25 years in India: ESPNcricinfo to come up with Tamil and Bengali feeds
Ramesh Kumar, Vice President, Head of ESPN India and South Asia says 2019 will be a big year with Cricket World Cup and IPL
ESPN India recently completed 25 years in India. Adding yet another feather to its cap, ESPNcricinfo, a digital platform for cricket news and videos, is now planning to launch two regional feeds in Tamil and Bengali.
Talking about the expansion, Ramesh Kumar, Vice President, Head of ESPN India and South Asia, said they are still working on it and the plan is in early stages.
“We are in the early stages. We have something in Tamil which will interest not only Indians, but also people in Middle East, UK and Sri Lanka. Similarly, Bengali feed will also be of interest to viewers in Bangladesh as well. We are looking at all factors.”
On the digital front, the combined ESPN portfolio has seen a strong growth across the sub-continent in all key metrics (Jan-Sept 2017). The platform witnessed a growth of as much as +350 per cent for mobile video.
Speaking about the growth and future strategy, Kumar said, “We are celebrating this anniversary in all our key markets; not just India but also in our second biggest market US. ESPN Cricinfo is a global brand. In the last two-three years, we have seen a huge surge in terms of users coming online and consuming content on mobile.”
“As much as 80 per cent of the consumption happens through mobile platforms and we see a lot of younger clients coming forward. Among the upcoming events, we are looking at FIFA World Cup in terms of non-cricketing event. In cricket, we are looking at England and India series. The year 2019 will be a big year because of Cricket World Cup followed by IPL. Indian cricket and live cricket is the primary growth driver for cricinfo,” he shared.
Kumar also shared that ESPN Cricinfo has seen its ad revenue grow by 35 per cent in 2017.
Meanwhile, on completing 25 years in India, ESPN Cricinfo has started and annual tradition of celebrating cricket fever in India with a specially created dish ‘Googly Gujiya.’ One of India’s favourite festive snack, Gujiya has been re-imagined by Zorawar Kalra’s Massive Restaurants Pvt. Ltd as a celebration of cricket fandom and the sense of auspiciousness and euphoria that grips hundreds of millions of cricket fans in India.
On the agreement that we have with Sony for television and digital, we are the only digital destination that cover local sports in India.
Talking about the expansion, Ramesh Kumar, Vice President, Head of ESPN India and South Asia, said they are still working on it and the plan is in early stages.
“We are in the early stages. We have something in Tamil which will interest not only Indians, but also people in Middle East, UK and Sri Lanka. Similarly, Bengali feed will also be of interest to viewers in Bangladesh as well. We are looking at all factors.”
On the digital front, the combined ESPN portfolio has seen a strong growth across the sub-continent in all key metrics (Jan-Sept 2017). The platform witnessed a growth of as much as +350 per cent for mobile video.
Speaking about the growth and future strategy, Kumar said, “We are celebrating this anniversary in all our key markets; not just India but also in our second biggest market US. ESPN Cricinfo is a global brand. In the last two-three years, we have seen a huge surge in terms of users coming online and consuming content on mobile.”
“As much as 80 per cent of the consumption happens through mobile platforms and we see a lot of younger clients coming forward. Among the upcoming events, we are looking at FIFA World Cup in terms of non-cricketing event. In cricket, we are looking at England and India series. The year 2019 will be a big year because of Cricket World Cup followed by IPL. Indian cricket and live cricket is the primary growth driver for cricinfo,” he shared.
Kumar also shared that ESPN Cricinfo has seen its ad revenue grow by 35 per cent in 2017.
Meanwhile, on completing 25 years in India, ESPN Cricinfo has started and annual tradition of celebrating cricket fever in India with a specially created dish ‘Googly Gujiya.’ One of India’s favourite festive snack, Gujiya has been re-imagined by Zorawar Kalra’s Massive Restaurants Pvt. Ltd as a celebration of cricket fandom and the sense of auspiciousness and euphoria that grips hundreds of millions of cricket fans in India.
On the agreement that we have with Sony for television and digital, we are the only digital destination that cover local sports in India.
