Multi Screen Media (MSM - a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment) will be launching a new sports channel called Sony Kix during the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL).

The channel will start telecasting IPL Season 8 matches with commentary in Tamil, Telugu and Bengali, apart from Hindi and English.

It will be beamed nationally alongside Sony Max, the official broadcaster of the Twenty20 cricket league.

Speaking with Campaign India, Prasanna Krishnan, EVP and business head, Sony Six, said, "There are two reasons why we've launched one more sports channel. When we have big tournaments going on like the FIFA World Cup and Euro (qualifiers), multiple matches are played at the same time. On a one-off occasion you can bring in a movie channel, but in the long-term we needed another sports channel. Secondly, we are seeing a trend of regional languages being consumed during big tournaments. So, with the IPL, we plan to use this channel for Telegu and Tamil feeds."

On content plans for the channel, Krishan said, "We'll be looking to constantly acquiring new sports properties for our sports business (Six and Kix), rather than only looking for content for this channel."

The tournament is starting on April 8 and the final is on May 24.