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February 2010
ZEE ACQUIRES TEN SPORTS
In October 2006, Taj Television, owned by Abdul Rahman
Bukhatir's Bukhatir Investments Ltd, declared that its
Indian sports channel - TEN Sports was up for sale.
Sony (now MSM) was keen to buy the channel, and its
distribution arm - The One Alliance had just signed
a distribution deal with TEN Sports, committing TEN
Sports to be distributed by One Alliance, till 2009.
However, the offer price from Sony was below TEN Sport's
expectation. After wavering between Zee and Sony, in
November 2006 Ten Sports finally sold controlling interest
to Zee in a cash deal worth over Rs 256.6 Crore.
 Zee
got majority representation on the board of Ten Sports'
parent Taj TV, and had the the option to hike its stake
to 90% in TEN Sports after 2009, when its distribution
contract with One Alliance expired.
TEN
Sports came bundled with rights to some prime sports
TV rights which included matches by the Pakistan Cricket
Board, Sri Lanka Cricket Board and West Indies rights
as well as UEFA Champions League, US Open etc. TEN Sports
also brought in Pay TV revenues from the Middle East,
Far East and Europe where Zee did not have a presence.
Since
Zee owned a majority stake in TEN Sports, it consolidated
Taj Television's financials into the Zee (now ZEEL)
balance sheet.
OCT
2009
As
the 30th Oct 2009 deadline approached, for the buyout
of Taj Television's balance stake, Zee Entertainment
requested and got a 1 month extension. the move was
on by Zee to hike its stake to 90%. "Zee would
like Taj to retain 5% to 10%, since Taj has contacts
with the west Asian cricket boards," explains an
industry consultant.
95%
STAKE IN JAN 2010
On
18th January, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel)
announced that it is acquiring an additional 45% stake
in its subsidiary Taj TV Limited Mauritius.
Zee
said that "the Board of Directors have approved,
acquisition of additional 45% equity stake in Taj TV
Ltd, Mauritius, the owners of Ten Sports channel, through
its overseas subsidiary (Zee Sports International Ltd
Mauritius)", from Bukhatir Group (Bukhatir) for
a consideration of $44.145 million (about Rs 201 Crore).
With the acquisition Zee's stake in Ten Sports would
rise to 95% from 50% it currently holds in the company.
Further,
the board has also approved the acquisition of the majority
stake (100%) in the Indian arm of Taj TV, Taj Television
(India), making it a wholly-owned subsidiary of the
company.
In
November 2006, Zee Entertainment through its overseas
subsidiary had bought 50% stake in Ten Sports channel,
and 50% stake in Taj Television India Pvt Ltd, a distribution
arm of Ten Sports in India.
OUT
FROM ZEE-TURNER BOUQUET
 Taj
Television (India) Pvt Ltd, will distribute the 2 sports
channel "Ten Sports" and "Zee Sports",
starting 1st February, 2010.
Zee
Turner Limited the erstwhile distributors of Ten Sports
and Zee Sports will discontinue the distribution of
both these channels from 31st January 2010.
Hence
subscription fees from Multi System Operators (MSO's),
Local Cable Operators (LCO's), Direct To Home (DTH)
and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) providers will
be collected by Taj Television (India) India Pvt Ltd.
w.e.f 1st feb 2010.
Both
the channels currently claim a reach of approximately
71 million Cable & Satellite (C&S) homes across
India.
TEN
SPORTS PROPERTIES
 TEN
Sports currently holds the rights to air over 100 days
of international cricket every year through cricket
properties such as rights to the Pakistan Cricket Board,
Sri Lanka Cricket Board, West Indies Cricket Board,
South Africa Cricket Board and Zimbabwe Cricket Board.
The channel also holds rights to the UEFA Champions
League Soccer, WWE wrestling, US Open Tennis and Hockey
World Cup.
TEN
SPORTS OVER ZEE SPORTS ?
Zee
has ambitious plans to take the TEN Sports brand ahead.
Infact, today, the TEN Sports channel is significantly
ahead of Zee Sports.
TAM
Media Research Pvt. Ltd's data show that while Zee Sports
has been losing its already dismal channel share, Ten
Sports has been on the rise. Zee Sports' channel share
fell from 3% in 2007 to 1% in 2009. Ten Sports, on the
other hand, had a channel share of 28% in 2007 and 30%
in 2009.
ZEE
SPORTS TO BECOME TEN ACTION ?
 Speculative
press reports indicate that the faltering Zee Sports
channel may be re-branded as TEN Action.
TEN
Action will then be re-oriented with a focus on adventure
sports and non-cricket content such as football and
tennis. Then, TEN Sports will be the cricket channel
from the Zee stable. This will provide Zee a broader
presence in the sports channel category.
There
is even speculation that TEN Sports may be rebranded
TEN Cricket, to better identify the channel's focused
content, which is likely to get it higher pay TV pricing
& ad revenues.
Cricket-related
advertising budgets exceeded Rs 1,200 Crore in 2009,
said Shashi Sinha, chief executive of media agency Lodestar
Universal Pvt. Ltd.
L.S.
Krishnan, president of media specialist Radar, Mudra
Group, says ad revenues for sports channels have always
been sporadic. "When the cricket season is on,
sports channels account for as much as 8% of the overall
advertising pie while in other seasons, they account
for barely 1% of the overall pie."
TEN
GOLF TOO ?
Some
reports in the press indicate that Zee may also launch
a full time Golf channel, likely to be named TEN Golf.
There are mixed views on whether such a niche sports
channel will click in India. Some observers feel that
Golf is a high profile sport and a lot of premium luxury
brands may want to partner with the channel for sponsorships.
It could also bring in big international golfing tournaments
to India and spark off interest for the game.
Other
experts believe India is not yet ready for such focus
on sports that is not cricket. "India's mainly
a cricket country and the television rights to most
of the big cricketing events (even the Ranji Trophy)
are aligned with certain television networks,"
said R. Gowthaman, leader, Mindshare, the media agency
of GroupM India Pvt. Ltd. "The market's open for
other television-based niche verticals such as travel
and health and wellness but not sports."
Either
way, Zee clearly has ambitious plans for the TEN brand
and the TEN Sports channel. Crystalised plans should
emerge in the next 3 months. n
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