MUMBAI: Close on the heels of acquiring the PGTI and LPGA broadcast rights, Taj Television?s soon-to-be-launched golf channel Ten Golf has acquired the broadcast rights for Asian Tour while renewing European Tour rights both for the period of six years from 2013-18.

ESPN Star Sports earlier had the broadcast rights for the Asian Tour.

As part of the deal, Taj TV will have rights to air live and exclusive coverage of European Tour and Asian Tour events. Ten Golf will telecast around 20 live events of Asian Tour and 30 live events of the European Tour in 2013, which will add up to 200 days of live golf between these two tours.

Taj Television CEO Atul Pande said, ?As we continue to expand our content, we?re delighted to add two of the most prestigious tours to our impressive line-up of golf properties. Our acquisition of the long term rights is an indication of our interest and commitment in bringing high quality golf to Indian audiences.?

From the Asian Tour, all tournaments from the Asian Tour including the tournaments which are co-sanctioned between the Asian Tour and the European Tour, the WGC-HSBC Championship, the Asian Tour Golf Show and event highlights will be televised.

Asian Tour Senior Director of Commercial and TV Eric Lynge said, ?The Asian Tour is thrilled with this new partnership with Ten Sports. The appeal of the Asian Tour has grown tremendously in India especially with the success of Order of Merit winners Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa over the years and many other young and exciting Indian golfers such as Gaganjeet Bhullar, Himmat Rai and Anirban Lahiri have also won on the Asian Tour in recent times."

Ten will telecast all European Tour tournaments live besides the highlights. Additionally, it will also showcase ?European Tour Weekly? a magazine show. Highlight programmes of the European Seniors Tour, European Challenge Tour events and ?The Challenge? magazine show will be televised.

"With India?s depth in the game and the Tour?s cosmopolitan appeal where our membership ranges from over 30 countries, we are confident viewers of Ten Golf will be treated to the very best of Asian golf over the coming years,? European Tour Director of Broadcasting and New Media Mark Lichtenhein said.

?We?re delighted to extend our relationship with Ten Sports for a further 6 years and we are excited to be central to the development of Ten Golf, India?s first golf channel. We believe that there is enormous potential for golf in India particularly following its reintroduction as an Olympic sport in 2016.?

MUMBAI: Taj Television has bagged the worldwide television rights for Zimbabwe cricket till 2019.

The value of the deal is $20 million, according to sources. The four-year rights had earlier fetched $6 million.

The agreements with Taj Television cover the Zimbabwe cricket seasons in excess of an eight-year period from 2012 through to 2019. 

Taj Television will be telecasting 220 days of cricket including 15 days of India cricket consisting of two series.

With the acquisition of these cricket rights, Taj Television now has the rights of five cricket boards - South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe has returned to Test after a self imposed exile of six years, with an inspiring win against Bangladesh. Over the next two years, Zimbabwe will be playing Test Cricket with New Zealand, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka providing Zimbabwe a benchmark to measure their progress in the sport.

Zimbabwe Cricket MD Ozias Bvute said, "We are happy to extend our existing contract with Taj Television Limited as this plays a pivotal role in ensuring that Zimbabwean cricket is seen by those who love the game as well as introduced to new audiences. With its superior telecast standards, world class television production capabilities and strength to telecast the Zimbabwe Cricket worldwide, Taj Television Limited will add a lot of value to game of cricket."

Taj Television India CEO Atul Pande said, "We‘re extremely pleased to extend our partnership with Zimbabwe Cricket. This is a testament to our commitment to the game of cricket and fans as we cement our relationship with Zimbabwe Cricket.

"Through our television channels-Ten Cricket and Ten Sports, our website www.tencricket.com and our various wireless platform initiatives, we are confident of taking the rights of Zimbabwe Cricket to new heights by working along with various partners and are committed to set new benchmarks in broadcasting and distribution."

MUMBAI: Peter Hutton, former chief operating officer of Taj Television, will head the new sports division set up by Fox International Channels (FIC) and Fox Sports Media Group.

Effective immediately, the new venture will have Hutton join as FIC Sports senior VP.

FIC Sports now manages the syndication of Fox Sports content worldwide. Its mission is to centralise Fox‘s wide-array of international sports interests under one group in an effort to increase revenues through syndication and to support News Corp‘s sports activities and worldwide strategies.

