In the past couple of years, Viacom18 has expanded its footprints into the sports broadcasting ecosystem which in turn has brought in a seismic shift in the space. The resulting disruption has propelled the broadcaster as the top sports network in India.
When Viacom18 landed the digital streaming rights for the lucrative Indian Premier League in June 2022 for a record amount, greater than what was paid for the television rights, it gave a clear indication of the direction in which the sports consumption in the country is headed towards.
Having bought the rights for a jawdropping Rs 23,758 crore to stream IPL matches for the 2023-27 period, Viacom18 then further revealed its ambitions by announcing that the second most valued sporting event in the world will be available for free on its platform JioCinema.
Few months later, they also bagged the media rights (both broadcast and streaming) for the Women’s Premier League which was also available for free.
The astounding numbers that the platform recorded throughout IPL 2023 showed that the journey from linear to Connected TVs and mobile devices has begun.
The unparalleled coverage drew a whopping 32 million viewers for the IPL final between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans on JioCinema which was then a global record for the most concurrent views.
Cricket is the biggest sports property in India and Viacom18 expanded its ambit by also acquiring both the streaming and broadcast rights for all international and domestic cricket in India for the September 2023-March 2028 period.
It’s safe to say Viacom18 has become the official home of Indian cricket.
Beyond Cricket
While cricket remains the most lucrative of all sports in India, Viacom18 has been swiftly making headway in other major sports properties too.
Besides IPL and WPL, the network’s ever expanding portfolio also includes Olympics 2024, SA20, Major League Cricket, Ultimate Table Tennis, NBA, Diamond League, World Athletics Championships (Budapest 2023), MotoGP, LaLiga, Ligue1, Serie A, BGIS (E-Sports), Abu Dhabi T10, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, BWF events and more.
And recently, the network sealed a landmark media partnership deal with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for a period spanning 2023-2027 to stream and broadcast all major FIH events in India except the Nations Cup.
Tackling Reluctance to Pay
While a population in excess of one billion people makes India a right holders dream, it’s also a fact that there’s a huge gulf between the OTT viewers and paid subscribers.
The industry is positive that the gap will reduce with time, Viacom18 took a giant leap to offer cricket for free on JioCinema, a step which is part of the network’s intent to provide “quality and affordable content” to each viewer in the country.
“Live sports consumption in India has sharply pivoted towards digital, and winning the global digital rights will help us further fuel this ascendancy,” Viacom18 Sports chief executive officer Anil Jayaraj says. “Additionally, winning the broadcast rights is an extension of our strategy as we will continue to serve quality and affordable content to all viewers as they continue to migrate from linear TV to digital screens.”
The immediate impact of this approach obviously reflected in the astronomical viewing figures but also resulted in Disney Hotstar, the current media rights-holders of ICC events, streaming the 2023 ODI World Cup matches for free on mobile.
Immersive Coverage
The freedom and scope that digital media offers has allowed the Viacom18 to provide immersive, extensive coverage of the various sports events from across the globe. The prime example being the 2022 FIFA World Cup where viewers had the freedom to switch between different camera angles for unique experiences.
Additionally, the viewers have the option to follow the coverage of various events across different languages which caters to their linguistic preferences.
The rich experience has certainly caught the fancy of the Indian populace as they continue to switch from linear to digital screens. With the ever growing broadband penetration in the country, the journey will only hasten.
Comments
0 comment