The so-called Sports channels

It's sad to note the plight of the two so-called sports channels in Sri Lanka, namely CSN (Carlton Sports Network) & MTV Sports. So far non of them have confirmed the "LIVE" broadcast of the RBS Six Nations Rugby, MTV Sports states on their facebook page that they will have highlights of the matches throughout the tournament, but it doesn't say anything about "LIVE" broadcasts.

CSN the champion of rugger in Sri Lanka seems to be ignoring this tournament too, with no mention of it on their website, they too seem to have swept it under the rug, CSN a partner for Setanta Sports, the pay television network that even though they haven't secured rights for the entire region have allocated a special feed for all their partners in Sri Lanka to be able to broadcast the rugby. CSN used to broadcast rugby live from Setanta but the past few months has seen a decline in the rugby specially after the cricket came on CSN. 

This tournament is held during evening hours Sri Lanka time and it seems that neither sports channels CSN & MTV Sports are willing to let their regular entertainment programming slide for a sporting event. There is no point in calling them sports channels.

Channel Eye resumes cricket broadcasting

After losing out to (actually being robbed of) cricket broadcasting rights by CSN due to political influences, SLRC's Channel Eye & NTV have resumed broadcasting cricketing content. We are unable to confirm whether this is just a one time move or whether Channel Eye will continue broadcasting "LIVE" cricket after this tour comes to a close.

CSN which won the rights to Sri Lankan cricketing controversially were broadcasting all cricketing content involving Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka & overseas. This sudden shift comes as a surprise. It's good news to the cricket lover in Sri Lanka who may not be privileged to have subscribed to pay television, since SLRC's quality of broadcast and coverage far supersede's that of CSN.

We hope that NTV will only carry a simulcast and will not at any point in time be used to carry out a sole broadcast since NTV's coverage is much worse than CSN. Channel Eye should at all times be broadcasting the cricket & if not then "Rupavahini" should take over.

Since Channel Eye is the defacto sports channel operated by SLRC we believe that the matches will always be available on it and NTV will broadcast the matches only as a simulcast.

Star Movies Action Revamp - Sri Lankans stand to miss out on Hollywood premieres

The recent revamp of Star Movies Action India means that big Hollywood blockbusters will premiere on a monthly basis on the channel exclusively. This is in addition to the weekly premieres of movies on Star Movies India. These movies which have all been allocated to Fox International Channels for this region have been moved to Star Movies Action. 

These movies may or may not be telecast on Star Movies India in the near future due to an exclusive library of movies which is being built for Star Movies Action.

According to international movie rights allocations, the movies being licensed to Sony Pix India are also being licensed to HBO Asia which means that even though Sony Pix India isn't available in Sri Lanka, locals will not miss these movies due to them premiering also on HBO Asia which is available in Sri Lanka.

All these movies, the ones premiered by Star Movies India & Star Movies Action India are premiered on Fox Movies Premium, therefore this leaves local pay television operators with two choices, either add Star Movies Action India to their lineup or even better, replace Star Movies India with Fox Movies Premium (formerly Star Movies Asia, one channel that carries the content of both the Indian ones, without commercials).

We urge our fellow bloggers, etc to email Fox International Channels & urge them to allow local operators to carry Fox Movies Premium and put pressure on Dialog TV, Peo TV & LBN Cable TV to make the switch.

Sony Six acquiring rights to FIFA till 2018, leaves local pay television subscribers in the lurch

With the announcement that pay television channel Sony Six has acquired the rights to major sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup events until 2018 which covers two World Cup events & Eurocup events has left subscribers of local pay television providers in the lurch since none of them provide Sony Six on their network.

Recently the Sri Lanka - Pakistan series which was broadcast on Sony Six was missed by pay television subscribers, the only consolation being that CSN carried the event, however this resulted in paying subscribers watching a sub standard broadcast.

Its highly likely that CSN will broadcast the FIFA events due to the power position that they wield however since their broadcast is primarily targeted at FTA viewers, local pay service providers should take steps to add Sony Six onto their lineup.

With Sony Six which is widely regarded as the - new kid on the block - when it comes to sports broadcasting, they took the step of carrying Rugby via Setanta to the Indian audience which none of the other big names in the sports business did. However the recent spate of developments indicate a maturing of Sony Six which is now ready to take on the big guns such as Star & Ten Sports. This maturing could mean that Sony might move away from broadcasting Rugby based events and concentrating more on sports that appeals Indian audiences such as Cricket & Football. Nevertheless Sony Six is a must for pay television networks in Sri Lanka since the time will come when Sony Six contests for high profile cricketing tournaments, football & possibly F1. It's best to get the channel onboard now than to wait & pay higher subscription costs later once they ramp up content.

Over to the management of Dialog TV, Peo TV & LBN Cable TV.... lets see who adds Sony Six first.

TNL strengthens web presence

As the New Year dawned on Jan 1st TNL Networks launched websites & strengthened their social media presence. Even though the English channels (TNL Radio & Lite FM) operated by TNL have a strong web & social media presence, the same cannot be said about the TNL TV & their Sinhala Language channel.

However establishing a strong web presence isn't sufficient to resurrect this struggling giant, with low broadcast quality & programming the channel continues to be one of the least watched in the country.

It seems that a programme revamp is on the cards but how sooner or when it will take place is anybody's guess. It would have been ideal if TNL TV increased broadcast quality & revamped the programme lineup to coincide with their renewed web efforts. A new logo is a must for TNL TV, since the present one should be one should be on a museum shelf.

Please keep us updated on the latest on TNL TV as the days progress.

Happy New Year 2014

We take this opportunity to wish our fellow bloggers, the Management & staff of all media institutions in Sri Lanka

"A Very Happy & Prosperous New Year 2014"

Thank You for your wonderful support during the past year and we look forward to a greater partnership this year.