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Sony Networks to focus on niche sports with low viewership

SPN has announced that they will be focusing on niche sports and a new three-year broadcasting deal of the Australian Open.

Sony Networks to focus on niche sports with low viewership
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By

Karan Vinod

Published: 16 Oct 2019 11:40 AM GMT

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) sports segment has said that they are preparing to focus on niche segments and therefore Tennis Australia and SPN have extended their broadcast deal by three years at the official Australian Open 2020 media launch. This could help in boosting the growth of sports in India.

SPN sports business head-marketing and on-air promotions Neville Bastawalla said ‘massification’ is the only way for the viewership to grow for niche sports. “There is a challenge and as well an opportunity. These are niche sports and the viewership is low. But the opportunity is certain. If you build the right relevance with these selective niche sports, identify and target them and build localization, you will reach the tipping point and viewership will explode,” he said.

Sania Mirza in action
Sania Mirza in action at a previous edition of Australian Open.

He also specified that there will be 360 degree marketing like last year panning across all forms of media. Last season’s heavy TV promotion primarily helped the viewership to grow, especially of the Australian Open by 39 percent in 2019 as compared to 2018.

Also Read: Sony to broadcast major Archery events in India

“We are going to synergize more this year with the Australian Open marketing team or how can we drive synergies to grow in India. We are going to work three months in advance”, he noted.

There is huge potential for sports to grow in India. While cricket will always be the primary sport for the audience, there are other sports whose popularity is growing day by day. He mentioned that the viewership of the UEFA Champions League grew by 50 percent in 2019 year over year. On the other hand, Serie A league has the highest reach in the country among football leagues.

SPN has come out with advertisements asking the customers to pick its channels. “It’s more about telling the consumer why they should subscribe to our channels also. Give them a reason to buy us. We constantly keep talking to our consumers with different propositions about why they should subscribe to SPN sports channels. This has to be a consistent effort – talking about subscription from a marketing perspective. We are very happy with the response we got so far with our campaigns,” he commented.

Starting from January, SPN will also feature promotions for the Olympics. This is six to seven months in advance of the games.

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