Will the broadcasting of PSL in India on SONY increase its viewership and following?

[Babar_Azam_fan]

I know it was there on DSPORT, but it was just another channel.

With Sony(who telecasted IPL for 10 years), a premium channel, it’ll increase the quality and the viewership of PSL.


Indians are crazy for cricket and I am sure many will tune in as compared to when it was on DSPORT. Hardly anyone even knew that PSL was going on

[TNAmarkFromIndia]

They will have greater coverage for sure. But whether they will have a great following is hard to say. I'm not sure how many people even follow T20 leagues outside of the IPL in India. Does the CPL have a great following in India? I don't think so.

[Rana]

Indian sponsors/companies may want to invest in PSL now.

Also foreign companies who want to make a buck from the Indian market will be easier to tap into. This is better than the Sky sports deal I recon

[Babar_Azam_fan]

They will have greater coverage for sure. But whether they will have a great following is hard to say. I'm not sure how many people even follow T20 leagues outside of the IPL in India. Does the CPL have a great following in India? I don't think so.

Great coverage only time will tell. But it’ll at least double the viewership than what it was on some “DSPORT”


With that improvement in the sponsorship as India is a huge market

[Babar_Azam_fan]

I can already see companies who want to target the Indian market using this opportunity to sponsor PSL/ teams

[TNAmarkFromIndia]

Great coverage only time will tell. But it’ll at least double the viewership than what it was on some “DSPORT”


With that improvement in the sponsorship as India is a huge market

I've never played fantasy sports but maybe that could be how more people get into Pakistan cricket. Fans making their own XI for Pakistan's series. Lot of people are into it in India.

[Babar_Azam_fan]

Viewership from India alone will outnumber the total viewership from other countries, excluding Pakistan

That in itself is a huge number and a good achievement

[Babar_Azam_fan]

I've never played fantasy sports but maybe that could be how more people get into Pakistan cricket. Fans making their own XI for Pakistan's series. Lot of people are into it in India.

Lol true. My friend(Indian) was into it. I follow Pakistan cricket and he doesn’t know anything about Pak players, but he’d ask me about Pak players which to select whenever there’s a Pakistan series, to make his fantasy teams

[TNAmarkFromIndia]

Great coverage only time will tell. But it’ll at least double the viewership than what it was on some “DSPORT”

DSPORT is a good channel with decent coverage. They broadcast the Nidahas Trophy which got huge numbers. Not sure why you're talking bad about them.

If people are interested, they will watch. If not, it doesn't matter if you're on a bigger channel.

[Itachi]

Initially it'll increase. But soon people will just realize it's a poor rip off of IPL and viewership will decline.

[Rana]

Pakistan should try to sign Indian legends as mentors or coaches of PSL teams. For instance I would even take Munaf Patel as the bowling coach of a franchise because I think the guy understands bowling really well.

Someone like Balaji would also be a huge hit if he works for Islamabad United or Lahore Qalandars. He was a fan favourite in the 2004 series.

[Itachi]

Pakistan should try to sign Indian legends as mentors or coaches of PSL teams. For instance I would even take Munaf Patel as the bowling coach of a franchise because I think the guy understands bowling really well.

Someone like Balaji would also be a huge hit if he works for Islamabad United or Lahore Qalandars. He was a fan favourite in the 2004 series.

Not possible in reality. There will be huge backslash and no one wants THAT drama unless there's rediculous amount of money involved which none of the franchisee could offer I am afraid.

[Babar_Azam_fan]

DSPORT is a good channel with decent coverage. They broadcast the Nidahas Trophy which got huge numbers. Not sure why you're talking bad about them.

If people are interested, they will watch. If not, it doesn't matter if you're on a bigger channel.

It’s an okay channel. It got huge numbers for Nidahas trophy coz it was INDIA playing. Heck if India plays on Doordarshan with 80s picture quality , it’ll still get huge numbers. So u can’t compare nidahas to PSL


And about channel, DSPORT might be an okay channel but when it comes to Sony it’s no where close to it. Absolutely no comparison between the two

[cricketjoshila]

Indian sponsors/companies may want to invest in PSL now.

