The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough. The biggest area that it has affected is our “income.”
My "cari makan" has taken a hammering as my industries – education, sports, and television – have been hit very hard by the pandemic.
Most of my colleagues in the said industries are trying to get creative so they generate more income and continue to put food on the table for their families.
But the one major question that I keep asking myself is that how are we sports fans going to get our weekly fix or inspiration if there are no sports to watch on TV as many international and local leagues are on hold?
Even though I am a TV professional, I am not an expert when it comes to the data, insights, and direction of the Sports TV industry. So I reached out to my industry senior, Lee Choong Khay AKA CK, who is the Head of Sport at Astro, and the following is what CK shared with me in regards to what we can expect from Astro from a sports content consumption perspective:
· THE NEW NETBALL SUPER LEAGUE:
The first season of NSL has just started. The quality of play so far is amazing and entertaining for fans. We have great hopes for NSL with plans such as increasing the number of local teams and even inviting overseas teams to increase the competitiveness and make NSL popular beyond Malaysia.
We know sports fans are excited to watch netball because we recorded over 850,000 viewers during our coverage of the 2017 SEA Games netball finals. We want the NSL to celebrate women in the sporting arena and hope the general public and corporate sectors can join us on this journey of growing Malaysian sports.
· WHAT ELSE IS ASTRO WORKING ON?
Astro is a long-term partner to our sports associations to grow our local sports. Together with Persatuan Sepaktakraw Malaysia (PSM), we successfully organized 7 seasons of STL.
More importantly, Astro hopes that our initiatives will develop the next generation of champions. We take inspiration that the five-man Sepak Takraw squad ended Malaysia’s twenty-four-year gold medal drought at the Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games. All the players from the squad all played with different teams in the STL.
Astro is also inactive conversation with FAM to continue broadcasting the national team football matches and also to build on the success of our first year showcasing the Malaysia Premier Futsal League (MPFL).
·THE PANDEMIC HAS CHANGED MANY THINGS, HOW WILL THAT CHANGE THE OUTLOOK OF GLOBAL & MALAYSIAN SPORTS TV?
During the pandemic when audiences are not allowed at stadiums, broadcasters such as Astro help sports content owners to continue bringing live sports to fans while keeping them engaged with new avenues.
In the first three months of the “lockdown" in Malaysia, our fan engagement on increase by an average of 40% on Twitter alone because of the volume of fan-related content published. The rise of remote-based production saw Astro produce more talent-led content which was made available in multiple formats - linear, on-demand, digital short form catch-up, and live stream. The pandemic has also accelerated the adoption of E-Sports. The E-Premier League where players competed on FIFA21 netted over 150 million viewers. Formula 1 pulled in 3.2 million viewers via their virtual GP series as Nielsen Sports DNA reports 43% of motorsport fans are interested in E-Sports.
The next 18 months promises to be a strong recovery year for sports both locally and globally with key events such as the European Championship, Olympics, SEA Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
· ADVICE FOR MALAYSIAN NATIONAL SPORTS ASSOCIATIONS (NSA’S) ON HOW TO GET TV CREATIVE:
They should embrace all media platforms. We are not here to take away control of their revenues. We want to build and grow the sports together with them. Once the sport has grown then they can look at commercialization. The old way of sports politics and VIP relationships will not grow the sport.
· THANK YOU CK, AND LET'S WORK TOGETHER TO GROW OUR SPORTS INDUSTRY:
On behalf of all our VIBES readers and staff, I would like to thank CK for his time in sharing the above information.
I always say to all aspiring Sports Start-Ups, sports must-have TV not only to grow that particular sport but to also help build the business and commercial mechanics of that sport.
It is those mechanics that will help build long-term champions – Malaysian World Champions. - The Vibes, March 28, 2021
Ben Ibrahim is a TV Commentator, Sports & Media Consultant. In his career, he has also worked for FIBA, FISU, Foxsports, The Ministry of Youth & Sports, and the Malaysia Valke (GRR). You can contact him on his Public Facebook page or his Instagram Account @benibrahim_
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