MSM’s Sony Aath gets a leg up from soccer World Cup telecast

[Basil]

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MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) strategic decision to air 2014 soccer World Cup has paid the network in spades, declares MSM SVP and Sony Aath business head Tushar Shah.

As per TAM data provided by the channel, Sony Aath’s channel share grew by a whopping 204 per cent between May and June, making it the third most-rated channel in the Bengali market after leaders Star Jalsha and Zee Bangla. Aath’s share before the Fifa World Cup in May was 2.5 per cent which grew to 7.6 per cent in June.

So what did the trick for Sony Aath? It’s the Bengali commentary that helped the average Bengali audience better understand the game, asserts Shah. “Our objective before the start of the tournament was to broaden the audience base and extend the reach of the channel, and both of these have been fulfilled,” says an elated Shah.

He credits the Bengali commentary team for doing a great job of helping viewers understand the nuances of the game with a commentary that had a touch of local flavour.

“The response from the market has been overwhelming and the numbers validate that,” adds Shah, pointing out that the channel’s absolute reach has grown by 52 per cent in the last four weeks.

He also highlighted the fact that the Bengali commentary has brought in more female viewers so much so that the fairer s#x comprises 45 per cent of the total viewers, with the male audience just about retaining its majority viewership share. The event reached 9.8 million viewers among CS4+ audience during the four-week period of the event.

The GTVTs has also spiked to 28.2 million during the Fifa World Cup compared to 7.7 million before the start of the event. So, will Sony Aath continue its date with football? Shah remains non-committal. “Nothing is on the horizon as of now, but we will evaluate all opportunities,” Shah stated.

It must be noted here that Aath’s sister concern Hindi movie channel Sony Max has been successfully run as a hybrid channel with cricket events forming its mainstay besides movies. Will Aath follow the Sony Max model? Shah doesn’t give a direct response, only adding, “Aath is already running as a hybrid channel with movie and fiction content.”


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