|
Sony Entertainment
Television (SET) has roped in Kapil Dev to anchor a weekly half-hour
prime-time programme for its MAX channel as a buildup to the Cricket
World Cup. The move is in line with Sony’s design to broadbase
audiences for the game, after having acquired the satellite telecast
rights to ICC cricket including two World Cups till 2007 for a whopping
$255 million.
Hoping to recover
costs through high advertising rates, Sony is initially indicating
an associate sponsorship fee of Rs 4.5 crore for the ICC Champions
Trophy and Rs 9 crore for the main sponsor of the event combined
with the World Cup early next year. With advertising agencies complaining
that the rates are unrealistic in a sluggish market, Sony feels
it can add value by attracting non traditional cricket audiences
including women with a “frill of entertainment to the programming”.
The Kapil Dev-hosted
show Kapil Dil Se will be aired by the middle of August, just before
the Champions Trophy in September. Dev, who is the brand ambassador
of Sony for the World Cup, will be talking to celebrities including
non-cricketers. But close to the tournament, the show will focus
on cricketers.
Ruby Bhatia
will host the other long format show, Cricket Masala. The half-hour
programme will look at the lighter side of cricket and will be telecast
around the same time as Kapil Dil Se.
Sony will also
introduce vignettes to promote the World Cup on the network. “The
support from programming and marketing will help us reach our sales
targets. Dev, who recently was awarded by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer
of the Century, will be a huge asset to market our product. We will
be using him for on ground activities as well. Besides catering
to the hardcore cricket audiences, we are also bringing in the entertainment
perspective,” said SET India executive vice-president (sales
and revenue management) Rohit Gupta.
Sony will have
a customised feed, with its own group of commentators. It will have
two-hour pre-match and one-hour post-match modules. While the World
Cup will have 54 matches, the Champions Trophy will have 15 contests.
But with DD having the rights to show India-featuring and some key
matches on the terrestrial channel, will Sony be able to sell to
advertisers at such steep prices?
“Cable
and satellite homes are spread across 4,500 towns, making DD’s
terrestrial reach irrelevant in these markets. Besides, there are
around 48 million cable homes, up from 18 million during the last
World Cup. There are also going to be more matches in this World
Cup,” said Gupta.
|
