TV channels cash in on 'soccer mania'

New Delhi, June 13: As the 'soccer mania' grips the whole country, various television networks, in a bid to up their TRPs, line up programmes on the World Cup to attract viewership from the football crazy public in India.

While the ESPN is already airing live the 2006 FIFA World Cup matches, others channels too have made plans to '' soak the viewers in the spirit of the World Cup''.

In fact, in the run up to the World Cup, the channel has been showcasing more than 200 hours of the 2006 FIFA World Cup related programmes till the start of the event on June 9.

A unique feature of ESPN's world cup telecast is the Hindi telecast of the games.

''We are confident that our telecast of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Hindi will entertain viewers and help us in penetrating new markets for soccer. We expect to transfer and retain viewers to our Hindi telecast of the English Premier League after the 2006 FIFA World Cup,'' Mr R C Venkateish, Managing Director of ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd, said.

Talking about its plans for the World Cup he said: ''A phenomenal awareness has already been created around the FIFA World Cup in Germany. ESPN STAR Sports continues to make efforts to excite and involve consumers for the FIFA World Cup.

Not to be left behind, CNN International has secured footage rights for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, enabling the global broadcaster to show match highlights each day to ensure that its worldwide audience has a comprehensive roundup of the month-long tournament during the network's daily news and sports programming.

In addition, CNN has created an exciting new initiative for the World Cup with a unique interactive forum at the CNN 'Fan Zone' on the network's website 'www.cnn.com' which enables football fans from around the world to be part of CNN's World Cup team.

UNI

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