 "MSM's Sony Six to bring TNA Wrestling's live events to India")
As non-cricket sports pick up pace in India, Multi Screen Media (MSM) will now be bringing live televised wrestling events to India for the first time ever. In partnership with TNA Wrestling, MSM, which runs sports channels Sony Six and Sony Kix, will be hosting three such events from December 2 to December 4. The final show, TNA One Night Only: Mumbai (to be held at National Sports Complex of India (NSCI) Dome), December 4 will be broadcast live in India, the United States and all around the world.
The announcement was made by Prasana Krishnan, business head, Sony SIX & Sony KIX, and John Gaburick, executive vice president of television and talent relations for TNA. The internationally broadcast sporting event will feature the Stars and Knockouts of TNA’s IMPACT WRESTLING, who will all be flown to India to participate in the event.
MSM has maintained that fight sports or contact sports are focus areas for their sports content portfolio. Apart from the Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL) and the New Zealand Cricket Board rights, the network has UEFA Euro 2016, top European football leagues, the NBA, the NFL, the IRB Rugby World Cup, UFC and NASCAR broadcast rights in the country. Krishnan explains that after cricket, wrestling is a televised sport that is gaining momentum in terms of viewership.
Dixie Carter, president of TNA Wrestling said: “Our phenomenal partners at Sony SIX have been tremendous in recognizing the powerful reach of professional wrestling and we are thrilled TNA programming has contributed to the network’s ranking as the most watched sports channel in all of India. We are also proud of the relationships we are forming with our fans across India and we are honoured to travel our incredible roster to India for three historic global live events emanating from Mahabali Shera’s home.”
Gaburick added that since India is a focus territory for many of TNA’s commercial partners, these companies will also get a chance to gain visibility in the country during these events. The list of sponsors has not been finalised yet though.
Last week, TNA’s global competitor WWE also tweeted a teaser of an upcoming event indicating a live wrestling event in the national capital. Details of the same are not yet available. The WWE broadcast rights in India rest with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited’s (ZEEL)’s Ten Sports. WWE has been organising events in India, but mostly at a promotional level and has not hosted an international live wrestling match.
In addition to this, Sony SIX and TNA announced the launch of their second search for India’s next big wrestling star – to join Mahabali Shera (the first edition’s winner) on the TNA roster. The exercise will see participation from DalipSingh Rana, or The Great Khali as he is popularly known, to search out talent in the country. Singh will be a part of the selection process and help mentor the contenders.
The announcement was made by Prasana Krishnan, business head, Sony SIX & Sony KIX, and John Gaburick, executive vice president of television and talent relations for TNA. The internationally broadcast sporting event will feature the Stars and Knockouts of TNA’s IMPACT WRESTLING, who will all be flown to India to participate in the event.
MSM has maintained that fight sports or contact sports are focus areas for their sports content portfolio. Apart from the Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL) and the New Zealand Cricket Board rights, the network has UEFA Euro 2016, top European football leagues, the NBA, the NFL, the IRB Rugby World Cup, UFC and NASCAR broadcast rights in the country. Krishnan explains that after cricket, wrestling is a televised sport that is gaining momentum in terms of viewership.
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“The sport is fairly entrenched in India and we are seeing a lot of viewership for TNA Wrestling events. Given the national interest for the sporting event, we want to showcase consistent content along with high quality and local programming to connect with our viewers. The TNA One Night Only: Mumbai event will be a first of its kind initiative in India for wrestling fans. For the first time, our local viewers will be able to experience a live event which is something that they have only seen on our channel,” he says.
Dixie Carter, president of TNA Wrestling said: “Our phenomenal partners at Sony SIX have been tremendous in recognizing the powerful reach of professional wrestling and we are thrilled TNA programming has contributed to the network’s ranking as the most watched sports channel in all of India. We are also proud of the relationships we are forming with our fans across India and we are honoured to travel our incredible roster to India for three historic global live events emanating from Mahabali Shera’s home.”
Gaburick added that since India is a focus territory for many of TNA’s commercial partners, these companies will also get a chance to gain visibility in the country during these events. The list of sponsors has not been finalised yet though.
Last week, TNA’s global competitor WWE also tweeted a teaser of an upcoming event indicating a live wrestling event in the national capital. Details of the same are not yet available. The WWE broadcast rights in India rest with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited’s (ZEEL)’s Ten Sports. WWE has been organising events in India, but mostly at a promotional level and has not hosted an international live wrestling match.
In addition to this, Sony SIX and TNA announced the launch of their second search for India’s next big wrestling star – to join Mahabali Shera (the first edition’s winner) on the TNA roster. The exercise will see participation from DalipSingh Rana, or The Great Khali as he is popularly known, to search out talent in the country. Singh will be a part of the selection process and help mentor the contenders.