‘A pluralistic sports channel’

Looking beyond cricket, DSPORT promises to bring plenty of live action into our living rooms

May 26, 2017 02:32 pm | Updated 02:32 pm IST

READY FOR THE RIDE DSPORT will showcase horse racing events

READY FOR THE RIDE DSPORT will showcase horse racing events

One more channel for sports enthusiasts in the country. This one comes with a difference. DSPORT, Discovery’s sports channel in India, has teamed up with Tata Sky, to offer some exciting viewing experience. It will, however, not feature cricket but that is not a concern for the broadcasters.

Why no cricket? “There is no policy of no cricket or any such thing. Unfortunately, the cricket rights are not available ‘off the shelf.’ Most Cricket rights of interest to us already are contracted to other sports broadcasters with varying duration and as and when these rights come up for renewal, we will certainly be negotiating/bidding for these rights with the rights owners,” says R. C. Venkateish, the sports broadcasting veteran who is now working in the capacity of the advisor with DSPORT.

The channel will beam live High Definition (HD) feed of premium sporting leagues and tournaments like Brazilian National League, Chinese Super League, Portuguese League, Major League Soccer (MLS), The Dubai World Cup (Horse Racing), NASCAR, 6 Nations Rugby, British Open (The Open Championship), US Open, PGA Championship and LPGA Tour De France.

Venkateish is convinced there is space for sport other than cricket. “There is a significant market for non sports cricket properties and till such time we acquire cricket rights, we are concentrating on building a great portfolio of premium international and most importantly live event coverage that we are showcasing on our channel. Soccer, the second most popular sport in India, is a major focus area for us and we have the rights for several very high profile soccer properties. We also have a strong portfolio of motor sports as well as marquee golf properties. We are also bringing for the first time live horse racing.”

The target audience for DSPORT is the youth. “Our primary target audience is the keen sports aficionado in the age group 15-34, a netizen with a global outlook, and we find a large portion of the young Indian audience fitting into this profile quite easily. Our core promise as a sports channel is to bring the best of sporting action from around the world live to our fans. To this end our channel focuses on 4000 hours per year of live content. Sport is all about consuming events live. Talk shows and repeats are not what gets the sports fan’s adrenaline pumping. Our tagline reflects the need to live the experience through watching sports live: # Live The Game,” adds Venkateish.

Looking ahead, Venkateish asserts, “We have already received a fantastic response and within two months have garnered more than a quarter of a million followers on social media ( a record of sorts). We got our first ratings report last week and have topped the list of premium non cricket sports channels, so clearly what we have offered to the sports fans has resonated well with the audience. All in all, we have a pluralistic sports channel, we truly wish to provide a complete sports experience to our viewers of global high profile sporting events versus a unipolar single sport orientated coverage.”

A sports feast awaits the fans indeed.

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