NBC Universal forms digital content partnership with Ten Sports

Durgesh Gupta - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
NBC Universal Digital Solutions (NBCUDS), a 100 per cent owned digital outfit of US-based media and entertainment company NBC Universal, has formed a digital content partnership with Dubai-based sports channel Ten Sports and will develop and launch the channel's sports portal, named Tensports.com.

NBC Universal will own, market and syndicate Ten Sports' digital content for India and West Asia, including a cricket tournament to be played by New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka in the island nation in September.

Ten Sports is owned and operated by Taj Television, which is an equal joint venture of Bukhatir Investments Ltd and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd sister concern Essel Sports.

The portal will be owned and operated by NBCUDS and will offer live streaming of cricket matches. For instance, it will stream live the upcoming Compaq Cup, the triangular cricket series between India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, on the web from September 8.

It is learnt that the Sri Lanka series ought to fetch Ten Sports good advertising revenues and ratings, because the series will be played between 2.30 pm and 10 pm and not late in the nights. However, given the low Internet penetration in India, it is doubtful whether digital content will attract sufficient ad revenue.

Mark Denton, senior vice-president, revenue and digital media, Ten Sports, says, "We are very excited to partner with NBC Universal and will work hard to leverage the Ten Sports brand and our exclusive rights to deliver content in new and dynamic ways to our growing audience base, both in the sub-continent and around the world."

Meanwhile, sources say some of the digital content is also expected to find its way to NDTV.com, as NBC Universal holds a 26 per cent stake in NDTV Networks Plc., the UK unit of New Delhi Television Ltd. NDTV Networks manages NDTV's entertainment and lifestyle channels, and its digital media and other interests.

Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd (BCCL), which publishes The Times of India and Economic Times; and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN are some of the other companies that are interested in streaming live matches that would be broadcast on Ten Sports on their respective websites.

Rahul Kansal, chief marketing officer, BCCL, did not comment when he was contacted via an e-mail questionnaire. There was no response from Bhaskar Das, executive president of BCCL, to queries emailed to him on Thursday evening.