Also foreign companies who want to make a buck from the Indian market will be easier to tap into. This is better than the Sky sports deal I recon

IF Indian public watches PSL.

India vs England series will be ON then, so expect the fans to be glued there.

March is a time when India hosts international cricket, so PSL in all likelihood may not get that much viewership.

[Rana]

IF Indian public watches PSL.

India vs England series will be ON then, so expect the fans to be glued there.

March is a time when India hosts international cricket, so PSL in all likelihood may not get that much viewership.

I think it should be evening time in India when the PSL matches happen? Especially the day/night ones?

[Babar_Azam_fan]

Pakistan should try to sign Indian legends as mentors or coaches of PSL teams. For instance I would even take Munaf Patel as the bowling coach of a franchise because I think the guy understands bowling really well.

Someone like Balaji would also be a huge hit if he works for Islamabad United or Lahore Qalandars. He was a fan favourite in the 2004 series.

Bro be realistic, there homes would be gone before they even fly to Pakistan


I am also not sure how long SONY can show PSL. One attack and they’ll stop the broadcast

[Itachi]

The broadcasting of PSL was horrible till this point imo. Last time I checked, even APL looked better polished product than PSL.

[Mesozoic]

Don't think too many in India watch the PSL but yeah....even a tiny fraction of em makes up huge numbers so surely a great thing for the overall popularity of the league. D-sport lost it's short-lived relevance after the Nidahas trophy.

[cricketjoshila]

I think it should be evening time in India when the PSL matches happen? Especially the day/night ones?

It would be. But Day night ODIs abd T20Is are scheduled with England at that time.

[NishanKonar]

Lots of Indians watch BBL, CPL for time pass. I guess same will happen for PSL . So definitely some good viewership from India

[cricketjoshila]

Bro be realistic, there homes would be gone before they even fly to Pakistan


I am also not sure how long SONY can show PSL. One attack and they’ll stop the broadcast

Wrong assumption. As long as they stick to their jobs only and dont try to be political ambassadors, they will be fine.

[Mesozoic]

The broadcasting of PSL was horrible till this point imo. Last time I checked, even APL looked better polished product than PSL.

Yeah god awful. Even LPL looked better than that.

Picture quality was okayish but the camera work and Sound were dreadful.

[TNAmarkFromIndia]

It’s an okay channel. It got huge numbers for Nidahas trophy coz it was INDIA playing.

The point was that one can get big numbers on DSPORT if there is interest.

Heck if India plays on Doordarshan with 80s picture quality , it’ll still get huge numbers.

Not sure what your point is. Everyone gets Doordarshan in India so everyone can watch.

And about channel, DSPORT might be an okay channel but when it comes to Sony it’s no where close to it. Absolutely no comparison between the two

Not necessarily. Sometimes it's good to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. Sony having a multitude of sports properties might not give PSL as much promotion on their networks as maybe DSPORT would've done. Lot of sporting properties on Sony have failed. They are poor with marketing their properties compared to Star.

[Babar_Azam_fan]

Wrong assumption. As long as they stick to their jobs only and dont try to be political ambassadors, they will be fine.

May be you’re assuming wrong. Especially if he’s a Muslim, he’d be called anti national already

I myself wouldn’t go if I were in their position.

Saying of houses being gone was just an exaggeration. It’s not 90s anymore. But u get what I mean

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Not trying to be arrogant like some of my fellow indian fans like joshila here are but saying things like nobody watches Pakistan's Pjyama League in India is quite funny. These are the same fans who talk about demand and supply and how channels are willing to pay so much money to have IPL on their channel. Why will a big and reputed channel like Sony invest in a league like PSL without any demand and viewership data? May be they are targeting muslim population of India which isn't that small?

