Sony’s TNA pans for local talent in wrestling

With more non-cricketing games picking pace, Sony Pictures Networks’ Sports Cluster is betting big on televised wrestling. The company has a long-term deal with American firm Total Non-stop Action (TNA), an iconic wrestling property.

TNA said it is looking to invest not just in televised content but also live events and amateur wrestling scene in India to cull out the best talent.

Dixie Carter, President, TNA Entertainment, told BusinessLine that, “Sony licences our American content and our core show called Impact wrestling. It broadcasts the event. Our goal is to make India our second home. We intend investing a lot of resource and time in developing this market.”

TNA and Sony SIX have signed a long-term deal that will make the channel the exclusive home for all TNA-based content until 2022. SPN runs sports channels such as Sony SIX and SONY ESPN.

TNA’s global competitor is WWE. It had recently organised a live event in India. The WWE broadcast rights in India wrests with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s (ZEEL)’s Ten Sports. WWE has been organising events in India, but mostly at a promotional level.

Carter said that TNA is looking at both live events and partnerships to expand the scope of its reach. She said that the company had insight that wrestling is followed by a “million people” as per the last rating. “Our target audience is a broad audience. We are also discussing live events. We want the world to see how India is glued to wrestling. Non-televised wrestling will be an important agenda for us,” she added.

Asked about localisation, she said, “There is lot of scope for localisation. We are looking at amateur scene and even carefully watching Indian wrestlers to tie up with them,” she said, adding besides scouting for good athletes, the company is looking for players with “charisma” to hook the audience.

Carter said the aim of finding the right talent was to also take them to the international audience.

Last year, Sony SIX had announced the launch of the Hindi feed for their premier wrestling entertainment property – Total Non-stop Action (TNA).

The announcement comes as a major development in response to the growing popularity of Mahabali Shera, the first-ever Indian wrestler on TNA.

Asked if the company was keeping its focus on television or digital, Carter said, “We will start with the linear medium that is television. However, digital, is growing and we have to adapt to it. We are looking at original content for digital”.

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