ESPN Star plans to launch 'Star Cricket' channel

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
Sports broadcaster ESPN Star plans to introduce an all-cricket channel in a bid to extract subscription revenues in a tightly-controlled pricing regime and also protect its position as a premier cricket channel. The new channel, christened Star Cricket, will commence transmission in the month of June 2007. Star Cricket will be the 15th network launched by ESPN Star Sports in the Asia Pacific region.

Speaking on the occasion, R C Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN Software India, said, "ESPN Star Sports has recently acquired the rights to many major sports properties including the biggest cricket property in the world, the ICC global telecast rights. The two channels that we have are already brimming with high quality content. Going forward, we intend to further strengthen our content line up both in cricket and other sports, which we will showcase on our networks. The launch of Star Cricket is part of our long term strategy to further strengthen our offering to the sports fans in the country. Star Cricket will showcase live India and non India cricket for the passionate Indian cricket fan. We plan to add quality first class cricket coverage from around the globe as well. The channel will also showcase feature programming on cricket including reality shows, archival programming and magazine shows."

Describing the need for a dedicated cricket channel, Venkateish said, "With lots of cricket and other sporting properties with us, we decided to give the Indian fans the unmatchable joy of enjoying their cricket with the depth they would like to see. While ESPN and Star Sports will also continue to broadcast LIVE cricket as well as other key properties, Star Cricket will be the one stop destination of all the cricket action, history, updates, views and reviews."

Ravi Shastri, ESPN Star Sports expert commentator and the recently appointed manager of the Indian cricket team for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh said, "Cricket is a religion in India -- the interest, passion and emotion this game evokes will remain unmatched for all times to come. With Cricket being an integral part of our lives, a dedicated cricket channel with the right mix of live, non-live and feature programming was always needed and I am delighted Star Cricket would fill this existing gap. There is a huge interest for live, quality, first class cricketing action from the top test playing nations as well as content meticulously customised for the Indian audiences, which is what Star Cricket would strive to provide its viewers. I personally believe Star Cricket is the best thing ever to have happened to the Indian cricket fan."

Harsha Bhogle, renowned cricket commentator and fellow member of the 'Few Good Men' on ESPN Star Sports, said, "I believe Star Cricket will be everything a cricket channel should be with a combination of live cricket and specially produced programming. I hope a real cricket lover will feel he is at home with Star Cricket for he will get to see more than international cricket. When I was young, we could hardly follow games unless the newspaper published the scorecards; then the internet arrived but this will give people an opportunity to see and form their own opinion. I would like to believe we will present cricket with a conscience."

With the ICC telecast rights for the next eight years and rights from Test-playing nations like England and Australia, the ESPN Star Sports network is looking at a total of 24 Test matches and 42 One Day internationals in 2007 alone. In addition, ESPN Star Sports will also showcase the ICC Twenty20 World Cup later this year featuring 27 matches. In addition, ESPN and Star Sports have an exciting array of non cricket properties like F1 and A1 in Motor Sports, Euro 2008 in soccer, the hugely popular English Premier League and Spanish La Liga, Grand Slam Tennis action from the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, the Premier Hockey League and best of action from the world of Golf and Wrestling. With Star Cricket coming on air in June cricket fans will be able to watch the India tour of England where they will play four tests and seven One Day Internationals.

In October last year, Nimbus-owned Neo Sports had mounted a serious attempt to corner the cricket space through its tie-up with BCCI, which gave it exclusive rights over all domestic Test and first-class matches till 2010.

Also, despite its extensive cricket library, ESPN Star has been unable to monetise its subscription revenues because of the existing norms for pay channels. Under Trai norms, pricing for channels is based on a formula based on prevailing rates in December 2003. This means that ESPN is unable to charge a premium for its cricket content. A new channel, on the other hand, gives it a bit more pricing leverage and an opportunity to bundle advertising sponsorships across its three channels. Besides, being an exclusive cricket channel, most cable operators cannot afford to ignore it. The two flagship ESPN Star channels, which were beginning to flag, can now hope to ride on the strength of the new channel. In other words, it will become easier for ESPN Star to bundle all its three channels for cable operators.

For ESPN Star, the search for subscription revenues is critical, especially since advertising revenues on cricket programmes have, of late, become somewhat fickle. Ever since Team India's dismal performance at the ongoing World Cup, being telecast on SET Max, ESPN has been forced to commit to new advertising contracts that are tied to Team India's performance. Theer's is also the matter of recovering its hefty Rs 5,000 crore investment in ICC-related cricket rights. In December last year, the ESPN Star Network joint venture had acquired broadcast rights for all ICC events between 2007-15 for a staggering $1.1 billion. The eight-year period which spans across 18 ICC tournaments, includes two ICC Cricket World Cups to be held in the Asian subcontinent and Australia-New Zealand. The period also includes two Twenty20 series.

Finally, the new channel is expected to ward off a possible threat from Neo Sports. But so far, media sources say that the Neo has encountered huge challenges in building up distribution, despite its contract with Star India. By taking on Neo Sports head-on, ESPN Star is hoping that it can block competition before it gets a chance to rear its head. In fact, when it launched, Neo Sports had tried to up the ante and charge Rs 57.50 a month from cable subscribers. But Trai forced them to slash the rates to Rs 37.25, which is being currently challenged in TDSAT. If the court ruling goes in Neo's favour, this could be a big filip for ESPN Star's new channel too. While the exact launch plan isn't clear as yet, ESPN Star's cricket-centric channel is scheduled to go on-air with either the upcoming NatWest Series in London in June or the Twenty20 Championship to be held in South Africa in September this year.