Peter Hutton, VP- Programming & Events, Ten Sports
We are out to broaden sports audiences. We want to get higher females and be innovative in using mediums like SMS in conjunction with our programming.
We are out to broaden sports audiences. We want to get higher females and be innovative in using mediums like SMS in conjunction with our programming.
Here in our section, Content is King, Hutton shares his philosophy on Programming and sports programming in specific and its uniqueness.
Q. On why Taj Sports is branded as TEN... "This was done by branding experts and fits in from two points of view. First, 'number ten' in any game has been the best player. I can give you numerous examples Tendulkar, Pele, Maradona and so on. Second, Taj entertainment Network fits into the acronym TEN."
Q. On the uniqueness of Sports Programming... "Sports programming is simpler. What you got to do is the pick up the biggest event and put it live. What is unique stems from the fact that biggest difficulty is, to first determine and then negotiate the right price.
Another major uniqueness is that if you (the broadcaster) do not own the content, it can be hijacked."
Q. On the trend of Sports Bodies running their own TV channel "Increasingly more and more sports bodies are creating and running their own channel. Take the case of Manchester United. They have their own TV Channel called Manchester United TV and they are doing well. It's a trend, which is getting amplified across the sports arena. Previously sports bodies had an agent who would then negotiate with the broadcaster."
Q. On the key challenge - how to price a sports property... "The costing of a sports property is determined basically from what revenues it can bring in, what costs will be involved, what is the strategic importance to the channel and how the content can be leveraged. Let me give you an example, if we were looking at a cricket match we will look at issues like: Cost: a) What do you have to pay the cricket board? What is the extent of rights? b) Are we producing it? If yes, what is the level and hence the costs of production? c) What are the costs of transmission? Revenue: a) What revenues can come from advertising sales? b) Is it a day match or a day-and-night match as day and night are more valuable? c) What will be the time band in which it will be telecast? d) Can we generate revenues by selling content to another broadcaster? e) Can we make money from radio rights? f) Can we make money from Internet rights? This is however more relevant to US market as you have broadband availability there. Typically if we were paying 100 USD as cost, the cost for the rights would form the substantial chunk and could be as high as 75% of the total costs."
Q. On the challenges in Sports Programming... "The challenge is to maximize audiences. Getting Live audiences is easy but how do you manage audience after that. The second challenge is quality of production. You have also to understand that the greatest challenge we face is to create a daily audience as most of our audience is event based. We are constantly trying to increase the number of viewers we get by appointment."
Q. On the programming Philosophy at TEN... "Our philosophy at TEN is to offer Sports Entertainment. We are not offering our viewers just coverage. We are out to broaden sports audiences. What we want to do is to get more audiences pre and post a sports event. We want to get higher females. We want to be innovative in using mediums like SMS in conjunction with our programming."
Q. On the uniqueness of Sports Programming... "Sports programming is simpler. What you got to do is the pick up the biggest event and put it live. What is unique stems from the fact that biggest difficulty is, to first determine and then negotiate the right price.
Another major uniqueness is that if you (the broadcaster) do not own the content, it can be hijacked."
Q. On the trend of Sports Bodies running their own TV channel "Increasingly more and more sports bodies are creating and running their own channel. Take the case of Manchester United. They have their own TV Channel called Manchester United TV and they are doing well. It's a trend, which is getting amplified across the sports arena. Previously sports bodies had an agent who would then negotiate with the broadcaster."
Q. On the key challenge - how to price a sports property... "The costing of a sports property is determined basically from what revenues it can bring in, what costs will be involved, what is the strategic importance to the channel and how the content can be leveraged. Let me give you an example, if we were looking at a cricket match we will look at issues like: Cost: a) What do you have to pay the cricket board? What is the extent of rights? b) Are we producing it? If yes, what is the level and hence the costs of production? c) What are the costs of transmission? Revenue: a) What revenues can come from advertising sales? b) Is it a day match or a day-and-night match as day and night are more valuable? c) What will be the time band in which it will be telecast? d) Can we generate revenues by selling content to another broadcaster? e) Can we make money from radio rights? f) Can we make money from Internet rights? This is however more relevant to US market as you have broadband availability there. Typically if we were paying 100 USD as cost, the cost for the rights would form the substantial chunk and could be as high as 75% of the total costs."
Q. On the challenges in Sports Programming... "The challenge is to maximize audiences. Getting Live audiences is easy but how do you manage audience after that. The second challenge is quality of production. You have also to understand that the greatest challenge we face is to create a daily audience as most of our audience is event based. We are constantly trying to increase the number of viewers we get by appointment."
Q. On the programming Philosophy at TEN... "Our philosophy at TEN is to offer Sports Entertainment. We are not offering our viewers just coverage. We are out to broaden sports audiences. What we want to do is to get more audiences pre and post a sports event. We want to get higher females. We want to be innovative in using mediums like SMS in conjunction with our programming."
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