Times Of India’s online division is getting mobile and internet highlights of English soccer’s Premier League, after cutting a deal with online sports rights operator and broadcaster Perform Group.
These two rights packages were not exploited in the 2011/11 season but Perform holds them for the 2011/12 season. It is sub-licensing the mobile clips exclusively and the internet package non-exclusively to Times Of India.
- The internet highlights will go out on Indiatimes.com but Perform will also exploit them through its own ePlayer VOD product, which can be embedded on websites. Both Perform and Times Of India will sell ad inventory.
- The mobile highlights will go out through Indiatimes.com’s 58888 mobile service and through Times-branded sections of Indian telcos’ mobile portals.
Perform also holds similar rights packages in Spain and facilitates online broadcast for international rightsholders including Fox (NSDQ: NWS) Sports (Australia), Fox Soccer Channel (U.S.), abu Dhabi Media Company and Rogers (Canada).
Times Internet Limited’s Rishi Khiani (via release): “Given the growing popularity of football, especially England’s Barclays Premier League, in India, this is a strategic content partnership for us.
“Couple this with the growth of fans accessing sport via connected devices and our reach in the Indian market, we are poised to capitalize on these trends whilst simultaneously providing our readers and advertising partners with exciting new sport content.”