MUMBAI: “They say in golf if you are shooting 100 then your golf needs attention but if you are scoring 80 then your business may need attention. The sweet spot is somewhere in between, the ideal work life balance.” That’s how Harish Thawani, a man synonymous with the Indian sports industry and currently NEO Sports Broadcast chairman, begins the conversation after weeks of chasing to understand the company’s play in the current ecosystem.
And be rest assured that this avid golfer has surely found that sweet spot in between, for his company Neo Sports Broadcast will soon see a complete makeover and fresh investments to the tune of Rs 400 crore in content, branding, marketing and technology in 2015-16.
Neo Sports Broadcast, which operates two channels - Neo Prime and Neo Sports, will also see a slew of new initiatives being launched soon.
“Our existing shareholders have decided to make an equity infusion of approximately Rs 400 crore into the company this year, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals,” Thawani tells Indiantelevision.com.
Equity Infusion and Consumer Insights:
The existing shareholders of Neo includes Oman Investment Fund, Nimbus and Thawani himself. Nimbus in turn is majority owned by Cisco, 3i and OIF; with Thawani and associates holding a significant stake. In 2012, after having lost the BCCI cricketing rights, Neo decided to re-engineer itself on its future growth story. Through consumer insights, TAM numbers and research undertaken by the company, it picked up two trends in the market.
“One, sports other than cricket like football, tennis, badminton, golf and basketball were gaining significant traction and it helped us to find ourselves a relevant space in the ecosystem. Secondly, digitisation was providing an opportunity to broadcasters to cater to over 150 million viewers that now watch sports other than cricket,” Thawani explains.
Based on these insights the company has decided to acquire quite a few properties for this year for its two channels.
New Rights Acquisitions:
As Neo Prime and Neo Sports look to boost their fan base based on its recent research on viewers’ preferences, the company has begun a fresh set of rights acquisitions. As many as five new rights deals have been recently concluded and at least five more are in the pipeline, providing over 40 new live events and over 800 hours of live programming a year. All rights acquisitions have been done on a multi-year basis.
http://www.indiantelevision.com/television/tv-channels/sports/neo-sports-broadcast-set-for-mega-revamp-sees-rs-400-crore-equity-infusion-150323
And be rest assured that this avid golfer has surely found that sweet spot in between, for his company Neo Sports Broadcast will soon see a complete makeover and fresh investments to the tune of Rs 400 crore in content, branding, marketing and technology in 2015-16.
Neo Sports Broadcast, which operates two channels - Neo Prime and Neo Sports, will also see a slew of new initiatives being launched soon.
“Our existing shareholders have decided to make an equity infusion of approximately Rs 400 crore into the company this year, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals,” Thawani tells Indiantelevision.com.
Equity Infusion and Consumer Insights:
The existing shareholders of Neo includes Oman Investment Fund, Nimbus and Thawani himself. Nimbus in turn is majority owned by Cisco, 3i and OIF; with Thawani and associates holding a significant stake. In 2012, after having lost the BCCI cricketing rights, Neo decided to re-engineer itself on its future growth story. Through consumer insights, TAM numbers and research undertaken by the company, it picked up two trends in the market.
“One, sports other than cricket like football, tennis, badminton, golf and basketball were gaining significant traction and it helped us to find ourselves a relevant space in the ecosystem. Secondly, digitisation was providing an opportunity to broadcasters to cater to over 150 million viewers that now watch sports other than cricket,” Thawani explains.
Based on these insights the company has decided to acquire quite a few properties for this year for its two channels.
New Rights Acquisitions:
As Neo Prime and Neo Sports look to boost their fan base based on its recent research on viewers’ preferences, the company has begun a fresh set of rights acquisitions. As many as five new rights deals have been recently concluded and at least five more are in the pipeline, providing over 40 new live events and over 800 hours of live programming a year. All rights acquisitions have been done on a multi-year basis.
http://www.indiantelevision.com/television/tv-channels/sports/neo-sports-broadcast-set-for-mega-revamp-sees-rs-400-crore-equity-infusion-150323
