Leading television network Multi-Screen Media Pvt Ltd (MSM) is looking to capitalise on the current trend by telecasting sports commentary in different regional languages very soon.
“Until last year, sports lovers got to hear the commentary of cricket matches only in English and Hindi. We relayed the FIFA World Cup commentary in Bengali and saw viewership rise to a different level. We took cue from this experiment and prepared ourselves to air the commentary in Telugu and Tamil this IPL season. Going forward, we want to make the offering in many more regional languages,” Prasanna Krishnan, Business Head, Sony Six and Sony Kix said.
Addressing a press conference, Krishnan said Sony Kix will help expand sports viewership in the country. “Tamil Nadu has been an important market for us in terms of viewership, rating and size, ranking amongst the top five in the country,” he said.
For the commentary in Tamil, Sony has roped in Sadagopan Ramesh, Hemang Badani and VB Chandrasekhar and specialist commentators like Pattabhiraman and Seshadri Srinivasan.
He also said the BCCI, Sony MAX, SIX, KIX and Pepsi have come together to create a stadium-like experience for cricket fans through the “Pepsi IPL Fan Park” initiative, which screens matches on a giant screen.
Coimbatore incidentally is the only destination in TN identified for the IPL Fan Park initiative. The other places include Agra, Nagpur, Ludhiana, Guntur, Surat, Warangal, Udaipur, Belgavi, Kanpur, Indore, Allahabad and Bhopal.