Multi Screen Media set to launch sports channel

The parent company of Sony Entertainment Television Asia, MAX and SAB TV, Multi Screen Media is set to launch a sports channel within the coming year.

According to the Financial Express, the company wants to cash in on the success of its exclusively-owned, million-dollar property, the Indian Premier League cricket. A source said channel was already gearing up to acquiring huge sports events such as football, basketball and wrestling – most of the rights for these are currently held by ESPN STAR Sports and TEN Sports.

“We should float a new sports channel in the next six to nine months. We already have IPL and once we have enough content, we will launch our sports channel,” confirmed MSM COO NP Singh.

The network already boasts of broadcast rights to the New Zealand cricket series and the Football Association Challenge Cup, popularly known as the FA Cup. Moreover, Multi Screen Media holds the Indian Premier League broadcast rights for ten years, which it bought for around $1.2 billion.

“It was a pretty steeply priced acquisition. They will have to look for options to make good this investment. A sports channel, therefore, does make sense,” said a Mumbai-based analyst working with a management consultancy.

ZEE Network too has been toying with the idea of launching a sports channel in the UK, ZEE Sports and its TEN Sports channel are already available with separate international beams in other parts of Europe and the States.