[Itachi]

Not trying to be arrogant like some of my fellow indian fans like joshila here are but saying things like nobody watches Pakistan's Pjyama League in India is quite funny. These are the same fans who talk about demand and supply and how channels are willing to pay so much money to have IPL on their channel. Why will a big and reputed channel like Sony invest in a league like PSL without any demand and viewership data? May be they are targeting muslim population of India which isn't that small?

The novelty factor wears out unless there's some other form of attachment. If PSL was branded as Pakistan Muslim cricket league, you may have a point.

[cricketjoshila]

May be you’re assuming wrong. Especially if he’s a Muslim, he’d be called anti national already

I myself wouldn’t go if I were in their position.

Saying of houses being gone was just an exaggeration. It’s not 90s anymore. But u get what I mean

Again wrong assumption. You do your job, dont try to be political, thats it.

When Imran became PM, Gavaskar wrote a letter wishing him luck and praising him, he is doing fine.

The moment you become political then you open yourself up for criticism.

[cricketjoshila]

The novelty factor wears out unless there's some other form of attachment. If PSL was branded as Pakistan Muslim cricket league, you may have a point.

A sports channel will show sports, esp if it has lost IPL rights, ICC rights and Indian cricket rights to its rival. They will try to get whatever cricket rights they can.

PSL doesn't even get much mention in print media.

If you get some cricketing rights for small amount of money, you will buy it as you have empty inventory to fill up.

[cricketjoshila]

The novelty factor wears out unless there's some other form of attachment. If PSL was branded as Pakistan Muslim cricket league, you may have a point.

I wonder if muslims in India will be interested in watching a Siraj and Shami versus England or some domestic pakistan bowler bowling to domestic pakistani batsman.

If PSL had a quality international contingent, it could get the viewership.

The Pak vs SA series will have some viewership, no doubt.

[Greenstorm]

Indians are a patriotic bunch. I doubt they will follow PSL.

[Thomaskutty]

Lots of Indians watch BBL, CPL for time pass.

I really doubt that .. a lot of these t20 leagues is the same players in diff clothing, same commentators .. all
gets repetitive and tiresome after a while.

[Rajdeep]

There are 2 reasons why anyone would watch a foreign league -

1) To see how his home country players are performing.

2) To watch global international superstars.

PSL unfortunately dont have either. No Indians play there and there are not enough international stars to attract audience.

For a Pakistani fan, there are enough reason to watch IPL even though their own players are not playing. They can see world class players like Smith, Williamson, Butler, Cummins, Shakib etc. performing against each other.

There are enough reasons for them to watch BBL, CPL, BPL, SLPL as well as they can see how their own players performing.

But for Indian fans the only incentive to watch a foreign league is to see international stars. PSL need to increase its global superstar counts to attract more viewership. Good that stars like Rashid Khan will play this year which would help the cause a bit.

Dont take me wrong, Indians would still watch PSL if it is on tele.

But would there be a big following? Nope.

Would they sacrifice their regular shows to watch PSL? Dont think so. Come 9.30PM and every remote will switch it to Big Boss.

[Varun]

This is a good move by the PSL. Tons of Indians will tune in for sure.

I mean, even when Bangladesh and Afghanistan faced off in a T20 series in Dehradun, the stadiums were full for all 3 games.

[Saj]

Indians love their cricket and I'm sure they'll watch it IF the standard of cricket is decent and the broadcast is professional.

At the moment the PSL is amateur in terms of broadcast - from the studio presentation, to the commentary, to post match presentations and post match analysis. Huge improvements are needed.

[Cryin Out Loud]

I won't, but chances are a fair few Indians my tune in especially if its on a channel that one already subscribes to (so you don't pay extra just to see it).

There may be another unanticipated impact- there's crazy betting in India during the IPL, which may translate into a flip for betting on the PSL, hence viewership.

Note: That previous statement does NOT imply that the PSL or IPL is fixed, just that massive illegal betting already happens on the latter, and a bunch of folk watch just to punt. Same may happen for the PSL.

[Sir Alex]

Good move. Even if 1% of IPL watchers follow Pak League it will be a huge bonus for it.

[Saj]

Deal done.

