 "If you ask me, IPL and PKL can coexist: Uday Shankar")
The success of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) for the second consecutive season has boosted the confidence of Uday Shankar, chief executive of STAR India. This year, the country’s largest broadcaster opted to widen the tournament's viewership by beaming it in five languages, across eight channels. In an interview with Viveat Susan Pinto, Shankar talks about the factors that worked for PKL, STAR’s future bets and how teething problems with BARC, the alternate TV ratings system he helped create, will gradually ease. Edited excerpts:
Did you expect PKL to click in a cricket-crazy nation?
It was a calculated risk we had taken, given something like this hasn’t happened earlier. But we were confident and that is why when PKL was set up (by Mashal Sports, in association with the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, the International Kabaddi Federation and the Asian Kabaddi Federation), we went to them and said ‘let’s do it’. We had a plan and have abided by it all along. We saw the potential of kabaddi. It is a sport people follow with interest in the country. It has deep roots in India; we simply mounted it on a large scale. We are happy with where it has reached.
IPL is one of the biggest and most successful sports leagues in the world. Yes, PKL is gaining ground in terms of popularity. But it is nowhere next to IPL. Cricket continues to be big and there is nothing that stops the movement of traffic the way cricket does in India. If you ask me, I think the two leagues can coexist. IPL happens for seven weeks a year and PKL, for six weeks. I don’t see one cannibalising or competing with the other at all. In most countries, you have multiple sports leagues and I see the same happening in India.
Will you consider bidding for IPL’s broadcast rights in two years? Currently, you have the digital rights for IPL.
We will think about that when it comes up. We already have a lot of cricket in our portfolio. We have the rights to broadcast ICC (International Cricket Council) BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) and Cricket Australia tournaments. These are four of the top cricket governing bodies in the world. We have a lot of cricket; I don’t think we need more.
STAR has offered various digital initiatives such as hotstar. Do you see these getting a boost with the advent of 4G in India?
We already have a lot of content on hotstar. The challenge is to make all that content available to digital consumers adequately. The cost of content on the internet remains high. It is an expensive medium, despite the entry of 4G. The pricing hasn’t changed; 4G prices are the same as those of 3G. And, 3G is still expensive for many consumers. India remains a price-sensitive market. Wherever there’s Wi-Fi, we have seen the enormous consumption of hotstar. But on the regular telecom network, there is an issue.
Are you happy with the way BARC has shaped up?
The initial issues will gradually ease. You don’t often see a new ratings system supported by different industry bodies taking off and offering a credible alternative. BARC has done that and I am happy with the way it has shaped up. The teething problems will gradually recede.
Did you expect PKL to click in a cricket-crazy nation?
It was a calculated risk we had taken, given something like this hasn’t happened earlier. But we were confident and that is why when PKL was set up (by Mashal Sports, in association with the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, the International Kabaddi Federation and the Asian Kabaddi Federation), we went to them and said ‘let’s do it’. We had a plan and have abided by it all along. We saw the potential of kabaddi. It is a sport people follow with interest in the country. It has deep roots in India; we simply mounted it on a large scale. We are happy with where it has reached.
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Do you think PKL will ever fare better than IPL? After all, IPL has matured and there is a fatigue factor with it, not to mention its myriad controversies.
IPL is one of the biggest and most successful sports leagues in the world. Yes, PKL is gaining ground in terms of popularity. But it is nowhere next to IPL. Cricket continues to be big and there is nothing that stops the movement of traffic the way cricket does in India. If you ask me, I think the two leagues can coexist. IPL happens for seven weeks a year and PKL, for six weeks. I don’t see one cannibalising or competing with the other at all. In most countries, you have multiple sports leagues and I see the same happening in India.
Will you consider bidding for IPL’s broadcast rights in two years? Currently, you have the digital rights for IPL.
We will think about that when it comes up. We already have a lot of cricket in our portfolio. We have the rights to broadcast ICC (International Cricket Council) BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) and Cricket Australia tournaments. These are four of the top cricket governing bodies in the world. We have a lot of cricket; I don’t think we need more.
STAR has offered various digital initiatives such as hotstar. Do you see these getting a boost with the advent of 4G in India?
We already have a lot of content on hotstar. The challenge is to make all that content available to digital consumers adequately. The cost of content on the internet remains high. It is an expensive medium, despite the entry of 4G. The pricing hasn’t changed; 4G prices are the same as those of 3G. And, 3G is still expensive for many consumers. India remains a price-sensitive market. Wherever there’s Wi-Fi, we have seen the enormous consumption of hotstar. But on the regular telecom network, there is an issue.
Are you happy with the way BARC has shaped up?
The initial issues will gradually ease. You don’t often see a new ratings system supported by different industry bodies taking off and offering a credible alternative. BARC has done that and I am happy with the way it has shaped up. The teething problems will gradually recede.