"We don't need to bundle and package The Ashes to woo advertisers": Rajesh Kaul

The first of the five-match iconic test series - 'The Ashes', played between England and Australia was enough to emphasise why it is recognised as one of the most premium cricket tournaments.

After an early collapse, Australia made a comeback through captain Steve Smith's century and ended up winning the match. The stands hardly had an empty seat and the decibel levels were roaring high. The world champions will look to make a comeback in the second match while Australia will fight to pocket the series with a 2-0 lead. It is set to be an interesting tournament, but will people watch?

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), the media rights owners of the tournament in India, has launched a campaign to promote the series. "Indians love cricket for the sake of the Indian cricket team so when it comes to promoting a series without the Indian team, we have to work a lot harder to get that share of heart," says Neville Bastawalla, head, marketing and on-air promotion, Sports channels, SPNI.

Rajesh Kaul

SPNI lost the media rights of IPL to rival Star India last year after airing the T20 tournament for 10 editions. After Zee sold the Ten Sports Network to Sony Pictures Networks India for Rs. 2600 crore and exited the sports broadcasting business, it became a race between two giants - Star and Sony. Star tabled a Rs. 16,347.5 crore bid to acquire IPL and become the home for cricket played in India and ICC tournaments across the world. Sony went on to acquire broadcasting rights available elsewhere. "We have 275 days of live cricket on our channels," informs Rajesh Kaul, chief revenue officer, distribution and head - Sports business, SPNI.

Sony has the rights to broadcast cricket tournaments organised by Cricket Australia, Cricket South Africa (CSA), Sri Lanka Cricket, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Zimbabwe Cricket, and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Kaul believes that despite the rich library, The Ashes stands out. He says, "It is the platinum level of cricket. At times, it rates higher than many India versus smaller teams' test matches in terms of perception. This is the series the purists wait for."

Sony is positioning the series as a premium event and pitching it to brands with a price tag between Rs. 30 and 40 lakh for sponsorships, sources say. Media planners feel it is going to be a hard sell.

Vasudha Dawar

"The Ashes is premium cricket with two strong teams - Australia and England going head-on in a five-day format. However, if you look at it from the viewer's perspective, only a handful who are fans of England, Australia and Test cricket will be watching it. There is an ongoing India versus West Indies bilateral series and after IPL and Cricket World Cup, the sport has reached a level of fatigue. Brands have already put in a lot of money in cricket on television or on Hotstar to associate with those tournaments. There aren't many advertisers who would be willing to pay a premium at this stage," says Vasudha Dawar, vice president, Carat.

Kaul has a different opinion and is happy with the response the network has got from the advertisers. Did SPNI bundle The Ashes with the ongoing India vs West Indies series to get advertisers? "Not really. You don't need to bundle and package to sell The Ashes, the series has its own demand. It is not like any other bilateral series where the stands are empty. During the first test, we saw the stadiums jam-packed from morning to evening."

Sony has already got on board Byju's, Toyota, Flipkart, Apple, Policy Bazaar and the team is in discussion with a few other advertisers.

Gone are the days when only the broadcasters had to worry about the advertising revenue. After the implementation of the new tariff order requiring consumers to subscribe to the channels of their choice, the subscription market has also become crucial. "That is why all our campaigns are strategised around the MRP regime. Viewers call the cablewalas for channels in the Ashes campaign too," says Bastawalla.

"While it is known that the purists will tune in to watch The Ashes, we created the campaign to rope in new viewers. We mounted it as a pan-India campaign with SPNI channels covering the HSM well. And beyond that, films are airing on other channels in the South belt. Add to that, a robust pan-India print plan and digital too."

Following the implementation of the new regulatory framework, the reach of channels across genres witnessed a steep decline. The industry body, Indian Society of Advertisers, asked planners to not follow the ratings for six weeks. Rajesh Kaul, who has been leading the distribution business of SPNI for a long time, feels that the dust has settled now and the broadcasters have a sense of the landscape. "I would say the new tariff order will benefit all the stakeholders of the television industry and not only the broadcasters," he explains.

Quality content is crucial for that to happen, he believes. "Marquee events like The Ashes help us to grow the penetration and thereby grow the subscription revenue. We have The Ashes on a couple of channels and India vs West Indies airing on four other channels. This gives us an opportunity to push the entire sports bouquet," Kaul concludes.