Mumbai: Viacom18 plans to take India’s biggest sporting event the Indian Premier League (IPL) to every nook and corner of the country. It aims to make IPL available everywhere in India including the 60 million users that reside on free direct-to-home platform DD Free Dish.
“Sports entertain us, inspire us and bring us together. Cricket and IPL personify the best of sport and the best of India, which is why we are proud to be deepening our association with this great game and this wonderful league. Just like with everything we do, our mission is to take the joyful experience of IPL to cricket fans wherever they are - in every part of our country and around the world,” said Reliance Industries director Nita Ambani.
Viacom18 has acquired the rights to digitally stream Indian Premier League matches in the Indian sub-continent for the seasons from 2023 to 2027. It has also won the India digital rights for a special package of 18 games in every season. Globally, Viacom18 has won television as well as digital rights in three out of five international territories, including major cricketing nations.
With its wide reach, strategic tie-ups and increasingly popular content bouquet, the digital platforms of Viacom18 are gearing up for leadership in India as well as with the Indian diaspora globally.
In a statement, the company said it has state-of-the-art digital expertise to provide best possible user experience to hundreds of millions of Indians and global consumers.
Its digital platforms will utilise a combination of top-class content as well as digital prowess through big data analytics and predictive algorithms to offer contextualised and relevant content to each consumer.
This is the first major foray of the broadcaster into cricket. It holds the broadcast rights to FIFA World Cup Qatar, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1. It also offers badminton, tennis and basketball (NBA) via it’s channels. The addition of IPL makes Viacom18 a formidable sports broadcaster in the country.
“This will be an exceptional opportunity for advertisers to reach a larger, younger, relevant and highly-engaged audience. The targeting opportunities because of Viacom18’s strategic partnership with Jio will be unparalleled,” said the statement.