Hutton reports to FIC president and CEO Hernan Lopez, and is supported by sales executive Zoe Duffelen.

Lopez said, ?As FIC enters the sports syndication business, we are thrilled that an executive of Peter?s caliber has joined the company. Combining his extensive experience in dealing with international sports television rights and the creative eye of a television producer, Peter is uniquely qualified to lead this new endeavour.?

Most recently Hutton was a partner and director at roadreach Media, a consultancy firm that advised clients such as FIC, Sportsband Media Group and Willow Cricket.

 
Hutton was part of the team that launched Taj Television in Dubai. Rising to the role of COO in 2009, he played an instrumental role in acquiring key rights for the broadcast territory such as the 2002 World Cup, UEFA Champions League, U.S. Open tennis, international cricket, and world hockey rights.

Ten Sports, the channel owned by Taj Television, is available in more than 60 million homes.

Before moving into television management, Hutton spent most of his career on the production and creative side of the business. From 1988 to 1993, he was a television commentator for Sky Television, ITV, and the BBC in the UK where he covered sports news and other sports programming, including the first years of the English Premiership football and live Bundesliga football.

In 1993,. Hutton joined Trans World International as the first producer of the magazine show ‘Futbol Mundial‘. He also bought, produced and distributed soccer content worldwide, eventually running the company?s office in India which produced and directed a variety of shows from Indian cricket to the Bollywood awards.

Hutton began his entertainment career as a radio reporter in 1982, and at the time, was the youngest reporter to have a lead story on the national news and the youngest sports editor in British radio at Radio Aire in Leeds.

In addition to Hutton and Duffelen, two US based executives contribute to the FIC Sports team. Peter Marco, VP of business & legal affairs, oversees the division?s business, legal and strategy needs, while Josh Oakley, director of acquisitions, manages rights acquisitions and coordinates operational needs.

MUMBAI: Zee-controlled Taj Television Limited has sealed fresh eight-year deals with two cricket boards for around $200 million, ensuring that its content stays rich as it seeks to scale up revenues from its sports broadcasting business.

The Cricket South Africa (CSA) television rights, pocketed for a price close to $180 million, will be one of Taj Television?s key properties. It will provide around 300 days of cricket, including two India tours.

"It is good that the South Africa rights has gone to a broadcaster who needed it the most. Otherwise, there would have been a big hole in the content of Ten Cricket (one of the channels that Taj TV owns and operates)," said a senior executive who was earlier with Taj Television.

The South Africa rights had earlier fetched $75 million for five years (One year and then four-year extension).

"The value of the South Africa property has increased. Along with England and Australia, it looks likely that India will send its full-team strength to these three countries," said the executive on condition of anonymity.

The period through to 2019-20 will have 48 days of India cricket, including six Tests, 14 ODIs and 4 T20s.

CSA has sold the eight-year exclusive media rights to Taj Television and Willow TV for a record $202 million, indicating that the cricket broadcast rights market is booming. While Taj Television gets Asia and the Middle East, the rights agreement with Willow TV covers the US, Canada and Mexico.

"There is a price escalation but the positive thing is that these are long term rights," said a media buyer.

Taj Television has also renewed Zimbabwe rights for eights years for $20 million, according to sources. The four-year rights had earlier fetched $6 million. A smaller board, Zimbabwe will give the sports broadcaster 147 days of cricket including a single India tour.

Taj Television is looking at renewing rights of three more cricket boards - Pakistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

"Our broad strategy is to have over 200 days of cricket every year so that we can ramp up subscription revenues. It is important to build a reliable cricket platform with quality and volume of content. We have also got other strong sporting properties," said Taj Television India CEO Atul Pande, while declining to comment on any financials.

The competitive environment will only help content costs climb. "Acquisition prices are set to rise as these rights open up in 2012-13. Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony Entertainment Television India) is keen to launch a sports channel. Though it has Indian Premier League (IPL), it needs more cricket content. It will have to bid aggressively. Outside these three boards, ESPN Star Sports has England and Australia which are also coming up for renewal," said a senior sports marketing official.

Cricket boards are living in a dynamic economy where values are shifting. "New Zealand and Bangladesh boards seem to have lost some value during this period," the sports marketing executive added.