ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day to offer insightful overview of India – England Test Series 2016-17 for SONY ESPN channel viewer

s

~ Watch ESPNcricinfo Match Day on SONY ESPN and SONY ESPN HD channels for post-match analysis by Sourav Ganguly, Nick Compton & Jonathan Trott ~

~ Also catch ESPNcricinfo Match Day segments on ESPNcricinfo, ESPN.in, and SonyLIV app and websites ~

Mumbai, 09 November 2016: Starting 9th November, cricket fans will be served the best of analysis around the match action during England’s tour of India with ESPNcricinfo’s signature program “ESPNcricinfo Match day” on SONY ESPN and SONY ESPN HD channels every day at 10 pm IST.

ESPNcricinfo Match Day provides fans with credible voices, strong opinions, sharp insights, and riveting statistics. As a part of SONY ESPN channel’s compelling and engaging content offering, ESPNcricinfo Match Day brings fans ESPN’s trademark game around the game analysis format. The show will be anchored by Gaurav Kalra, Senior Editor, ESPNcricinfo with experts Sourav Ganguly, former captain of the Indian National Cricket Team, England cricketer Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott, former English cricketer. Produced from ESPN studios in India, some segments of the show will also be offered to ESPNcricinfo global audience on its website and app.  

Speaking of ESPNcricinfo Match Day, Jasdeep Pannu, Head of ESPN India Television Initiatives, said “We’re excited to bring the next edition of ESPNcricinfo Match Day around England’s tour of India on SONY ESPN channels and ESPNcricinfo, capturing not only the happenings around the game but also the kind of insights missed by other analysis shows. Moreover, we’re excited to have Sourav Ganguly, a legend of the game, with us this time around.”  

Sourav Ganguly, former Captain, Indian National Cricket Team, said “It’s really exciting for me to be a part of ESPNcricinfo Match Day. The England tour of India promises to be a fiercely fought series. Both teams are building their next generation and there's a lot to prove. ESPNcricinfo has always been at the forefront of sharp analysis and deep insight that is tailored for the ardent cricket fan. I can't wait for the action to begin!”

Ramesh Kumar, Vice President, Head of ESPN India and South Asia said, “Offering sports fans compelling game around the game coverage, analysis and expert insights across platforms is part of ESPN’s mission. During the next two months in addition to ESPNcricinfo’s live and comprehensive match coverage, ESPNcricinfo Match Day on SONY ESPN channels and espn.in will offer a clear differentiated analysis show during this keenly awaited cricket contest.”

Please find the schedule of the series below:

Match	Date	Day	Time	Venue	Platform
1st Test	09-13 NOV	Wed	09:30 AM	Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot	Watch ESPNcricinfo Match Day on  -  Sony ESPN & Sony ESPN HD Catch Match Day segments on – ESPNcricinfo,  ESPN.in and SonyLIV app and websites
2nd Test	17-21 NOV	Thu	09:30 AM	Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
3rd Test	26-30 NOV	Sat	09:30 AM	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
4th Test	08-12 DEC	Thu	09:30 AM	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
5th Test	16-20 DEC	Fri	09:30 AM	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

The first show airs on 9th November, 2016 at 10pm on SONY ESPN and SONY ESPN HD channels, SonyLIV App and SonyLIV.com. Match Day segments will be available on ESPNcricinfo, ESPN.in and SonyLIV app and website.

ESPN IN INDIA

India is a key part of ESPN’s growth – in the Asia-Pacific region and globally – and its presence in the country is powered by the potent combination of ESPN’s leadership in digital sports and its long-term SONY ESPN collaboration with Sony Pictures Networks India.

Serving the massive and vibrant sports fan community with entertaining, insightful and high-quality products and content, across digital devices and television, is at the core of ESPN’s strategy in India and the subcontinent. With offices in Bangalore and Mumbai, it boasts a world-class team that includes technologists, developers, editors, journalists and more that make up ESPN’s largest technology and digital editorial teams outside the United States.

ESPNcricinfo, already the ultimate destination for authentic, unbiased cricket news, analysis, statistics and scores, continues serving Indian cricket fans as it has for over 23 years.

BelOrta. Launched by actor Sonu Sood

IG International in association with B

elorta brings belgian CONFERENCE PEARS to india

Mumbai, November 8, 2016: Indian fruit lovers are in for a treat!! Belgian Conference Pears will now be  available in the country as IG International, India’s leading fresh fruit importer has announced an association with Belgium-based fruit company BelOrta. Launched by actor Sonu Sood and celebrity chef Ranveer Brar, the fruit is now available in leading retail stores across the country and will definitely add to the festive palates of Indian consumers.

