Cricket ratings and ad spends are on a downswing. Sony Six slated to launch this year might be finding itself on a bouncy wicket.
In an already crowded space, being India's 14th sports channel is not going to be easy for the new channel from MSM (the owners of IPL's official broadcaster Set Max).
Shifting the IPL matches to the new channel might give it steady viewership for the six weeks of the tournament but MSM would face the challenge of filling it up for the rest of the year with equally riveting content to make a mark among the 13 existing sports channels (two from the Neo stable, five each from ESPN and Ten Sports and DD).
“The Sports market is full up now and a new channel will have to depend on subscription revenues with cost effective programming mix. Most channels are losing money due to cricket and this will be the biggest challenge for any new sports channel,” says Mr Atul Pande, CEO, Ten Sports.
MSM is expected to bid for the telecast rights to beam Indian cricket matches, which BCCI is going to decide on soon. “While getting the rights to Indian cricket will be an opportunity, it will also be expensive for the channel which has already spent a huge amount on the IPL. Sports like hockey, football and badminton will take a long time to gain acceptance. Sony Six has no option but to acquire or create its own properties,'' said an official from a sports broadcasting channel.
However apart from the BCCI's Indian cricket rights, the rest of cricket and non-cricket rights have already been sold to various broadcasters as part of long term deals. This leaves Sony Six with relatively less options to fill up its channel.
According to Mr Hiren Pandit, Managing Partner, Group M, “MSM is expected to make money after the first five seasons of the IPL and will leverage this to buy more properties. It will bid for the BCCI's India cricket rights and is expected to build its revenues based on these two large sporting properties. It needs a separate sports channel today as it will complete its bouquet.''
Mr Vinit Karnik, National Director, Sports & Live Events, Group M, added, “Sports channels have an acquisition-driven model and IPL is an impact property. It will continue to be the core property for MSM's sports channel which will add to its bouquet in the future.''
Meanwhile, Set Max claims to be slowly getting a trickle of associate sponsors for IPL 5. “We have most of the six associate sponsors of last year signing up this season as well. We will be able to hike the rates for the balance inventory once the ratings come in,” said Mr Rohit Gupta, President, MSM.