15 June 2022, Mumbai, India: 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.
Viacom18 outbid reputed broadcasters and digital companies to establish itself as a leading digital media, entertainment and sports destination. 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. With these IPL rights, Viacom18 will be able to take India’s biggest sporting event to every nook and corner of the country. It will make IPL available to every Indian in every part of India, including the 60 million FreeDish homes which today are not able to access this popular content.
Viacom18 has demonstrated that it is building the digital platforms of the future while continuing to strengthen traditional television broadcasting. It has state-of-the-art digital expertise to provide the best possible user experience to hundreds of millions of Indian and global consumers. The digital platforms 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.
After bagging a slew of sporting rights in soccer (FIFA World Cup, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue1), badminton, tennis and basketball (NBA), this is the first major foray of Viacom18 into cricket. The IPL rights make Viacom18 and its platforms one of the largest sporting destinations in the country.
This will be an exceptional opportunity for advertisers to reach a larger, younger, more relevant and highly-engaged audience. The targeting opportunities because of Viacom18’s strategic partnership with Jio will be unparalleled.
“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 Nita Ambani, Director, Reliance Industries Ltd.
The packages have been acquired for the following rights fee:
| S No | Rights Package | Rights Fee per match (Rs crore) |
| 1. | Indian Subcontinent Digital Rights Package | 50.00 |
| 2. | Indian Subcontinent Digital Rights Special Package | 33.24 |
| International Territories: | ||
| 3. | Grouping A (Australia, NZ, Singapore, Caribbean) | 0.30 |
| 4. | Grouping C (South Africa, Sub Saharan Africa) | 0.65 |
| 5. | Grouping D (UK, Ireland, Continental Europe) | 0.50 |
About Viacom18
Viacom18, a strategic collaboration between TV18 and Paramount Global, has entered into a strategic partnership transaction with Bodhi Tree Systems (a platform of Lupa Systems of James Murdoch and Uday Shankar).
Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd. is one of India’s fastest-growing entertainment networks and a house of iconic brands that offers multi-platform, multi-generational and multicultural brand experiences. Viacom18 defines entertainment in India by touching the lives of people through its properties on air, online, on ground, in cinemas and merchandise. Its portfolio of 38 channels across general entertainment, movies, sports, youth, music and kids genres delights the consumers across the country with its eclectic mix of programming. Viacom18 Studios has successfully produced and distributed iconic Hindi films and clutter-breaking regional films for over 12 years in India.
Viacom18 Sports is the new home to the world’s most premium sports properties, including the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, NBA, LaLiga, Ligue 1, Serie A and other top ATP & BWF events across its TV Channels Sports 18 as well as digital platform Voot. Voot is one of India’s leading AVOD and SVOD streaming service with a library of ~75,000 hours of Viacom18 network content, content from Paramount and Voot Originals
