Technology enabler Tata Communications is investing heavily into sports broadcasting, enabling broadcasters and federations to transform their businesses
Dhaval Ponda, the global head of media and entertainment business, Tata Communications
Known as a telecom company, Tata Communications is now making rapid strides into sports broadcasting, and is said to have delivered 80,000+ live events. Aside from its tie-up with marquee motorsports, tennis and soccer tournaments, among others, it recently signed a five-year broadcast deal with World Athletics. What made the company start a transformative journey into the fast-scaling business of live sports? Dhaval Ponda, the global head of media and entertainment business, Tata Communications, tells Forbes India in an episode of Sports UnLtd. Edited excerpts:Â
Q. Why did Tata Communications decide to foray into sports broadcasting?
Tata Communications, as you know, is a global technology enabler—we have a very strong play in helping organisations with their digital fabric. About 12 years ago, we already had presence in the media and entertainment and sports industry, but it was a non-strategic involvement.
At that time, we were noticing that the media and entertainment industry was about to go through a significant transformation. I’m talking about a time when Netflix was primarily a DVD company—I still remember the day when they launched a computer plan for an additional $5 a month to enable people to watch movies and TV shows on their computer. The stock market was unhappy—the prices tanked by about 30 percent. And people were incredulous—who in their right mind would watch movies on a computer when you have a DVD player. The Netflix CEO then came out and said they stood by their decision and this was the future.
We, too, saw some of the early signs where through this transition people would watch contents across multiple screens, they would watch more content, that content would be of a superior quality, and there was an opportunity for a lot of immersive content to come through. We made a conscious decision to make a dedicated effort to address this industry at a global scale—create a technology business that will enable global sports broadcasters and sporting federations to tap this opportunity and transform their businesses.