There was a standout moment amidst the glitz and the glamour at The Imperial in New Delhi on Saturday evening. As the curtain was coming down on a four-hour long ceremony, a long-standing friend from the broadcast industry looked at us clutching five trophies and said it was time for the TV news industry to revive coverage of sports.
To my mind, that speaks volumes about RevSportz’s success and the recognition it got on Saturday night. Indeed, the idea that thought leaders in the TV news industry may be inspired to re-evaluate their decision to drop sports shows from the programming is heart-warming and encouraging for Indian sport at large, poised as it is on the cup of catapulting itself to greater heights.
S Kannan, Gargi Raut and I cheered other award winners on while awaiting the Digital Media awards, but it was worth the long wait. In RevSportz Founder Boria Majumdar’s absence, we were assigned the pleasant task of representing the platform. None of us had any idea of what was in store, surely not about having to walk up to the stage five times on Saturday night.
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Team RevSportz receives the Best Talk Show English (Silver) award at the #ENBAAwards for Backstage With Boria! @gargiraut15 @kannandelhi @g_rajaraman @BoriaMajumdar pic.twitter.com/bPJcgfzSnG
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) March 30, 2024
There were gold trophies for RevSportz as the Best Sports Digital News Channel, Trailblazers conclave for the Best Marketing Campaign and Boria Majumdar as the Best Anchor (English) and silver trophies for Backstage with Boria as the Best Talk Show (English) and for RevSportz for the Best Use of Technology by a sports digital news channel.
It was truly special to be a part of a team that received the Best Sports Digital News Channel award, topping other entities, especially those from media houses with years of experience behind them. It was the icing on the cake, a recognition for the vibrant team that delivers text and audio-visual content on a range of sport extending way beyond cricket.
It was hard not to feel elated when receiving the Best Marketing Campaign award. To pull off a conclave of Trailblazers’ magnitude is no mean feat, nothing short of Herculean. From convincing sponsors to lining up athletes of different vintage and hues to assemble in one place and share their insights is truly a daunting task. Only established media houses venture in that zone.
Undoubtedly, it was an evening when unbridled pride was in evidence on every table in the sprawling lawns of the magnificent Imperial Hotel in New Delhi. From those entrenched deep in the broadcast industry to those shifting to the digital space – and all these are well-known personalities – everyone felt chuffed at the honour being bestowed on them.
When we waited patiently for the broadcasters to get their recognition, a friend, aware of my 41 years in sports communication, nudged me to go on a reverie on the transformation from days of the typewriter and telegraph to the digital age when speed and accuracy are of equal importance. From sepia-toned memories to more colourful images, freeze frames came floating by.
But that was interrupted when a friend who served as member of a jury for another category of awards struck a conversation. He told me that the juries, drawn from different social spectrum, followed a stringent process. Not that I needed any convincing that the awards were well-earned, but it was reassuring to hear that the juries spent hours weighing the shortlisted entries.
The absence of corresponding awards for sports news TV was a sad but true indication of news broadcasters turning their attention away from sports. It takes vision and courage, faith and hard work to start and run a digital sports news entity. And awards like these are but happy milestones in the arduous and satisfying journey that RevSportz has been on for two years now.
Be that as it may, the five trophies will have special places at the RevSportz office in Kolkata. But instead of sitting quietly as decorative pieces, each will be a reminder of the road ahead and the work that needs to be done across different sports disciplines and across our beautifully diverse country. They will drive the team to remain passionate about and committed to Indian sport.
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