With the goal in sight

ATUL PAND'S AMBITIONS ARE SIMILAR to those of his favourite soccer club, Manchester United. Being second best is no fun, be it among the country’s sports channels or in the Barclays Premier League standings last season. Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, once remarked: “When we were at our very best, we had four strikers.” Pande, CEO, Taj Television (India), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Rs 2,190 crore Zee Entertainment Enterprises, has three—Ten Sports, Ten Cricket and Ten Action+. The fourth, a pay channel on golf, is in the offing.

Till 2009, Ten Sports was alone in its three-pronged battle with numero uno ESPN Star Sports (ESS). Zee Sports, its partner channel, was a laggard due to distribution issues and its focus on Indian football. Ten then began treating the sports market very differently.

For one, it recast Zee Sports as Ten Action+ in September. Then, it dedicated a 90% share to international club football. It picked up the rights to broadcast La Liga (the Spanish league) in India. “We are now working on marketing the league here, and are confident of matching the Barclays Premier League (England) culture started by ESS,” says Pande.

“It’s a good move, given Spain’s recent popularity as world champions and the fact that, even in India, Barcelona FC is inching closer to Manchester United in terms of popularity,” says Basabdatta Chowdhuri, CEO of Platinum Media, and part of media buying agency Madison World.

For a challenger, this was a bold move, after ESS hadn’t re-bid as costs for the rights had risen. ESS officials weren’t available for comment. Pande doesn’t disclose how much he paid.

In a land where cricket is religion, Ten’s focus on football is all the more interesting. “Though we have cricket rights in five nations and a new channel in Ten Cricket, it’s a tough revenue model because of the huge rights fees,” he explains. “We never bid for big-ticket events like the cricket World Cup or Champions League Twenty20 like ESS, because you have to build those properties. We aim to be profitable by acquiring content at the right price.”

Ten is also actively promoting the “individual club culture” in India by beaming Man City TV, Chelsea TV, Barca TV, and Real Madrid TV among others, as part of its tie-up with Goal TV. All this is in addition to its burgeoning arsenal of European football, including the Italian Serie A, Dutch Eredivisie, UEFA Champions League, and the UEFA Europa League.

Ten will now need to match two other formidable properties of ESS—tennis (three Grand Slam events) and Formula 1. Its counter: World Wrestling Entertainment, MotoGP, ATP Masters series and the U.S. Open.

For the better part of 2010, Ten has been ahead in the viewership numbers. It’s hoping that will result in revenue leadership in the Rs 1,890 crore sports channel market. And a big upset.