The following release was posted by the team at IMPACT Wrestling regarding their television home in India – Sony Six – coming in as the most watched sports channel in the country.
Sony Six claims leadership in Indian sports channel audience league for 2014
Sony Six was the most viewed sports television channel in India in 2014, according to the Multi Screen Media-owned broadcaster.
Quoting figures from media research group TAM, Sony Six says that it had an annual viewership of 181.3 million last year, placing it ahead of Star India’s Star Sports 1 on 172.3 million and Star Sports 3 on 169.2 million.
They are followed by the Ten Cricket and Ten Sports channels owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, and then Star Sports 2, Star Sports 4 and Doordarshan Sports, the sports channel of the Indian state broadcaster.
Sony Six claims that 40 per cent of its viewership (74.1 million) is aged between 15 and 35 and 45 per cent (82 million) are female, higher than any other Indian sports channel.
Sony Six offered a wide variety of sport last year, including high-profile cricket in the shape of the Indian Premier League, the glamorous Twenty20 competition, and the Indian team’s tour of New Zealand, plus soccer’s Fifa World Cup in Brazil.
Other popular sports included basketball’s NBA, mixed martial arts’ UFC and professional wrestling’s TNA.
Sony Six business head Prasana Krishnan said, “It is a proud moment for us, as 2014 has been a defining year for the channel. We have established ourselves as one of the leading sports broadcasters in the country just within two years of our launch. With an exciting line-up for 2015 we hope to carry forward the momentum and serve a diverse brand of sports programming, which has hitherto not been seen on Indian television.”
The channel is kicking off this year with coverage of soccer’s Africa Cup of Nations, tennis’ Australian Open and the debut of Indian wrestler Mahabali Shera in TNA, and will also be showing the Super Bowl live and exclusive in India for the first time, on 1 February.
However, the highlight of its schedules will again be the IPL, the eighth edition of which is set to begin in early April.
