YouTube Announces new Season of ‘Breakfast With Champions’ ‘What The Duck’ and a New Show Googlies

A chance for fans to get up, close and personal with India’s favourite cricketers

 Breakfast With Champions to star Sachin Tendulkar in his first ever candid chat alongside Gaurav Kapur

 Cricket humorists Vikram Sathaye to take on famous cricketer jodis on ‘What The Duck’

by Shrutee K/DNS 

New Delhi: With cricket fever gripping the nation, cricket hosts Gaurav Kapur and Vikram Sathaye are back with the next season of their popular cricket chat shows on YouTube ‘Breakfast With Champions’ and ‘What The Duck’, along with new fun short comic series titled, ‘Googlies’ respectively. Now cricket will meet entertainment on YouTube, as all the shows promise to bring fans the inside scoop from the world of cricket.

Breakfast with Champions [BwC], is conceptualised by the ultimate cricket fanboy Gaurav Kapur, a man synonymous with T20 cricket. He often wondered why there weren’t any casual and fun sport chat shows. Having spent off-air time with these champions, he wanted to bring to the fans their unseen side, the real people behind the much-admired stars. BwC has enjoyed a massive following during its first four seasons, by unlocking the formal set-up of a television show and making the viewers feel like the 3rd person at the table. So far, the show has featured legends of the 70’s such asMichael Holding and Sunil Gavaskar, current superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Olympic Gold winner Abhinav Bindra and arguably India’s most accomplished champion Leander Paes.

Season 5 of BwC will start off with the God of Cricket Sachin Tendulkar, seen in a never before candid mood. Other champions this season include Smriti Mandhana, Shikhar Dhawan, VVS Laxman and many more stars. Unheard stories, unseen facets and lots of anecdotes will be revealed in this casual, irreverent, light-hearted show hosted and produced by Gaurav Kapur. To be streamed on YouTube, the ‘Breakfast with Champions’ show will have 10 episodes that will be released weekly, starting May 10.  

Talking about the success of his show, Gaurav Kapur said, "This show has been my small attempt at payback for all that cricket has given me. I’ve been an obsessive fan since the age of 5, and sometimes feel like a kid in a candy store to be working on cricket television. As a presenter and producer, I’ve been fortunate to have access to stories and real champions, and BwC is my attempt to spread that far and wide.”

Adding to the daily dose of entertainment, Viu India’s What The Duck season 3 on YouTube, will see Vikram Sathaye host 20 legendary cricketers on the show spanning over 10 episodes. The cricket duos will be seen in a playful banter with Vikram Sathaye, who will be at his comic best withVirendra Sehwag & Ajinkya Rahane, R.Ashwin & Rohit Sharma, Michael Clarke & Brad Hogg, Mohammad Kaif & Harbhajan Singh, AB Devilliers & Jonty Rhodes, Kumara Sangakkara & Muttiah Muralitharan and many more to share fun moments and interesting trivia, from on and off the field.

Viu India is also releasing, ‘What The Duck Googlies’ on YouTube -- a new show that will tickle your funny bone and entertain every cricket enthusiast. The show will revolve around 4 popular stand-up comedians - Vikram Satheye, Anirban Dasgupta, Saurav Mehta, and Sidharth Dudeja, giving their comic spin to all the current and trending topics of cricket. The 35-episode show is already live on the Viu India Youtube Channel.

Talking about his cricket shows, Vikram Sathaye said, “‘What The Duck’ on Viu and YouTube has gained tremendous popularity in the last two seasons. What’s overwhelming to see is the kind of audience we have been able to engage and the unique content we have been able to offer to our audience. Increasingly the world is moving to a more authentic experience and that’s what I aim to bring alive with my show. As a cricket fan and humorist I was lucky to hear wonderful stories while travelling on tours with famous cricketers. What the Duck show brings these wonderful fun insightful stories straight to the fans. I am also excited about the new show Googlies, which will present me at my comic best and I am sure my fans will love it.”

Commenting on the launch of the What The Duck 3, Vishal Maheshwari, Country Head - Viu, India said, “Cricket and comedy are two things that connect most Indians together. Riding on the success of the first two seasons, we have decided to double the madness and triple the fun with season 3, and are certain to expand to a larger audience through YouTube.”

YouTube is a global platform for independent artists and many have achieved star status driving millions of views everyday.

Speaking about the category, Satya Raghavan, Head of Entertainment, YouTube in India, said, “India is a cricket crazy nation and with YouTube’s reach penetrating across the country, we have seen a surge in cricket related content on the platform. From candid chats with cricket legends, to fun games between them, YouTube is emerging as the place to tell cricket stories. Cricket Stories is emerging as the breakout genre on YouTube, tapping into the amazing connect cricket fans have with their cricket stars, both on and off the field. The success of the category can be attributed to the quality of content around the game and the originality is offers.”

“Many brands, production houses and independent artists are capitalizing on this growth and we have seen mainstream personalities like Gaurav Kapur and Vikram Sathaye embrace the platform, in order to connect with their audience, the majority of whom are now online. Today, their videos are getting  millions of views and we hope their success will inspire many more talented artists in the country to start their journey on YouTube.”