Star Sports is to
provide Hindi commentary for
this year’s English Premier League, which kicks off from August 17.
Star Sports network will provide commentary in both English and Hindi for all
live matches, giving the viewer a choice previously not available. To begin
with only two matches will be broadcast in both the languages every weekend. Hindi
non-live broadcasts and magazine shows will also be aired on week days, as also
match reviews and match analysis.
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Close to 100 EPL matches will
be aired in Hindi
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The idea behind the introduction of EPL Hindi presentation is to create
a broader base of viewers for the channel’s non-cricketing programs, as India
has a large Hindi speaking audience which has not been catered to earlier.
The channel has
set a target to telecast close to 100 live matches with Hindi commentary in the
2013-2014 season, reports the afaqs.com.
Earlier ESPN
Star Sports had aired 2005-06 EPL season with off-tube Hindi commentary.
The Chief Operating Officer of ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd, Mr.Vijay
Rajput has explained the move saying, “We want to build culture of
developing sports that people have grown up with. The idea is to create a
portfolio of various sporting disciplines with in-depth programming in each of
the categories. This will help expand the sports viewing fan base and help in
creating habitual viewing amongst sports consumers.”
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Star Sports aims to create a
portfolio of various sporting disciplines
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Rajput furthur elaborated, “We have identified UK based commentators of Indian origin who will
call the matches in Hindi for EPL. For viewers to understand the nuances of soccer and the league
itself, we feel it is important to explain the live action in a language and
idiom which is clearly understandable to one and all.”
Star Sports has carried out a research which corroborates their view
point. India has 400 million Hindi people who understand Hindi as compared to
only 125 million for English, the channel points out. Therefore focus only on
the English speaking audience in the past has surely stunted the channel’s
viewer growth.
Star Sports has
rights to broadcast some of the hottest football properties in the Indian Subcontinent.
They hold broadcast rights of the Barclays Premier League, English FA
Cup, Italian Serie A and Spanish La
Liga.
They also have the rights to broadcast all England International matches, AFC Events,
FIFA World cup and FIFA Confederations Cup.
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