Sony Six bags rights to air Australian Open Live in India

The channel will air the Grand Slam exclusively for five years starting 2015. This year, the tournament will kick-off on January 19.

Sony Six, the sports entertainment channel from Multi Screen Media, is set to telecast the Australian Open in India for a duration of five years. The channel will exclusively telecast all the matches of the tournament live from 2015 till 2019.

The Australian Open will be Sony Six's first entry into broadcasting a Grand Slam event, having shown select ATP tournaments earlier. Says NP Singh, CEO, MSM, "Going by the strong equity that the sport enjoys, we are committed to expand the distribution of the tournament further and thereby strengthen our position in the market.

Prasana Krishnan, EVP and business head, Sony Six adds, "The Australian Open is yet another offering that stands for our diverse sports programming DNA. The tournament is seen as a season opener which sets the context for all tennis competitions that follow during the rest of the calendar year. Needless to say, we are proud to have this prestigious event as part of our bouquet of international sports content."

Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia CEO and Australian Open Tournament Director comments, "I'm delighted that we are partnering with MSM in India for the Australian Open. MSM presented a compelling proposition and demonstrated a commitment to promote the event and the sport of tennis in India cementing our position as the Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific."

The Australian Open is held annually over the last fortnight of January in Melbourne. First held in 1905, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of a year. The tournament features men's and women's singles; men's, women's doubles and mixed doubles and junior's championships; as well as wheelchair, legends and exhibition events. Since 1988, the tournament has been played on hard courts at Melbourne Park.

For the record, Sony Six, has rights to air some of world's largest as well as renowned international sporting properties like The Pepsi IPL, UEFA EURO 2016, Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016 and the European Qualifiers for FIFA World Cup 2018, African Cup of Nations, The NBA, The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Champions Tennis League and TNA. The channel has successfully managed to target the youth of India through a mix of sports and entertainment.