel games with loads of excitement and passion."

Ten will televise four matches per week on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday through its broadcast channels Ten Sports and Ten Action.

In late 2012, there will be ten teams located in various cities across India, one in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and one in an unannounced city in Bangladesh, the EFLI said.

The first season of EFLI will kick start in September with eight teams including five from India, two from Sri Lanka and one from Pakistan. They will compete in American-style football.