Cricket, cricket and cricket. That is the exciting scorecard SET India will have for display in the fiscal 2006-07.
A lineup of eight sponsors that is set to gobble up 50 per cent of the inventory. A bulk deal with Dentsu that eases the pain of selling individually to clients. Sony's ad target: Rs 5 billion upwards. A figure that many in the industry are sceptical about, but the team at SET India is confident of achieving.
Centring around the World Cup will also be a slew of high-profile programme launches. The aim: to give SAB TV and Sony TV the much-needed lift.
In an interview with Sibabrata Das, SET India executive VP ad sales and revenue management Rohit Gupta talks about how media agencies should go beyond ratings and rates to work with broadcasters for deriving value from sports and other big properties. The industry with 70 million cable & satellite (C&S) homes, he says, is under-served and undervalued.
Excerpts:
What exactly is the deal with Dentsu? |
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Was there a proposal to handle the entire inventory on a minimum guarantee (MG) and revenue share basis? |
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Is the Dentsu deal going to be a trendsetter in sports selling even as acquisition costs for cricket TV telecast rights go up? |
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Is SET India targeting an advertising revenue of Rs 5 billion from the two ICC tournaments? |
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How? Besides, the two tournaments sit on a perfect timing with brands being active from October (festival season) to April (summer spending). Add to this the advantage of the Champions Trophy being played in India. |
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How much money have you tied up from the eight sponsors? |
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What are the brands you target for Extraa Innings? |
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How much of a revenue advantage will the Hindi feed on Sab TV be? |
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During the last World Cup, SET India's strategy was to push Max. Are you working out a similar strategy with Sab this time? |
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Have you changed the positioning of Sab TV after buying it out? |
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Sony is in talks to acquire stake in Ten Sports. Do you feel the need of a complete sports channel? |
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Is the time right to hive off Max into a complete movie channel in the changing scenario? |
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How will revenue support high telecast fees for the next World Cup bid? |
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Will advertising back up such acquisition costs or the model be driven by subscription revenues? We will also see money shift from on ground to on-air advertising. The value of on ground properties is diminishing. |
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What about subscription revenues? |
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With Zee TV on a resurgence, how has the slip in Sony TV's ratings affected the revenues? |
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Isn't Pix slow to take off? |
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Pix has a library from MGM but lacks new movies which HBO and Star Movies are able to telecast. How do you plan to correct that? |
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What are the plans for AXN? |
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Is there concern that the World Cup almost coincides with the implementation of CAS? |