Deliciously sweet, it can be both, hard and crispy as well as soft, depending on the ripeness of the fruit.  The fruit is naturally bestowed with a good shelf life and can be stored over long periods of time. This pear, has a unique shape with a long neck. It also has significant water content due to which it can be used as a great thirst quencher.  

Apart from being seedless, one of the greatest advantages of the Belgian Conference Pear is that it can be consumed at any stage of its ripening period. The Belgian Conference Pear is also ideal for children since it has no core.

“We are proud to welcome the Belgian Conference Pear to India and add it to our burgeoning list of exotic fruit offerings in the country. With a 20000MT pear consumption market in India as per last year’s data, we hope the Indian consumer will love this delicious fruit for its taste as well as medicinal properties” said Mr. Tarun Arora, Director, IG International Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Jo Lambrecht, Commercial Manager, BelOrta further added, “The Belgian Conference Pear is one of the most popular European fruits at the moment. We are extremely confident of receiving a positive response for it from the massive Indian market as well. IG is one of the oldest cold chain companies in India and with its vast distribution network, it is the ideal partner for us to launch this well-loved international fruit to the Indian consumer.”

About IG International Pvt. Ltd. (IG)

With fresh produce procurement spanning 22 countries and handling capacities of over 31 varieties of fruits, IG International has established its mettle in delivering on the diversified tastes of the Indian markets. “No one understands fresh produce import/export like IG International does. With over half a century of experience and expertise in delivering fresh produce with minimal wastage to our customers, we at IGI have positioned ourselves as the top choice for suppliers of fruits in the international market,” says Mr. Tarun Arora, Director, IG International Pvt. Ltd.

About BelOrta

BelOrta is a Belgian fruit and vegetable cooperative, located in the heart of Europe. More than 1.350 active growers guarantee a supply of more than 120 varieties of vegetables, 30 varieties of fruit and 17

varieties of herbs throughout the year. Every day, we commit ourselves to one goal, to offer top quality fresh fruit and vegetables with focus on sustainability. “BelOrta’s mission is to let consumers all over the world enjoy our healthy, fresh and above all very tasty products, “says Mr. Jo Lambrecht, Commercial Manager of BelOrta.

Arré and SonyLIV enter into a co-production partnership for a new Web Series

Mumbai, November 07th, 2016:

After announcing a distribution alliance, SonyLIV and Arré, have now come together to co-produce a digital series. The lead of the series, Rithvik Dhanjani, is one of the most popular faces on Indian television who is currently anchoring Super Dancer, the No.1 reality show on Sony and was also last seen in I Don’t Watch TV and Arré Ho Ja Re-Gender on Arré.

Set against the backdrop of a big fat Indian wedding, the show is a comedy of errors that promises to be a visual treat and centres around a wild bachelor trip gone horribly wrong.

A wolf pack of three best friends, a groom-to-be and his two quirky friends take off on a bachelor trip just before the wedding. With a bullying bride-to-be back home, some comical misadventures on a foreign sojourn and an unexpected encounter with a beautiful stranger, the protagonist comes to understand the meaning of love and friendship.

The show, produced for Arré and SonyLIV by Rithvik and Srman Jain, also a well known TV actor, will go into production soon and is planned for launch in early 2017.

The show is scheduled to go into production soon, with a digital launch planned on SonyLIV’s and Arré’s web and mobile platforms for early 2017.

Comments:

Uday Sodhi, EVP and Head – Digital Business, SonyLIV said,

“The new-age Indian viewers want engaging and original entertainment solutions which they can relate to and enjoy. We, at SonyLIV, have been developing fresh and youthful content which caters to the evolved entertainment sensibilities of the millennial viewership. Given its theme, we are confident that the show will be hugely popular with our target audiences, as they will be able to relate to the characters and the situations on the show.”

Ajay Chacko, Co-Founder & CEO of Arré, said,

“At Arré, we believe in bringing a new lens to traditional formats and genres of content, be it commentary on the news or a comedy fiction show. After our distribution alliance,  we’re are delighted to partner with SonyLIV – which has already established itself as a leading digital entertainment platform – for original content and look forward to many more such shows together.”

