MUMBAI: Sporting properties beyond cricket are starting to gain recognition in India. Leagues like the Premier Soccer League (PLS) are coming up, an encouraging sign in terms of viewership of other sports. Even participatory sports like the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and Cyclothon are attracting corporate money.

These were some points that came out at a session during Fusion 2012, organised by IMC. The topic under debate was whether sports viewership could go beyond just cricket.

Former hockey player Negi noted that hockey touched the sentiments of the people. If it went down, then it was the fault of the administrators. However, the World Series Hockey league is going to change things.

Procam International MD Anil Singh noted that a top down approach is needed for sports to grow. Sports management companies and sports persons should act as promoters after they identify a sport that they feel has scope. The sport has to be packaged well and taken to corporates.

Sport18 CEO Satish Menon PLS said it is important that sports economy be running parallel to the sport. He noted that golf while being niche, has a good following in terms of numbers.

The experts felt that the advent of new media would lead to narrowcasting, allowing different sports to reach its audience.

MUMBAI: World Series Hockey has signed a host of internationals from Canada and South Africa.

The signed players are Clive Terwin, Geowynne Kyle Gamiet, Lungile Tsolekile & Shanyl Balwanth from South Africa; Adam Froese, Antoni Kindler, Iain Smythe, Mark Pearson, Ken Pereira, Richard Hildred & Sukhwinder Singh Gabbar from Canada.

The line up from the African and North American regions includes a current international captain and a set of players who have played close to 800 international matches amongst them.

Ken Pereira, captain of the Canadian hockey team and one of the 7 Canadian players on the WSH roster, said, "World Series Hockey is a huge platform to raise the profile of our sport globally. With the diverse mix of international players in the fray, this is a tournament that is truly global. India is a great place to play, the fans are really passionate about the sport. I have some good memories from playing in the WC and CWG in 2010."

Lungile Tsolekile, a forward and one of the 4 South Africans players in WSH, said, ?It?s a great opportunity to be able to play in a tournament of the stature of WSH. For all of my South African counterparts, it is going to be a fantastic learning experience playing with a host of international stars on the same team. World Series Hockey will see a face-off between the best players from around the world and I am proud to be a part of this esteemed event".

Nimbus Sport deputy general manager Karl Da Costa said, "With the signing of international players from the African and North American regions, World Series Hockey continues to build a pool of diverse global talent. The league will definitely engage fans with different styles of hockey merging to provide spectacular entertainment.?

The WSH will be held from 29 February to 2 April and will involve 200 leading players -- Indian and international -- who will showcase their talent in 59 matches. The 8 venues for the inaugural edition of the league are Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Jalandhar, Mumbai and Pune.

NEW DELHI: Both maestro Bhupen Hazarika and renowned cartoonist Mario de Miranda have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously, even as film personalities Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi, and Mira Nair have been honoured with the Padma Bhushan in the Republic Day Honours.

Music director Vanraj Bhatia, filmmaker Priyadarshan, and noted spiritual singer Anup Jalota have been named for Padma Shri in the announcement by the President on the eve of the country?s 63rd Republic Day.

In the field of music, those who have got the Padma Bhushan include Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta for sarod, Dr T V Gopalkrishnan for classical vocal and instrumental music, and M S Gopalakrishnan for violin.

Vijay Dutt Shridhar of Madhya Pradesh has been awarded the Padma Shri for journalism. Professor Ravi Chaturvedi of Delhi has been given the Padma Shri for sports commentary.

The Padma Shri awardees for music include the Gundecha Brothers Ramakant and Umakant for classical vocal singing, Zia Fariduddin Dagar for Dhrupad vocal music, Nameirakpam Ibemni Devi of Manipur for Khongjom Parba music, Shahid Pervez Khan for the sitar, Sakar Khan Manganiar for Rajasthani folk music, and Yamunabai Waikar for the Lavani folk music.

In the field of theatre, those recognised for Padma Shri are Ramchandra Subraya Hegde Chitta of Karnataka for the Yakshgana dance drama, Moti Lal Khemu of Jammu and Kashmir (Playwright), Joy Michael of Delhi, Natesan Muthuswamy of Tamil Nadu, R Nagarathnamma of Karnataka, and playwright Satish Alekar from Mumbai. Cameraperson Sunil Janah of Assam has also been awarded a Padma Shri.

MUMBAI: Fever FM, the radio arm of HT Media, has seen its operating profit shrink to a mere Rs 0.1 million for the quarter ended 31 December.

The private FM company had posted an Ebitda profit of Rs 39 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. In the trailing quarter, however, it had reported an operating loss of Rs 45.4 million.

