MUMBAI: The newest entrant in the country’s sports broadcasting world–Dsport–has hit a homerun by making it to the second position on the top-five list of Broadcast Audience Research Council’s (BARC) all-India data thanks to its inaugural cricket property. The Discovery India channel acquired the exclusive India broadcast rights of Nidahas Trophy 2018, a tri-nation international T20 tournament involving India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, in January 2018. DD Sports, telecasting the same tournament, grabbed the first position.
After winning the rights, the broadcaster joined hands with Viacom18-owned mass entertainment channels Rishtey Cineplex and Cineplex HD for the Hindi commentary.
Rishtey Cineplex climbed four rungs to the first position in the Hindi-speaking market (HSM) with 545,931 impressions (000s) sum in week 10 of BARC data as compared with 399,725 impressions (000s) sum in the week before. In the rural market, the channel garnered 369,001 impressions (000s) sum and was at the top position. In the urban market, the channel entered the top-five list coming in at the fourth position with 176,930 impressions (000s) sum.
Rishtey Cineplex has managed to match pubcaster DD Sports’ viewership leaving behind Dsport in the urban plus rural (U+R) category. Rishtey Cineplex garnered 10,022 impressions (000s) sum and DD Sports managed to secure 10,117 impressions (000s) sum.
Viacom18 CEO Sudhanshu Vats said that the association with Dsport for the telecast of the Nidahas Trophy had provided Viacom18 with a fertile testing ground for ascertaining the performance of sports on the network.
Being the first choice of rural people, DD Sports has climbed to the numero uno position with 144,541 impressions (000s) sum. Dsport, meanwhile, has managed to climb to the second position for the first time with 130,982 impressions (000s) sum. Live telecast of India versus Sri Lanka garnered 7,263 impressions (000s) sum whereas India versus Bangladesh got 6,627 impressions (000s) sum of according to BARC data.
Star Sports First was at the third position with 94,097 impressions (000s) sum for week 10. Sony Ten 1 dropped three spots and was at the fourth position with 89,983 impressions (000s) sum followed by Star Sports 1 Hindi at the fifth position with 34,928 impressions (000s) sum.
“The future belongs to collaborative broadcasting and this association between Dsport and Rishtey Cineplex is a pioneering initiative that seeks to broaden the horizon of sports broadcasting in India,” said Viacom18 COO Raj Nayak earlier this year.
The channels are likely to carry the viewership momentum in week 11 of BARC data since the tournament concludes on Sunday and, therefore, the matches will still have a bearing on the ratings for the following week.
Also Read :
Discovery World HD adds Hindi, Tamil, Telugu feeds
