Fighting champions partners with SIX

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® is owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC and has it’s  headquarters at Las Vegas, Nevada. They also have offices in London, England, Toronto, Canada and Beijing, China. UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization.

 

UFC® produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest Pay-Per-View event provider in the world and is recognized across the globe for its action packed events that have sold the biggest arenas and stadiums.

 

A press conference was held in Mumbai on 12th September 2012 to confirm a wide-ranging strategic partnership between the Ultimate Fighting Championship® and the SONY SIX® channel  to bring the fastest growing sport in history to India. Year 2013 will see The Ultimate Fighter  (TUF) confirmed for India.

 

Six will also feature the greatest fights in the UFC’s 19-year history with UFC Unleashed. In addition there will be a reality show called The Ultimate Fighter: India (TUF India). This will be a competition involving 16 fighters and the winner gets a six figure UFC contract. This event will be held next year in India

 

With this development Sony SIX is now the home of the world’s premier mixed martial arts sport in India. It is the destination for all UFC programming in India, from live events featuring the biggest names in the sport to athlete profile shows including the seminal Countdown and Primetime. SIX will also feature the greatest fights in the UFC’s 19-year history with UFC Unleashed.

 

UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said: “We are very excited to partner with SIX as the UFC expands into India. We look forward to working with them to not only further expand the UFC’s fanbase here, but also to find and develop local talent and, ultimately, bring regular live events to India.”

 

UFC programming is broadcast in over 150 countries and territories, to nearly one billion homes worldwide, in 20 different languages.  The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter.

 

Man Jit Singh, CEO Multi Screen Media, the parent company of SIX, said “We are delighted to bring the UFC - the fastest growing sport in the world - to India. India has a lot of appetite for new sports and we are confident that younger audiences will be attracted to the special programming of the Ultimate Fighting Championship on the channel. Mixed martial arts require tremendous physical training, skill and strategy and India certainly has a lot of aptitude for the sport. We hope the property will be an inspiration to young India.”

 

With this new partnership will ensue the production of an all-Indian edition of The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC’s long-running reality TV show where 16 of the most talented unsigned martial artists compete for a contract with the UFC. Previous TUF winners have become UFC world champions and also international superstars.

 

Fertitta said SIX’s commitment to the series was crucial for the UFC in the market. While introducing the sport in India TUF India will also help to showcase the hard work, dedication, athleticism and skills needed to compete in the UFC.

 

Adgully spoke with N.P.Singh, COO, Multi Screen Media  and also with Mr. Man Jit Singh    CEO, Multi Screen Media to learn more about the landmark partnership with The Ultimate Fighting Championship and the attraction it will hold for today’s younger audiences. They hope that this new sport will inspire them and SIX’s new property will be a huge success. Following are the excerpts from the interview with them:

 

Man Jit Singh expressed his views on the property showcased and agrees that the Indian audience is mature enough to connect with it. “Absolutely, there are several reasons,  firstly we are targeting young Indians. When we did a research we realized that they want to see new sports that are exciting and fast paced. Secondly the tradition of ‘kushti’ is not a new concept for Indians. You know about Dara Singh, King Kong and ‘kushti’ which has been in our tradition since a long time. This is an extension of that so I think it connects to what we already have in India.” He continued to say “Indians today are doing well in Olympics, in wrestling which is the core skill of UFC. We think  the pride in Indian wrestling and the pride in the fact that they are doing well  will spill over into an attraction for the new sport.”

 

Though this sport is not known to many Singh is confident that with some push from the channel  it will soon become popular. He is also of the opinion that since our silver and gold medalists in the Olympics are a shining beacon for the sport this will drive the audience to accept it.

 

On the advertising and sponsorship front they intend to wait for the forthcoming festival season to get the sport established and the channel to establish on all platforms before approaching the advertisers and sponsors.

 

N.P.Singh too spoke about various aspects for the sport to pick up in the country. With regard to the TG they are targeting he said, “There are two differentiating factors: a) we are positioning it as a premium sports entertainment. Anything that we do comes with a ‘garnishing of entertainment.’ Even our sports presentation in the past especially cricket has come with a lot of entertainment around it. The property we are acquiring for the channel is a brand new sport for India otherwise it is already a fast growing sport  internationally.” He also spoke about NBA and football which is a favourite with kids today and they intend having football promotions on the channel in the near future. The new sport will differentiate them from other channels but according to him IPL will always remain their focus. “Everything else is built around the IPL. In its T-20 format it is fast paced and a lot of youth watch this because of its shorter format and we are trying to get the same youth to sample the new sport that is emerging internationally,” he said.

 

There is no way that UFC will be showcased on a GEC said N.P. Singh. But in the future they do plan on doing a reality show on “The Ultimate Fighter’ too will be only on Sony SIX.

Speaking on strengthening their distribution he said that they are already in 30 million homes and with digitization happening soon he envisages that number to soon increase to 60 million.

 

On the topic of packaging of the channel he said they have  no plans on that presently since  they already have a brand new packaging which is very unique, distinct and well received by their viewers. “The channel has UFC, basketball, football, tennis and IPLcricket so at this stage we do not think there is a need to do anything with our packaging and we’ll decide on that in due course of time,” he said.

 

Their anchors on the show will be faces with whom the viewers can relate to and understand. With regard to the marketing push he said they would eventually get to that but at the moment they are concentrating on promoting their individual properties like cricket, also adding that the channel is mature enough for them to take it to other mediums in due course.

Expressing his views on  digital offering to the audience Singh said, “ You will see a strong digital offering from SIX and that will happen in the next 3- 4 months time. Our marketing team is also looking into social media and basically it is a very effective vehicle for communication with the viewer.”

 

He also elaborated on the marketing tie-ups and spoke about the launch of the film on UFC created by Euro. It will be shown on their network and they have also created a few radio spots on UFC which will go on air shortly.

 

Sony SIX is already airing UFC since April 2012. With regard to it going live he informed that the TUF contest will go live a little later. At present the promoters are here to introduce the sport and help viewers relate with the brand.

 

N.P. Singh concluded to say, “That was the objective. To build an engagement with the brand UFC.”