SPN India acquires media rights for WWC for Indian subcontinent

Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPN) has acquired media rights comprising of exclusive television broadcast rights and non-exclusive digital transmission rights for the World Wrestling Championship 2019, to be held from September 14 to 22, 2019 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. The agreement with Sporty Solutionz, UWW’s Media Rights exclusive partners for the territory, covers television and digital rights in the Indian sub-continent. 

Organized by the United World Wrestling, the 2019 World Championships will be the first qualification event in select categories for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The preliminary rounds will be livestreamed only on SonyLIV. The semi-finals and finals across all the three events – Men’s Freestyle, Greco Roman and Women’s Wrestling – and weight-categories will be telecast daily on SONY TEN 3 SD & HD and SONY ESPN SD & HD channels as well as live streamed on SonyLIV starting from September 14, 2019, until September 22, 2019. All the matches will be aired live in India between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM IST allowing audiences to watch this prestigious tournament at prime time. 

The UWW World Championships are the amateur wrestling world championships organized by the United World Wrestling. The event features competitions in Men’s Freestyle, Men’s Greco-Roman and Women’s Freestyle tournaments across different weight categories. From India, top wrestlers like Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Sushil Kumar, Vinesh Phogat and many more will aim to rise to the occasion. 

Comments: 

Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head - Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited: “The World Wrestling Championship is the most prestigious wrestling event of the year and this tournament is the perfect addition to our portfolio of marquee international sports events. Wrestling enjoys a massive following in India and all eyes will be on our top Indian wrestlers competing against the best in the world at the World Wrestling Championship 2019.” 

Ashish Chadha, Chief Executive, Sporty Solutionz “Wrestling has a strong fan base across India. Our partnership with Sony Pictures Networks India will usher a new era for the sport’s lovers, as they will for the first time get to watch a World Championship live simultaneously on television and digital medium. This initiative is another step in line with our commitment to take Indian wrestling to the next level.” 

Watch World Wrestling Championship live and exclusive on SONY TEN 3 SD & HD and SONY ESPN SD & HD channels from 14th to 22nd September 2019. 

About Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation, Japan. 

SPN has several channels including Sony Entertainment Television (SET and SET HD), one of India's leading Hindi general entertainment television channels; MAX, India's premium Hindi movies and special events channel; MAX 2, another Hindi movie channel showcasing great India Cinema; MAX HD, a high definition Hindi movie channel airing premium quality films; WAH, the FTA channel for Hindi movies; SAB and SAB HD the family- oriented Hindi comedy entertainment channels; PAL, a genre leader in rural Hindi speaking markets (HSM) showcasing the best of Hindi general entertainment and Hindi movies from SPN’s content library; PIX and PIX HD, the English movie channels; AXN and AXN HD, the channels showcasing the best in Reality, Entertainment and Drama; Sony BBC Earth and Sony BBC Earth HD, the premium factual entertainment channels, Sony AATH, the Bangla entertainment channel; MIX a refreshing Hindi music channel; YAY!, the kids entertainment channel; sports entertainment channels – SONY SIX, SONY SIX HD, SONY ESPN, SONY ESPN HD, SONY TEN 1, SONY TEN 1 HD, SONY TEN 2, SONY TEN 2 HD, SONY TEN 3, SONY TEN 3 HD; Sony मराठी, the Marathi general entertainment channel; SonyLIV - the digital entertainment VOD platform; SPN Productions, the networks’ film production arm and Studio NEXT the independent production venture for original content and IPs for TV and digital media. SPN reaches out to over 700 million viewers in India and is available in 167 countries. 

The network is recognized as an employer of choice within and outside the media industry. SPN is a recipient of several awards, including the ‘Aon Best Employers India’ Award in recognition of SPN’s unique workplace culture and exceptional people practices, consistently ranking amongst India’s Top 10 Companies with Best Health & Wellness Practices by SHRM & CGP Partners, listed by Working Mother & AVTAR as one of the 100 Best Companies for Women in India and adjudged one of India’s Great Workplaces by the Great Place to Work® Institute. Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited is in its 24th year of operations in India. It has a subsidiary, MSM-Worldwide Factual Media Private Limited and an affiliate, Bangla Entertainment Private Limited in India.