MUMBAI: For sports in India, nothing is bigger than the World Cup and the official broadcaster Star India is set to make the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 even bigger and better by rolling out an ambitious broadcast plan.
The network will revolutionise sports broadcasting in the country, as it is all set to broadcast certain select matches, including India’s opening match against arch-rivals Pakistan, in the ground breaking 4K format. This will be the first ever global broadcast of cricket in 4K.
Announcing a slew of initiatives, Star India COO Sanjay Gupta said, “The last edition was watched by 90 per cent of TV viewers in the country, making it the largest aggregation of consumers possible. We will introduce many firsts and innovations in sports broadcasting to take the great game of cricket to the next level and provide an unprecedented viewing experience to the millions of cricket fans in India.”
Star will broadcast the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in six languages, making it far more inclusive than any other sporting tournament on television. This will be the first time that the WC will be telecast in Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada, apart from English and Hindi.
With an aim to bring the best of World Cup action through the best of experts, Star Sports’ commentary panel will feature 13 World Cup captains, 20 World Cup winners and 26 World Cup semi-finalists. The likes of Allan Border, Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Graeme Smith, Ian Botham, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, Saurav Ganguly among others will add to the viewing experience with their expert insights and analysis during the WC. To take the viewer experience to the next level, it will launch a state-of-the-art studio in Mumbai to present the pre and post-match analysis, expert comments and insights.
Never seen before player analytics across 4000 hours of match footage, ball-by-ball data from 600 matches (ODI data from 2010-till date), 200 players and 14 venues will be analysed in new look graphics, keeping the fans engaged 24x7 during the WC. For the first time ever, technologies mounted on sunglasses and wickets will be used during practice sessions to showcase what the players see while batting and bowling, bringing the viewers closer to the game. Drone cameras to give an aerial perspective of the majestic stadiums will be used for the first ever time for the ICC WC.
Star will also add two new HD channels to its sports portfolio, Star Sports HD 3 and Star Sports HD 4, as a lead up to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Star Sports HD 3 will be an all-Hindi HD channel, a first for sports broadcasting, taking the game closer to the cricket loving audience across the country.
starsports.com, will offer live streaming and 24x7 video-on-demand accessible through the web, WAP and apps on 200+ devices, all of which will contribute towards making the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 easily and readily available.
Star India’s marketing blitz started with the film with Sachin Tendulkar, invoking India to ‘Chase the Dream’ to win the World Cup again, the most coveted prize in international cricket. The broadcaster’s World Cup campaign, #wontgiveitback followed the film, reflecting the young nation’s attitude and mood for the World Cup. The nation’s rallying call to Team India #wontgiveitback has created high buzz and conversations online. On YouTube the video has garnered more than 7,18,050 views and counting.