Sony Pictures Networks India has acquired the broadcast rights of Pakistan Cricket Board and will air all of Pakistan's home series and the Pakistan Super League for the next 3 years in India

[Rana]

Excellent news btw

Looks like the Pak-England, Pak-NZ and Pak-Aus home series are all likely to go ahead. Good cricket on view

[Mesozoic]

Deal done.

Sony Pictures Networks India has acquired the broadcast rights of Pakistan Cricket Board and will air all of Pakistan's home series and the Pakistan Super League for the next 3 years in India

Home series too? It's going to be tough for Sony to handle their scheduling now.

They already have...

Australian home games + BBL
England home games + T20 Blast + RL cup
West Indies home games
Sri Lankan home games + LPL
Zimbabwe+Ireland home games

And then all these other leagues like T10, GT20 Canada, Mzansi League....

[UzmanBeast]

There are 2 reasons why anyone would watch a foreign league -

1) To see how his home country players are performing.

2) To watch global international superstars.

PSL unfortunately dont have either. No Indians play there and there are not enough international stars to attract audience.

For a Pakistani fan, there are enough reason to watch IPL even though their own players are not playing. They can see world class players like Smith, Williamson, Butler, Cummins, Shakib etc. performing against each other.

There are enough reasons for them to watch BBL, CPL, BPL, SLPL as well as they can see how their own players performing.

But for Indian fans the only incentive to watch a foreign league is to see international stars. PSL need to increase its global superstar counts to attract more viewership. Good that stars like Rashid Khan will play this year which would help the cause a bit.

Dont take me wrong, Indians would still watch PSL if it is on tele.

But would there be a big following? Nope.

Would they sacrifice their regular shows to watch PSL? Dont think so. Come 9.30PM and every remote will switch it to Big Boss.

I agree that having international stars improves the fan-following, but also marketing and the types of games that are played. I mean the level of competition.

In PSL, it's pretty easy to tell which team is gonna win a match from the get-go, that's something that has to be changed. You put RR against SRH, and there's always a chance that RR can win. That level of competition is held together by the fact that each team has international superstars who can change the tide of a game through one innings.

By my understanding, PSL being promoted on Sony channels (which I assume are popular in India) would naturally increase the viewership only in times where there is no other cricket being watched. During the PSL, the Ind vs Eng series will be happening, and it's quite a big series. I wouldn't expect people to take time out of their days to watch PSL when there are important fixtures of their national team happening at the same time. The only way that would happen is if PSL becomes more entertaining and competitive.

Sony isn't an incompetent company by any means, so they probably thought through the viewership means and know which audience to target. Additionally, they'd be trying hard to make PSL matches shown at times where other events are not. It will be difficult, but not impossible.

However, most of the points you made were correct. I don't expect there to be a large fan-following in India unless the PSL improves drastically over the next few years to accommodate more international stars and really improve the quality of the league.

[Sir Alex]

Home series too? It's going to be tough for Sony to handle their scheduling now.

They already have...

Australian home games + BBL
England home games + T20 Blast + RL cup
West Indies home games
Sri Lankan home games + LPL
Zimbabwe+Ireland home games

And then all these other leagues like T10, GT20 Canada, Mzansi League....

Not much of overlap there ,is it? Plus I guess they have 3 channels?

[NishanKonar]

I really doubt that .. a lot of these t20 leagues is the same players in diff clothing, same commentators .. all
gets repetitive and tiresome after a while.

So are saas bahu tv serials but they still get viewers

Indians love becoming couch potatoes - show sports like cricket on tv , u will get decent viewership. More like u come home from office , switch on tv & see decent T20 match on tv , u will watch it for sometime at least

[Sir Alex]

I agree that having international stars improves the fan-following, but also marketing and the types of games that are played. I mean the level of competition.

In PSL, it's pretty easy to tell which team is gonna win a match from the get-go, that's something that has to be changed. You put RR against SRH, and there's always a chance that RR can win. That level of competition is held together by the fact that each team has international superstars who can change the tide of a game through one innings.