Rithvik Dhanjani, said

“I am super excited about the show and look forward to working with SonyLIV and Arré again on yet another interesting project. With digital entertainment destinations like these, there is scope to tell stories that have a new-age sensibility and which resonate with the young audiences. The story and the characters in the show are reflective of this mindset and I feel the audiences will be able to relate to it l.”

SonyLIV:

SonyLIV is the first premium Video on demand (VOD) service by Sony Pictures Networks’ (SPN) providing multi-screen engagement to users on all devices. Launched in January 2013, it enables users to discover 20 years of rich content from the network channels of Sony Pictures Networks’ Pvt. Ltd. It also provides a rich array of movies, strong line-up of events across all sports, shows, music, product reviews.

With 25 million app downloads so far, SonyLIV is the first amongst its competition to provide original exclusive premium content.

As a true pioneer in its space, SonyLIV launched India’s first-ever original show exclusively for the online platform earlier this year. With #LoveBytes, it became the country’s first digital video-on-demand (VOD) platform to introduce an innovation of this nature

 About Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN):

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), (formerly Multi Screen Media Private Ltd.), is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation which owns and operates theSony Entertainment network of television channels.

As a leading television network in India, SPN comprises of Sony Entertainment Television (SET), one of India's leading Hindi general entertainment television channels; MAX, India's premium Hindi movies and special events channel; MAX 2, a second Hindi movie channel showcasing great Indian Cinema; SAB, a family comedy entertainment channel; PIX, the English movie channel; AXN, the leader amongst English Entertainment Channels; AATH, the Bangla movie channel, MIX a refreshing Hindi music channel; SIX and SONY ESPN – the cluster of sports entertainment channels and LIV - the Digital Entertainment Channel, and, SPN’s Motion Pictures division, formerly MSM Motion Pictures.

Sony Pictures Networks India is in its 22nd year in India.

Arré is India’s first multi-format, multi-genre digital media brand. Arré brings to India’s new-gen digital audiences a range of contextual storytelling and entertainment using video, audio, graphic-art and text. Founded by B. Saikumar, Ajay Chacko and Sanjay Ray Chaudhuri, Arré launched its website and social media offerings in early April 2016 with original content ranging from articles that explore sub-culture and popular culture to audio-dramas in partnership with Saavn, the first of which is Trial By Error | The Aarushi Files based on one of India’s most intriguing murder cases, doodles and illustrations that take a satirical look at the world and the socio-political environment, fiction shows like A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend that explores the dynamics of interplay between technology and relationships, I Don’t Watch TV which is a satirical sitcom series that explores the many unsaid dimensions of India’s over-the-top entertainment television industry and its protagonists. Arré has also launched the country’s first digital reality show based on a social experiment Arré Ho-Ja-Re-gender (an Israeli format), which explores what it takes for the sexes to literally be the other gender and a fiction web series Official Chukyagiri which is a slice-of-life dramedy about life in the corporate world viewed through the eyes of an intern. Arré has also collaborated with the Indian Express Group to launch a series of documentaries, the first one being a documentary on Pollution titled Death by Breath. It also put out a documentary on the violence towards children in Kashmir titled Kashmir’s Lost Children.

Arré has been working with a range of advertisers to integrate their brands seamlessly into contextual storytelling and entertainment as well as with a range of Video platforms such as Youtube, Facebook, Yupp TV, SonyLIV, TF1 Xtra (a French based television and digital network), Vodafone Play etc. to market and distribute its content.

Arré is accessible at http://www.arre.co.in/,  

On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ArreIndia,

YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/ArreIndia,

Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/arrepics/,

Twitter@arretweets and

On its Android App at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.co.udigital.Arre&hl=en

For further information on Arré: contact@arre.co.in

Annesha Ghosh named winner of the second edition of Hyundai Cricjockey Powered by ESPNcricinfo

• Annesha Ghosh was featured on ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day post the final India vs New Zealand ODI on 29th October, 2016
• The hunt to discover India’s most passionate cricket fan began on September 29th

National, November 3, 2016: In a close clash, Annesha Ghosh from Kolkata seized the champion’s title of “The Hyundai Cricjockey 2 Powered by ESPNcricinfo, a talent hunt to discover India’s most passionate cricket fan”.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the country’s leading car manufacturer and the largest passenger car exporter, in partnership with ESPNcricinfo kicked off the second edition of The Hyundai Cricjockey on the 7th of October. The multi-phased contest that concluded yesterday provided avid cricket fans a lifetime opportunity to present their expertise in cricket commentary, during the ongoing India vs New Zealand ODI series

This season witnessed participation of over 2.5 Lakh fans from across the length and breadth of the country to showcase their ability to comprehend the nuances of the sport in front of a jury comprising the ESPNcricinfo editorial team. Fans sent in their entries on the CricJockey website - www.hyundaicricjockey.com by submitting an analysis/commentary on the match. Apart from the online edition, the contest included a four-city on-ground event at Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai & Pune that saw cricket fanatics submit their entries along with the extensive digital promotion.

