Times group signs 3-yr deal with Sony Entertainment for TOIFA telecast

SET will give direct competition to STAR Plus which airs IIFA

The Times of India group, has given the telecast rights of its latest annual film awards event, The Times of India Film Awards (TOIFA), to Sony Entertainment Television (SET) for the next three years.

SET, which already airs another film awards property, Filmfare, from the same group, will give direct competition to STAR Plus, which airs International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA).

“We have a very successful relationship with Bennett Coleman for over the past 16 odd years, and the deal with TOIFA is an obvious extension of this relationship. We are excited to partner with TOIFA and hope that this property is as successful for us as Filmfare is,” Sneha Rajani, Senior EVP and Business Head, SET said.

While Rajani did not comment on the size of the deal, she added that “it made business sense”. The first edition of TOIFA was organised last week in Vancouver, Canada, from April 4-6 and it will soon be aired on the channel.

The award shows are a good content mix and are lucrative propositions for the Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) as often they garner good TRPs (television rating points), which translate into good ad revenue from the show.

“Awards like IIFA and TOIFA are heavily sponsored by the advertiser and so are even better for the organisers as well as the broadcasters. They are definitely revenue generators for the TV channels. The total size of the revenue from sponsorships is between Rs 9 and Rs 12 crore and they might make a profit of up to a crore. So far, IIFA had monopoly since its launch in 2000, but now it has a competition in TOIFA so we would have to wait and watch how SET sells the property.” a media buyer said.