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ESPN-STAR SPORTS
FINALLY GETS NEW HEAD
The dispute over ESPN Software India's
head R.K. Singh seems to have finally ended. At the
Zee Telefilms Ltd (ZTL) annual general meeting yesterday,
chairman Subhash Chandra introduced the former DD deputy
director general to shareholders as the company's CEO.
Singh will spearhead ZTL's move to develop the Indian
pay TV market with its DTO digital package. Singh will
also be overseeing Siticable and Zee TV's international
businesses in the UK, US and Africa.
Meanwhile, the Board of Directors of
ESPN Software India unanimously appointed Manu Sawhney
as its managing director last week. Sawhney, who replaces
Singh, will now head the management of the company which
oversees the distribution and marketing of two network
services, namely ESPN India and Star Sports India. Sawhney
was previously the Vice President of Sales and Marketing
at ESPN Software India and has been with the company
since 1996 and is credited with taking the distribution
of each of the two channels to 17 million Indian homes.
Sawhney set up the complete regional distribution infrastructure
for Star Sports as an encrypted service and it managed
to achieve good subscription revenues. This apart, he
conceptualised and implemented the brand positioning
strategy for both ESPN and Star Sports brand through
print, radio, outdoor and direct marketing activities.
He also initiated and launched Playzone in India, the
company's most successful on-ground marketing programme
.
Says Manu, "The job offers a great challenge
as sports television is becoming a very competitive
proposition. I believe with ESPN and Star Sports we
have two very powerful brands in our repertoire which
have been able to establish a great bond with the Indian
consumer. We would continue to work towards building
these as generic brands in the sports genre."
He has his job cut out for him. But making
his task a little easier was ESPN-Star Sports' signing
of contracts with the cricket boards in South Africa,
Zimbabwe, New Zealand and Australia giving it the telecast
rights to all international cricket matches to be played
there over the next four years. The contract means that
there will be an additional 432 days of international
cricket till the year 2004 exclusively on ESPN and STAR
Sports. The two channels' cricket coverage cricket starting
October this year will feature tours by India, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and
West Indies. Looking at the Indian cricket tours only,
these measure a minimum of 136 days or over 1000 hours,
of exclusive and live coverage of India's tours to the
top international cricket nations. Earlier, the joint
venture had signed agreements with the boards in England
in the West Indies too.
However, the five-year rights for the
telecast of cricket matches to be played in India are
not with ESPN-Star. DD has tentatively bagged the rights
with its bid of Rs 2,300 million. And yesterday the
state-owned broadcaster sent its second contract to
the Indian cricket board within the set deadline of
27 October. A DD official said that the broadcaster
had ratified the contract; now it was up to the board
to do the same. The deal has come under the glare of
the media for the alleged manner in which it was awarded
to DD despite its bid being lower than that of other
bidders. Additonal controversy has been added by the
cricket board's insistence that DD settle an old outstanding
of $7.5 million with production house World-Tel. DD
has been averse to reaching a settlement on an issue
that has been pending for quite a few years. Some senior
members of the board have also threatened that should
DD not reach a settlement with World-Tel, the five-year
rights would then fall into Zee TV's lap. Be that as
it may, the Indian cricket board and DD will have to
reach a settlement quickly because a fresh round of
international cricket is slated to commence from early
October.
Meanwhile, ESPN Star Sports has launched
a major marketing initiative "Cricket Mania 2000" today
in order to bring about a stronger association between
the two channels, cricket and viewers. The Cricket Mania
2000' campaign will promote upcoming cricket coverage
including the LG Cup; Pakistan Tour of Australia; England
Tour of South Africa; the India, Australia, Pakistan
Tri Series; the England, South Africa, Zimbabwe Tri
Series; and the Asia Cup. With the conclusion of the
four major international cricket rights, the campaign
now has more to shout about. "I believe with ESPN and
STAR Sports we have two very powerful brands in our
repertoire which have been able to establish a great
bond with the Indian consumer. We would continue to
work towards building these as generic brands in the
sports genre," said Sawhney. He added, "Cricket Mania
2000 is another example of our commitment to constantly
add value to the cricket we bring to millions of cricket
lovers across India. We believe our work doesn't just
stop at getting the matches on-air but building in other
elements such as contests, promotions, events to further
enhance our brand value to consumers and cable operators
alike."
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