On the success of the season 2 of Hyundai CricJockey, Mr. Puneet Anand, General Manager & Group Head – Marketing, Hyundai Motor India Ltd. said: “Hyundai follows a ‘Smart Marketing’ strategy with a strong focus on digital mediums and Hyundai Cricjockey 2 is yet another step in this direction. We have received consistent encouraging response from this campaign. On behalf of the entire Hyundai family, heartiest congratulations to the Winners of Hyundai Cricjockey 2. As we are focused towards making world-class cars, we are also committed towards meeting our customers’ passion through such innovative engagement activities.”

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Akshaya Kolhe Head of Sales, ESPN Digital Media India said, “We are delighted by the overwhelming response from our fans across the nation this season. We believe that CricJockey is a great platform to extend our engagement with fans and we look forward to further strengthen our association with Hyundai through this contest in seasons to come.”

The eminent jury for the contest included Ajit Agarkar, former Indian cricketer, Sambit Bal (ESPNcricinfo Editor in chief), Jayaditya Gupta (Executive Editor), Gaurav Kalra (Senior Editor) and Sharda Ugra (Senior Editor) from ESPNcricinfo editorial team.

Annesha Ghosh (Kolkata), Korak Roy (Mumbai) and Mayank Jain (Mumbai) were the top three contenders who battled it out to reach the finale to win the coveted title at the ESPNcricinfo studios. Annesha Ghosh was declared the grand winner on October 27, 2016 and went on to write an entire cricketing blog on ESPNcricinfo website along with being featured on Match Day, post the final India vs New Zealand ODI on October 29th.

The top 8 contestants took home prizes worth more than 2 Lakhs over the course of the contest.

Thousands of ardent cricket fans participated in the previous edition of Hyundai CricJockey and made this contest a huge success in 2013. Mr. Kartik Kannan was the winner of the first season and received an opportunity to associate with the ESPNcricinfo Video show in the following years. He was featured with his contributory writing on "The Inbox" - a very popular fan blog on the site that features some of the best sports writers.

ESPN IN INDIA

India is a key part of ESPN’s growth – in the Asia-Pacific region and globally – and its presence in the country is powered by the potent combination of ESPN’s leadership in digital sports and its long-term collaboration with Sony Pictures Networks India.

Serving the massive and vibrant sports fan community with entertaining, insightful and high-quality products and content, across digital devices and television, is at the core of ESPN’s strategic in India and the subcontinent. With offices in Bangalore and Mumbai, it boasts a world-class team that includes technologists, developers, editors, journalists and more that make up ESPN’s largest technology and digital editorial teams outside the United States.

ESPNcricinfo, already the ultimate destination for authentic, unbiased cricket news, analysis, statistics and scores, continues serving Indian cricket fans as it has for over 23 years.

-- See below the profile of Annesha Ghosh, winner of Hyundai Cricjockey 2 --

Winner Profile

Annesha is a sports buff, in general and a cricket tragic, in particular. She secured her Master’s in English Literature from University of Calcutta only two weeks ago and is due to complete her Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, next month. Presently, she freelances as a writer and an emcee and has formerly interned with The Statesman, along with several online news websites. She aspires to work as a full-time sports journalist/commentator/content producer with a sports news organization, with a special focus on women's cricket, and dreams of calling international matches in the women’s game someday.

A sports lover to the last nucleotide of her DNA, Annesha resumed playing cricket at the club-level in Kolkata, earlier in April this year. She is a left-handed bat, bowls right arm medium fast (most of which lands as befuddling (!) leg-breaks to right-handed batsmen,) and lives just a stone’s throw away from a certain Sourav Ganguly’s residence. Besides cricket, she loves running, swimming, and cycling. Among several other aspirations, her bucket list includes: Covering matches live at the Eden Gardens, MCG and the HPCA Stadium, along with completing a triathlon before turning 28.

Annesha Ghosh, winner of Hyundai Cricjockey 2

Profile here: http://www.hyundaicricjockey.com/winner.html