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indiantelevision.com's Breaking News
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ESPN-Star Sports' 'Super Selector' ready and web enabled
(Posted on 21 September 2001, 5:30 pm)
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Star
host Naseeruddin Shah couldn't make it but there were two
legends from the cricket world - Sunil Gavaskar and Geoffrey
Boycott - on hand to cover for him as ESPN-Star Sports yesterday
announced the launch of its new interactive show "Super Selector."
The first of the series - a preview show - airs today at 8:30
PM
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Shah will be hosting two Super Selector shows a month - a preview
and a review show. The preview show will discuss the possibilities
for the next month while the review show will feature the analysis
of the players' performances around the world.
"Super Selector" will be the first simulcast feature programme
on ESPN and STAR Sports and will be a complete integrated, interactive
and innovative cricket game show which provides an opportunity
for viewers to demonstrate knowledge of the game.
While cricket experts nominate their own teams, all the participants
will actually get to play this game against the best of talent
in the world of international cricket. Interactivity is what it
is all about. While participation in the contest is via the ESS
website www.espnstar.com, in what is billed as an attempt to reach
out to a wider audience entries can also be sent in through offline
publications. The weekly magazine "India Today" has been roped
in as the national partner while Mumbai's Mid-Day afternoon, the
Hindustan Times in New Delhi and the Gujarat Samachar in Ahmedabad
are the newspapers with which tie-ups have been done. Manu Sawhney,
managing director, ESPN Software India Ltd., said talks were on
with other publications as well to broadbase the show as much
as possible.
(From
left) Cyrus Broacha, Naseeruddin Shah, Sunil Gavaskar,
and Geoffrey Boycott on the sets of Super Selector |
What exactly it is the newspaper inserts are supposed to achieve
is a bit hazy though. As per the game rules one can send in
his / her team choice on the prescribed forms (a team will be
have five batsmen, four bowlers, one wicket keeper and one all-rounder)
to reach ESPN by midnight of the last day of each month. And
one is allowed to substitute three team members before the 21st
of each month. Only problem is that all substitutions have to
be made through the espnstar.com website. So we are back to
the web as the only medium through which it is practical to
participate in this programme.
As for what is being done on the tube, other than the preview
and review shows, to keep interest kicking, there will be 24
new insterstitials per week carrying information bytes of a
minute to a minute and a half duration which will give constant
updates on how various teams are faring.
Queried on whether there were any similar shows abroad Boycott
said that the UK there was a popular selector series called
Fantasy Cricket organised by one of the newspaper chains which
had also developed a Fantasy Soccer franchise.
As for the logo, which on first look gives a feel of astrological
illustrations (after all the show is all about predictions -
even if only about a cricket team), it has been designed by
the ESPN team in Singapore.
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