Exclusive | Sony AATH to offer unique treat to Bengali viewers

Sony AATH, the Premium Bangla Entertainment channel that entertains its viewers with a mix of fiction, Bengali cinema and the best of international sports now to offer Bengali language feed for the first time ever on satellite television for an international sporting event. For the football lovers in West Bengal, the channel will broadcast 2014 FIFA World Cup live with Bengali commentary and provide its audience with a unique viewing experience that has never been done before on satellite TV.

In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, Tushar Shah Senior Vice President, Multi- Screen Media, who also manages the operations of Sony AATH shared insights on 2014 FIFA World Cup and also strategies planned by the channel for the same.

As a strategic move, Sony AATH aims to expand its reach through this custom offering to the vast Bengali speaking audience of the country. Talking about this unique treat for their Bengali football enthusiasts Shah explained, “So far in India none of the international events have ever been done in any other language other than English and Hindi. When we talk specifically about FIFA, it has not been done in India or any other sub-continent in any local language till date. The reason why we chose to offer  the Bengali language feed  was, one that we have Bengali entertainment channel in our portfolio and secondly viewers in Bengal are perhaps more passionate about football than in any other state.”

The channel’s strategy is clear to broad base the viewership of the channel and FIFA in the Bengal market as majority of the population in the state will prefer to watch FIFA with Bengali commentary. No syndicated research was conducted in the market for this but the understanding of the channel made it happen for its viewers.

The channel intends airing only live telecasts and presently has no plans of bringing audiences repeat telecasts of the matches. Clarifying their stand on this he said, “As of now we are only talking about the live telecast of the matches and not about repeats or highlights. There are 64 matches over all out of which 56 matches will be telecast live on Sony AATH with Bengali commentary. The reason why we are doing 56 and not 64 is because 8 matches will be simulcast.”

According to the channel, FIFA is one sport which cuts across all social economic classifications, all gender and all age group. Sony AATH as a channel which stands for premium Bangla entertainment believes in offering anything which falls within that spectrum of premiumness. “The brand promise that we are meeting with is not only the content we are heading right now but also with FIFA. The objective with FIFA is that, it will enhance awareness and viewers satisfaction which will eventually result in better funnel for some of our other programs that we have in our pipeline,” added Shah.

West Bengal and Kolkata as a market presently has many active channels. Sharing his opinion on whether FIFA will help in strengthening the identity of Sony AATH thus making headway among the rest of the channels he avers, “We are not approaching FIFA with an aim to create any specific distinct identity as we have an identity which is established. The channel has loyal viewership of customers and at present there are more than 20 channels today in our market and we are constant amongst the top 6 channels. It has been more than five years now since the channel was launched and our distinct audience is aware of what we provide and the channel’s brand promise. Adding further he said, “Our aim is not competition but to create value for our viewers in our own space. FIFA will enhance viewership.”

As Sony AATH is offering Bengali language feed for the first time ever on satellite television we asked Shah whether they are planning to do something similar for other sports too in the near future, on which he commented, “At this point of time it’s difficult to say and it’s something we don’t want to speculate on. We are taking one step at a time and as far as the channel and I am concerned the focus is clearly on FIFA WC 2014 right now, nothing beyond it at this stage.”

The sponsors for Sony AATH and Sony Six may or may not be the same as both the channels are being sold separately. As a prelude to the event, the channel will run the ‘Live the Magic’ marketing campaign till the tournament kicks off on June 12, 2014. The marketing campaign sees the star studded support of John Abraham in a whole new football avatar encouraging viewers to join in the party to catch the ultimate football extravaganza on Sony AATH.  The channel will use its own network channels, outdoor, print, social and digital media to promote the FIFA WC 2014. 
Sharing about the roadmap ahead, Shah briefed, “We have certain things in the pipeline and we will utilize the opportunity of FIFA on the channel to showcase some of those products as well. Once FIFA is over or towards the end, some of these shows which were highlighted will draw good viewership.”

Most of the matches are in the primetime band and from the perspectives of the channel, advertisers and viewers nothing can get better than this. The tournament will be in two stages; group stage will feature 32 nations and will be played from June 12 to June 26. The knockout stage will start from June 28 and conclude with the FIFA World Cup Final match on July 13. The 2014 FIFA World Cup will kick off on 12th June 2014.