By my understanding, PSL being promoted on Sony channels (which I assume are popular in India) would naturally increase the viewership only in times where there is no other cricket being watched. During the PSL, the Ind vs Eng series will be happening, and it's quite a big series. I wouldn't expect people to take time out of their days to watch PSL when there are important fixtures of their national team happening at the same time. The only way that would happen is if PSL becomes more entertaining and competitive.

Sony isn't an incompetent company by any means, so they probably thought through the viewership means and know which audience to target. Additionally, they'd be trying hard to make PSL matches shown at times where other events are not. It will be difficult, but not impossible.

However, most of the points you made were correct. I don't expect there to be a large fan-following in India unless the PSL improves drastically over the next few years to accommodate more international stars and really improve the quality of the league.

PSL games are in the evening right? Should not be overlap with Ind Eng series.

[Itachi]

So are saas bahu tv serials but they still get viewers

Indians love becoming couch potatoes - show sports like cricket on tv , u will get decent viewership. More like u come home from office , switch on tv & see decent T20 match on tv , u will watch it for sometime at least

So was dhinchak puja where she got the benefits of novelty factor but that wore out completely.

SaaS bahu serials are relevant because somewhere somehow it related to the minds of target audience in their fantasies.

Does PSL offer any such aspect where the audience can get attachment?

The true cricket followers will follow no doubt but they will be a very small share.

[ak619]

Not trying to be arrogant like some of my fellow indian fans like joshila here are but saying things like nobody watches Pakistan's Pjyama League in India is quite funny. These are the same fans who talk about demand and supply and how channels are willing to pay so much money to have IPL on their channel. Why will a big and reputed channel like Sony invest in a league like PSL without any demand and viewership data? May be they are targeting muslim population of India which isn't that small?

Why would Indian muslims in particular be interested in the PSL over other Indians? That's some A grade soft bigotry there. Actually, that's not even soft, to be honest.

Potentially, the PSL is the second biggest league in the world and should see good growth over the years. A SONY deal should certainly have a positive impact on global (and Indian) audience viewership.

However, as is the case with any other league in the world - the lack of Indian cricketers means that no non-IPL league will ever gain mainstream popularity in India.

Still, I can see a lot of Indians (Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, etc. alike) tuning in to the PSL from time to time especially if they start streaming the matches on Hotstar or some similar platform.

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Home series too? It's going to be tough for Sony to handle their scheduling now.

They already have...

Australian home games + BBL
England home games + T20 Blast + RL cup
West Indies home games
Sri Lankan home games + LPL
Zimbabwe+Ireland home games

And then all these other leagues like T10, GT20 Canada, Mzansi League....

Not sure whether you live in India or not but Sony has Ten 1, 2, 3 and Six to manage all the sports workload. If they can manage Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chasma and their followers for more than 3000 episodes then they can manage anything. Don't worry about them.

[Hornbill]

Many Indians will watch psl matches if they don't have to pay extra, if psl is scheduled during the period in which Sony telecast india's matches it will get good viewership in india otherwise many Indians except kashmiri fans of pakistan cricket won't spend money to watch psl.

[Rajdeep]

Why would Indian muslims in particular be interested in the PSL over other Indians? That's some A grade soft bigotry there. Actually, that's not even soft, to be honest.

Potentially, the PSL is the second biggest league in the world and should see good growth over the years. A SONY deal should certainly have a positive impact on global (and Indian) audience viewership.

However, as is the case with any other league in the world - the lack of Indian cricketers means that no non-IPL league will ever gain mainstream popularity in India.

Still, I can see a lot of Indians (Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, etc. alike) tuning in to the PSL from time to time especially if they start streaming the matches on Hotstar or some similar platform.

I think he has a point. Indian muslims, especially from North India, loves Pakistan cricket a lot. Some even support Pakistan team more than India. So a Pakistan T20 league will definitely be very popular among Indian muslims.

