Neo Cricket, No 1 TV channel with 202 GRPs

New Delhi, Nov 11 (UNI) Riding on the huge popularity of the nail biting India-Australia series, Neo Cricket has now become the number one television channel in India with cumulative ratings of 202 GRPs for the period between October 26 and November 1, channel sources said.

In the face of tough competition and channel fragmentation, Neo Cricket has continued to win eyeballs with quality cricket.

According to the latest TAM data for all India, October 26-November 1, 2008, Neo Cricket delivered 202 GRPs, leading second place Star Plus by over 25 per cent in TG: CS Males 5yrs+ category.

The 24x7 cricket centric channel from Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt Ltd has had a fantastic run with the India Australia series, with its ratings for the week being higher than all other channels.

Channel sources said the main driver for the jump in ratings has not been just the broadcast of cricket matches but also the unique and fresh content around the cricket matches. Cricket loving audiences have been glued to the India Australia Test series on the channel and the series has attracted a lot of advertiser interest who are already excited by these numbers.

The series had eight sponsors with leading names such as Airtel, Royal Bank of Scotland, Toyota, Perfetti, Hero Honda, HDFC Standard Life, Pidilite and Nivea.

All the top 100 advertisers across diverse categories like FMCG, telecom, consumer durables, and financial services have advertised in the past on the channel, proving Cricket and Neo Cricket deliver more than expected ROI for advertisers.

The sources expect the upswing to continue with the upcoming India England ODI and Test series and interesting cricket and cricket based programmes.

Abhishek Verma, (Head Marketing&Communications), Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt Ltd said,'' We are delighted with these numbers, Neo has always believed that good cricket is the best medium for advertisers and with the England tour coming up on our channel, the results can only get better.'' Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt Ltd owns and operates two channels namely NEO Cricket - a leading 24x7-cricket entertainment channel and NEO Sports - an all sports channel. NEO Cricket has the exclusive broadcast rights for all cricket matches played in India. It also has exclusive broadcast rights for International cricket played in Bangladesh and Kenya as well as BCCI's offshore cricket series.

In 2008, NEO Cricket is to broadcast a minimum of six International cricket series including four featuring India, adding up to nearly 200 days of live cricket.

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