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MUMBAI:
Fans of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) action have something
to cheer about. Next month onwards Ten Sports is set to telecast
WWE episodes simultaneously in India a as in the US.
Till now episodes were aired in India three weeks after their
US airing.
Speaking
to Indiantelevision.com, Ten Sports senior VP Peter
Hutton says that this is a big step for the channel. "WWE
fans have been complaining that they wanted quicker access
to the shows and we've been pressing WWE for satellite access
for some time."
"Basically
we will show two weeks of WWE content on the first weekend
of October to bring it all up to date. Then we will switch
to the same week timings," he adds.
WWE
director international consumer products Ross Walker notes
that this move will help serve the Indian fans better.
"The
reason Indian fans find appeal in WWE is that it is a soap
opera. It combines sporting elements with storylines. This
allows us to be unpredictable with what we do. Also WWE is
on 52 weeks in the year. Other sports though have seasons.
We also tailor our content for different platforms. We have
archival content, for instance. We also have content for the
mobile as well as on demand content," says Walker.
Walker
adds that the aim is to perhaps organise a tour in India in
2010. This would involve several superstars performing. WWE
has three brands - Raw, SmackDown and ECW.
Research
done by Kids Media India finds that Indian kids idolise WWE
stars. As they grow older, it becomes a fun experience. Then
in their 20s, they appreciate storylines with all their twists
and turns.
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