[Maliq_Mudasir]

As a kashmiri, big relief seriously. Have been waiting for this to happen. I have been in bangalore for 3 years now and all my friends used to watch PSL especially with Dream11 coming into picture.

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Why would Indian muslims in particular be interested in the PSL over other Indians? That's some A grade soft bigotry there. Actually, that's not even soft, to be honest.

Potentially, the PSL is the second biggest league in the world and should see good growth over the years. A SONY deal should certainly have a positive impact on global (and Indian) audience viewership.

However, as is the case with any other league in the world - the lack of Indian cricketers means that no non-IPL league will ever gain mainstream popularity in India.

Still, I can see a lot of Indians (Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, etc. alike) tuning in to the PSL from time to time especially if they start streaming the matches on Hotstar or some similar platform.

Before asking such a stupid question you should have done some research, read the question before the part you bolded and if you are still lazy to do that just read some of the comments here from joshila type posters above. I made that comment just to prove that few blind bhakhts won't decide who will watch what in India. Not only Muslims or Sikhs, Hindus too watched PSL last time it was aired in India but they will never accept it here. They are too arrogant to accept that.

I am not interested in watching PSL but I am pretty sure I will watch Pakistan's home series on Sony. It's been a long long time since I watched Pakistan play in Pakistan against a top class side like South Africa.

[shaaik]

Not much of overlap there ,is it? Plus I guess they have 3 channels?

They hv 5 sports channels .. Sony Ten1,2&3, Sony Six and Sony ESPN..

[Mesozoic]

Not sure whether you live in India or not but Sony has Ten 1, 2, 3 and Six to manage all the sports workload. If they can manage Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chasma and their followers for more than 3000 episodes then they can manage anything. Don't worry about them.

Sony Ten 1 and Ten 2 are mainly "non-cricket/other sports" channels. They may show some highlights here and there but they primarily show football, Tennis, Wrestling etc...

1 and 2 mostly show Serie A, Italian cup, Champions/Europa League, FA cup etc , NBA, UFC, WWE, F1 and some tennis events (French and Australian open).

If India plays in any of the above mentioned countries, then Six and Ten 3 (Hindi commentary) are a gonner too.

Now say that again....

[naseem]

What about the pak home series starting with Pak Sa series

[naseem]

Sony Ten 1 and Ten 2 are mainly "non-cricket/other sports" channels. They may show some highlights here and there but they primarily show football, Tennis, Wrestling etc...

1 and 2 mostly show Serie A, Italian cup, Champions/Europa League, FA cup etc , NBA, UFC, WWE, F1 and some tennis events (French and Australian open).

If India plays in any of the above mentioned countries, then Six and Ten 3 (Hindi commentary) are a gonner too.

Now say that again....

Nope .....as far as I know they showed the recent Ind Aus series in 1 2 and BBL is also shown.......I have seen some ad in internet.........

[Pakpak]

This is a good move by the PSL. Tons of Indians will tune in for sure.

I mean, even when Bangladesh and Afghanistan faced off in a T20 series in Dehradun, the stadiums were full for all 3 games.

Pretty much, at times I have seen random PSL videos on YouTube and was surprised when I saw a lot of Indians commenting on it (not trolling but commenting!). Inzi's YouTube channel mostly has Pakistan cricket news on it but in comments you can see tons of Indians following him which is great to see for once no trolling or nonsense by either.

[Saj]

What about the pak home series starting with Pak Sa series

Their coverage starts from the upcoming home series against South Africa.

[shaaik]

A majority of Kashmiri population where ever they are in india wd watch PSL and Pak games for sure. We kashmiris are crazy about pak cricket.
Plus, I don't know whether I shd write it here or not but any cricket match that is televised live in india has lot of Indian population betting on those matches which means PSL for sure wd get a lot of eye balls in india for that reason alone.

[Devadwal]

Depends on which channel they will Telecast .if they telecast on Sony six or Ten 3 then surely viewership can increase .cant day about other channels

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Sony Ten 1 and Ten 2 are mainly "non-cricket/other sports" channels. They may show some highlights here and there but they primarily show football, Tennis, Wrestling etc...

