Sony Six bags rights for Australian Open

The sports entertainment channel will telecast the premier tennis tournament exclusively for 5 years

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | January 8, 2014

Establishing their cornerstone as pioneers in broadcasting non-cricket sports, Sony Six has bagged the exclusive broadcast rights for the Australian Open in India for a period of five years. The channel will solely telecast all matches of the tournament live from 2015 to 2019.

The Australian Open will be Sony Six's first entry into broadcasting tennis majors, having shown select ATP tournaments earlier.

On this successful acquisition, NP Singh, CEO of Multi Screen Media (MSM), said, “Over the years, the Australian Open has established itself as one of the most revered competitions in the hearts of Asian sports fans.With the strong equity that the sport enjoys, we are committed to further expand the distribution of the tournament and strengthen our position in the market.”

Prasana Krishnan, EVP & Business Head, Sony Six, said, “This acquisition signifies another endeavour by Sony Six in bringing diverse sports offerings for viewers. The Australian Open is seen as the paramount opener to the Grand Slam competitions and we are proud to have this prestigious event in our bouquet of international sports content.”

Tennis Australia CEO and Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley said, “I'm delighted we are partnering with MSM in India for the Australian Open. MSM presented a compelling proposition and demonstrated a commitment to promote the event and the sport of tennis in India which continues to cement our position as the Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific.”

The Australian Open is one of the most eminent tennis tournament held annually over the last fortnight of January in Melbourne. First held in 1905, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year. The tournament features men's and women's singles; men's, women's, and mixed doubles and junior's championships; as well as wheelchair, legends and exhibition events. Since 1988 the tournament has been played on hard courts at Melbourne Park.

Sony Six is owned and operated by MSM India. The company is well known to exclusively broadcast some of the world's largest as well as renowned international sporting properties like the Pepsi IPL, UEFA EURO 2016, Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016 and the European Qualifiers for FIFA World Cup 2018, the NBA, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and TNA. Since its inception, the channel has successfully managed to target the youth of India through a mix of sports and entertainment.

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