Fever FM?s revenue saw a marginal decline to Rs 174 million, from Rs 180 million in the year-ago period.

HT Media has employed a capital of Rs 814.1 million in its radio business, according to data provided till 31 December 2011. Fever FM operates FM stations in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata.

Meanwhile, HT Media, the publishers of Hindustan Times, has posted a net profit of Rs 482 million for the quarter under review, marginally higher over the year-ago period (Rs 478 million).

HT Media chairperson and editorial director Shobhana Bhartia said, "We are happy to report continued growth in a tough economic environment resulting in slowing advertising spend and a weakening rupee. We are confident that our strong and resilient business model, established brands and sustained cost optimisation will continue to create value and show good leverage as the macro economic environment improves."

Consolidated revenue went up 14 per cent to Rs 5.27 billion, from Rs 4.64 billion a year ago. The company said it has witnessed a 11 per cent increase in print advertising to Rs 4.07 billion (from Rs 3.69 billion in Q3 FY?11), while circulation revenue saw 7 per cent hike to Rs 503 million (from Rs 471 million).

Total expenditure jumped 20 per cent to Rs 4.41 billion, from Rs 3.75 billion a year-ago. The company said it suffered a 13 per cent increase in consumption of raw material, 23 per cent increase in employee cost and 25 per cent rise in other expenditure.

Consolidated Ebitda stood at Rs 945 million, compared to Rs 947 million.
 

MUMBAI: Colors is gearing up to launch another international format show for the weekend slot.

Ring ka King? Wrestling ka Mahayudh, a sports entertainment reality show, is produced by Endemol India in association with Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling, a privately held professional wrestling promotion company founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett.

The show combines elements of reality and fiction and is about TNA wrestlers and the Indian wrestlers who will fight for the title of "Ring Ka King".

Interestingly, in 2009, Colors had aired an Argentinian format show 100% - De Dhana Dhan, also produced by the same production house. However, it could not manage to get eyeballs and the channel never launched another season of the show.

When asked about the similarities with 100%, Endemol India MD Deepak Dhar said, "It is similar but very different. Our partners are different, wrestlers are different. It is a completely new format. And we have put in a lot of time and efforts to groom Indian wrestlers."

Colors has roped in Tata Prima Trucks as the title sponsor of the show, while Harbhajan Singh is the goodwill ambassador.

The show will run for 13 weeks and will go on air on 28 January at 8 pm, on Saturdays and Sundays. At present, the channel airs movies during that time.

The show will feature 14 Indian and 16 international wrestlers including Jeff Jarrett, Matt Morgan, Scott Steiner and Monster Abyss. Indian wrestlers to participate in the show are Jwala, Mahabali Veera, Romeo Rapta, Zoravar and Deadly Danda amongst others.

Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, "India, for the first time will witness the excitement of a sport and the intensity of a drama, both rolled into one. We believe that the show will appeal to our viewers and advertisers who are constantly looking for new and innovative platforms to reach out to their audiences."

Colors is also looking to regain its lost glory. The channel, which has fallen to number third position, is eyeing to fix its weekend with the launch of this show, post which it will look at resurrecting its afternoon slot.

"Once we fix our weekends, we will eventually lift our afternoon programming and then try to improve ratings. We want to be No. 1 but not at the cost of profitability. We are trying to get the right balance and make sound investments so that we first consolidate our position as No. 2 and then climb to No. 1," said Nayak.

Dhar added, ??It?s an exciting format for us to work with. While the focus of course will be on the wrestling matches, it is the entertainment and the drama aspect of the show that will put the matches in perspective making them a lot more interesting. Endemol has entered into a partnership with TNA Entertainment, to popularise professional wrestling."

For selecting the participants from India, Endemol?s team went to 13-14 cities except Mumbai and Delhi. "We went to the smaller cities of Haryana, Punjab and UP," Dhar said.

According to Nayak, the core target group for the show is males in the age group of 16-35 years. "The show will also attract kids and lot of young women audiences."

The channel is going to heavily promote the show. Colors AVP-marketing Rajesh Iyer said, "We will be having cross channel promotion for five weeks. We will be rolling out outdoor communication in more than 70 cities. In print, there will be more than 100 ads on the day of launch. We will also be having radio innovations by putting up disruptive advertising between content. For the same, we have tied up with few stations. We are creating two characters on radio, who will be talking about Ring Ka King."

The channel will be active on the digital media as well. "On digital we have applications that we are creating. We are associating with Agneepath for promotion in Cinema. For on ground activities, we are going to 25 cities, where we will be doing road shows. There will be innovations on outdoor and on print with Mid-Day on its 28 January edition," said Iyer.