Neo Sports plans to launch OTT service in 2016

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MUMBAI: Sports broadcaster Neo Sports Broadcast is planning to launch its own subscription-based over-the-top (OTT) platform in 2016 that will cater to niche audiences, a senior company official said. The company is also open to aligning with a bigger brand for the OTT platform. “We are coming up with an OTT platform very soon. We will either align with a bigger platform or launch our own platform. It will be focused on building niche sports communities,” Neo Sports Broadcast Network EVP of programming Mautik Tolia said. “It will be a subscription-driven model. We are going to target the niche premium segment, which has the capacity to pay,” he added. The OTT platform will be under Neo Sports brand name. It is expected to launch in mid-2016. “There will be the umbrella of Neo Sports and then there will be smaller sections within that brand which will focus on specific sports,” he stated. The OTT platform will offer all the sports in premium lifestyle category. However, the content offering on the OTT platform will be different from that on TV channels. “What you will see on Neo Sports or Neo Prime is only the pick of those sports, whereas on the OTT platform you will have sport-specific channels which we will eventually build,” he noted. It will feature sports that have decent following in India. “We will be looking at developing sports in pockets. India is a diverse market and there are enthusiasts for different sports,” he said. The main event of the key properties will air on the TV channel, whereas other events that the sportscaster is not able to offer on TV will be offered on the OTT platform. “With digital, we will be able to offer more content to our audiences which we were not able to do on TV. There is a huge opportunity,” he contended. Star Sports, the big daddy of Indian sports broadcasting, already has an OTT platform in starsports.com. Sony Pictures Networks India had launched Liv Sports, which has since been amalgamated into its video-on-demand (VoD) service Sony Liv. Ten Sports has an online destination called tensports.com. On the broadcast side, Neo is positioning itself as a premium niche sportscaster that wants to lead a profitable existence. To reach that goal, it is not chasing big properties to keep its costs under control even if it means having a meagre topline. In the past year, Neo acquired rights to Eredivisie (Dutch league football), International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), English horseracing, and International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Recently, it had acquired rights to the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), and FIFA Club World Cup 2015 and 2016. “Our strategy has been to position ourselves as a premium niche channel. The idea is to focus on premium properties premium football, horseracing, golf, etc. where there is a decent enough following in India,” Tolia stated. Have these acquisitions been able to make up for the loss of network’s mainstay property Bundesliga? “With the Dutch league, we have been able to substitute it with Bundesliga in terms of ratings and then we have French Open, Davis Cup, and PGA Tour. We have interesting bouquet properties,” Tolia claimed. He further stated, “There is no significant impact on ad revenue compared to what Bundesliga was giving us and what these new properties are giving.” The franchise-based local leagues do not fit into Neo’s current positioning. He also said that a lot of commercial airtime selling on the channel happens on the basis of perception. The digitisation of cable TV networks in major cities has resolved the issue of carriage and placement of the channels. “With bandwidth no longer an issue, it is now possible to address niche audiences. We will build small and medium-sized communities across niche sports and then find interesting ways of monetising over a period of time,” he explained. Sports viewership in the country is also getting fragmented due to the launch of new sporting leagues and growing exposure to international sporting events. “It is the right time to have these kinds of offerings as sports viewing is also becoming lot more fragmented. It’s going beyond cricket.” Tolia is confident that the business model chosen by Neo will hold it in good stead in times to come. “If you are able to keep your acquisition costs under control, then your business model is fine because your expectation from advertising and subscription revenue is logical. We have built a robust business model over the last four years. We are not making a lot of money, but we are not loss making either,” he stressed.

Read more at: Neo Sports plans to launch OTT service in 2016 | TelevisionPost.com | TelevisionPost.com

 

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Neo Sports plans to launch OTT service in 2016