1 and 2 mostly show Serie A, Italian cup, Champions/Europa League, FA cup etc , NBA, UFC, WWE, F1 and some tennis events (French and Australian open).

If India plays in any of the above mentioned countries, then Six and Ten 3 (Hindi commentary) are a gonner too.

Now say that again....

Oh bhai do you even live in India? I actually watched Ind vs Aus series on Sony Ten 1(Channel Number 470 on TataSky). Now say that again.....

[RajBan]

Indians love their cricket and I'm sure they'll watch it IF the standard of cricket is decent and the broadcast is professional.

At the moment the PSL is amateur in terms of broadcast - from the studio presentation, to the commentary, to post match presentations and post match analysis. Huge improvements are needed.

This is really what it is. If the quality is there , no reason why people won't watch. It will need some stars from branding standpoint to draw that critical mass. Few Pakistani serials that are well made are watched by millions of audience.

And there are always students, retired folks who watch everything for timepass. So PSL definitely will get some audience but if the coverage is ameturish and if the contest is not there then vierwership will be stagnant after the novelty factor goes away.

This assertion from some that viewer will tune in because they are Muslims or may switch off the TV because they are political right represents less than 1 percent of catchment audience i.e. current subscription base of Sony.

[jeeteshssaxena]

Absolutely.
Sony TV is a popular name in India, actually i never knew that PSL was being televised in India before this.
DSport? I didn't even know that we had a channel by this name.

We are the kind of audience who can watch afghanistan league let alone Pakistan.

[Swashbuckler]

Of course. Even if only a small fraction watches it, the numbers will be huge, bigger than viewership in all countries apart from Pakistan and maybe Bangladesh, latter I am including since I think some top Bangladeshi stars play PSL.

Mostly Indians stay away from CPL, Big Bash because of timings, PSL has the unique advantage that matches will start late evening after most of us come back home from work.

DSport was awful, SONY is a different beast. If we have fantasy games like Dream11, My11 even better, since many casual fans too may follow the league somewhat.

[Devadwal]

Some indian fan's say they will not watch IPL but think other can watch PSL

[Devadwal]

Some fact which can disappointed some people's ( mostly about rural area) when there is IPL around the corner most of people (80%) recharge their DTH Connection to watch IPL but same can't be said about ODI & Test match .btw I'm not a fan of T20 or odi but hardcore Test fan

[Forward Defensive Push]

No doubt. The Indian masses will watch any cricket. PSL will definitely grab a lot more eyeballs and thereby re-infuse Pakistani flavor into Indian cricket. Who knows this may also mean the famous Pakistan players from PSL may find themselves playing in IPL. Overall, a great boost for Pakistan cricket. We need to milk the Indian market.

[Devadwal]

No doubt. The Indian masses will watch any cricket. PSL will definitely grab a lot more eyeballs and thereby re-infuse Pakistani flavor into Indian cricket. Who knows this may also mean the famous Pakistan players from PSL may find themselves playing in IPL. Overall, a great boost for Pakistan cricket. We need to milk the Indian market.

Yea bcz indian crazy about cricket so even 1% people (definitely they will) watch psl then its big moment for psl.

[Birdman]

I can’t speak for others, but I would rather watch some cricket than other tv shows. Since psl comes on during my office hours in US, I will watch it just like how I watch IPL, on willow.tv while working.

[Titan24]

Quite a few Indian posters and cricket fans on social media used to ask about where to watch it as I think D sports isn't as widely watched or known in India so it’s definitely good to have coverage and people who want to watch can do it now much more easily.

[Titan24]

Does the CPL have a great following in India? I don't think so.

I think maybe it is mainly the timings of CPL in India with matches happening in while everyone is sleeping or very early in the morning if I am not wrong. PSL would be taking place in evening and late evening so it would be much easier for people to follow if they want to.

[prisha]

We watched on 470 Tata sky ind vs aus. But I don’t like Sony I think star is much better. If it is not broadcast in English lot of South Indians won’t watch. It gets boring after a while to hear Hindi commentary. I only like to hear commentary in English.

