MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media (MSM) has launched another sports channel called Sony Kix to complement its existing channel - Sony Six.
Kix will be available on all the major cable and DTH platforms with a pricing of Rs 45 and Rs 18.90 in analog and digital respectively.
The channel will be headed by Sony Six business head Prasana Krishnan. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, he says, “With the number of sports we have in our catalogue, a new sports channel launch was just a matter of time. Recently we saw a number of FIFA matches taking place simultaneously and we were handicapped since we could not air all of them. Moreover, we also at times had to place important matches on our GECs and that creates a lot of confusion for consumers. As the name suggests, Kix will mainly focus on football and fight sports but whenever needed it will complement Six with other sports too.”
Speaking about his vision for the channel, Sony CEO NP Singh says, “Sports has always been a core focus for us right from our early days. Our entertainment and movie channels such as SET, Max and Pix have also, over the years, broadcast some of the landmark sports events both in India and internationally. While the resounding success of Six in less than three years was a deciding factor to launch Kix, there was also this need to cater to the clear demand seen in the market for largely, alternative sports programming. Kix promises to be a great addition to our mix of channels and will go on to complement Six in more ways than one with exciting and iconic properties such as Pepsi IPL, UFC and NFL among many others.”
The channel will be launched during MSM’s flagship asset Indian Premier League (IPL), which is set to kick off on 8 April, 2015. Kix will carry Tamil and Telegu feeds apart from English. The channel's major geographic target will be South India for the time being.
“When one campaign is already on, there is no point setting up another and hence we will not launch a promotional campaign for Kix till the IPL is over. Post IPL, we might give an aggressive push but for the time being, it’s a new sports channel from Sony and will be airing IPL in three different languages. The channel will be launched in standard definition and in near future there may be another HD feed too,” Krishnan informs.
According to Krishnan, multilingual feed is emerging as a recent trend and every big event has been following the trend. “We started it with FIFA and Sony Aath airing the Bengali feed and now no big event is complete without the multilingual feed. In the future too, we will innovate and invade into new territory,” he adds.
In his two year stint at Sony, Krishnan has helped expand Sony Six's portfolio and acquired new assets of international importance. Kix will be the newest channel under his tutelage. “I am happy and satisfied. It has been very significant two years and we managed to grow bigger and bigger. Being a two years old sports channel, what we are doing and have done is commendable. The end goal is to make Sony the one ultimate destination of sports broadcasting for both viewers and advertisers. We have partnered and discovered new leagues like Champions Tennis League and World Kabaddi League and in future also we will evaluate and explore something new, which will be long term entertainment for viewers,” he concludes.
