MUMBAI: So what if Indian cricket lovers are yet to recover from the loss of their God - Sachin Tendulkar?  Ten Sports is pulling out all the stops as the world's best cricketing nation gets ready to battle with the world's No 1 test team - South Africa.

India's great performance on the cricket field in almost every tournament recently has resulted in Ten Sports selling out almost 90 per cent of its inventory three days before the action starts with the Proteas. And it seems as if there's a lot many more advertisers waiting to sign up in what is being billed as ‘Clash of the Titans.'

Says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi: “Post the departure of Sachin from the national side, I feel this will be the true test of the young brigade that we have against the fierce pace attack of the South Africans in their backyard. We are looking at this series as speed vs skill and the feedback on social media has been really encouraging for this series.”

Big names are associated with the tournament, what with Kent RO the title sponsor and iBall the co-presenting sponsor for the studio show; Micromax as co-presenting sponsor for the series along with associate sponsors Xolo, Vodafone, Havells, Go daddy, We Chat, Daikin, Tata Motors and ITC.

We are targeting nearly Rs 120 crore in terms of ad revenues from this series, says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi

Sethi further reveal that for the ODIs, ad slots have been sold at Rs 4.25 lakh for every ten seconds and for test matches, they’ve been sold at Rs 1.25 lakh for every ten seconds.

“We are in a very comfortable position with just 10 per cent of our inventories remaining to be sold and with three days still remaining for the highly anticipated series to commence, we are planning on hiking the rates by 20 per cent.” he laughs. “We are targeting nearly Rs 120 crore in terms of ad revenues from this series and I am confident of hitting that mark.”

The 360 degree marketing campaign has cost the channel nearly Rs 10 crore, which includes above the line (ATL) with a wide outdoor campaign as well as below the line (BTL) activities, with road shows in key cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. “Apart from this, we have also carried out an innovative campaign on the digital platform with a Hindi jingle that has gone viral on social platforms for the high octane series,” informs Sethi.

Giving his perspective on the channel’s claim, Madison Media COO Karthik Laxminarayan says: “Big sporting events such as these generally sell out 80 per cent of their inventories and make the most of the remainder of the same. Ten Sports on its part has surely garnered a sizable amount for the series.”

Madison Media COO Karthik Laxminarayan feels Ten Sports on its part has surely garnered a sizable amount in ad revenues for the series

On Twitter, Ten Sports has over 43,850 followers while on Facebook, it has got 2.3 million likes with fans continuously interacting about the upcoming series.

Between 5 and 30 December, the series will be shown live on Ten HD, Ten Cricket and Ten Sports. On Ten Sports, there is Hindi commentary while on Ten HD and Ten Cricket the ball by ball action will be narrated in English.

Explains Sethi: “With the viewer becoming more and more demanding like any other nation, and rightfully so, there is a viewer base that is looking forward to Hindi commentary and then the usual English commentary feed. Thus, we are only trying to reach out and satisfy the needs of our viewers and keep everyone glued to the action being played out on their screens in the language of their preference.”

Ten Sports has over 100 million viewers across the market, and will be sharing the telecast of the ODI series with the public broadcaster Doordarshan. Like the last India vs West Indies series, this series too is expected to grab eyeballs.

“Each property has its own traction and there are different reasons for each event to have the kind of viewership it had, as we all know the main reason for the series being followed was the last two test matches of Sachin’s career; but having said that, with two of the best in the sport locking horns on the field and with the injection of fresh blood in the Indian squad, cricket lovers are surely in for a treat,” Sethi signs off.