[TNAmarkFromIndia]

PSL would be taking place in evening and late evening so it would be much easier for people to follow if they want to.

Remains to be seen if PSL can be appointment viewing at primetime in India.

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

We watched on 470 Tata sky ind vs aus. But I don’t like Sony I think star is much better. If it is not broadcast in English lot of South Indians won’t watch. It gets boring after a while to hear Hindi commentary. I only like to hear commentary in English.

Hindi commentary is meh on Sony.

[AMSS]

Will be a bold move from Sony if they inked this deal. On the other hand, they can negotiate a deal where the risk is baked into the contract. For example, should a situation arise where public mood turns against Pakistan, they can suspend the broadcast without any financial penalty. PCB can agree to that because it's better than no deal at all.

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Previously(before 2010) Ten Cricket used to show home games from Pakistan. So it is not surprising to see Sony going for these rights.

[prisha]

What if very few viewers watch it mainly due to fatigue after watching ind vs England. If there are even few ppl who watch it will be huge number. Even hot star had ridiculous numbers for thier IPL broadcast on net. But they need to get excellent commentators. They should get familiar names to Indian audiences.

[Titan24]

Remains to be seen if PSL can be appointment viewing at primetime in India.

Not sure about primetime but, if people to watch then its much easier than CPL due to timings and now well covered due to rights with Sony.

[Thunderbolt14]

Btw this deal includes Sony broadcasting in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as well. It’s not just for Indian fans.

Massive deal and excellent in terms of boosting viewership numbers, from all over the subcontinent.

[Deewana Mastana]

Why even bother showing Pakistan's cricket in India when they can't even stand a single Pakistani?

Like most people here say that they don't watch the IPL, then why are you expecting them to watch your product?

[UzmanBeast]

PSL games are in the evening right? Should not be overlap with Ind Eng series.

If Indians had to pick between watching Ind vs Eng, they'd watch that. People are passionate for cricket in India, and the average person can't spend that long in front of a TV, so they wouldn't really be watching Ind vs Eng and also PSL in the same day, it's just very unlikely.

[mastermind_quad]

Absolutely.
Sony TV is a popular name in India, actually i never knew that PSL was being televised in India before this.
DSport? I didn't even know that we had a channel by this name.

We are the kind of audience who can watch afghanistan league let alone Pakistan.

Exactly

I watched a few afghan league, Masters league in uae. Canada league where UV played. BPL. US superstar games SRT was there.

Recently LPL ... Watched initial matches then highlights on youtube from their official channel and I can say that their highlights of 19-20 minutes were actually really very good and just becuase of that I watched highlights of almost each and every league match which leads me to watch semis and final as well. Amir underperformed in LPL Malik was good even Afridi batted well not sure why he didn't played later maybe injured. didn't followed any news related to LPL.

I was also not aware that DSport was showing IPL. I followed PSL when it was on that free streaming site but it was not that good. Still I watched here and there mostly on youtube highlights like Babar and Akmal's innings,ABD,etc Never watched those luke Ronchi's innings but heard a lot here on PP.

With Sony will definitely watch series with SA and later England and all. Especially because there are lots of familiar faces are there for me to look for like Rabada and Nortje as they play for Delhi and my IPL team is Delhi and I'll be rooting for them against Pakistan my 2nd and 3rd favorite are Rajasthan and Hyderabad so remaining series will have Stokes, Buttler and all . Plus PSL will have our ever favorite Rashid Khan, Saqib ul hasan, ABD, etc Sorry to say but Pakistan right now only have Babar to sell to us crazy fans.

BBL and CPL I only watch youtube highlights due to timings and they are mostly good highlight package.

Never watched NZ league. Watched few SA league games highlights only their league sponsor name is very difficult to pronounce.

Did I miss any league ?

I don't like AbuDhabi T10 too short to make a cricket match. Never watched HongKong Sixes

Somehow I always miss Englad T20 league even the highlights.