MUMBAI: Viacom18, the Reliance Industries Ltd-controlled joint venture between TV18 and ViacomCBS, will be introducing its English sports channels Sports18 1 SD and Sports18 1 HD on April 15, the company’s distribution arm IndiaCast has stated in a public notice.
What was not declared in the public notice was that Viacom18 will reportedly also be launching a Hindi SD sports channel alongside the two English channels.
The company has also slashed the price of its sports channels from Rs 12 to Rs 8.
The network has also launched a one-month promotional offer for distribution platform operators (DPOs) wherein Sports18 1 SD and Sports18 1 HD will be available free of cost, e4m reports. The promotional scheme will commence on 15th April and expire on 14th May.
As per an earlier Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) filing, the company had named its sports channel Sports18 SD and Sports18 HD. The channels were priced at Rs 12 for consumers and Rs 9.6 for the DPOs.
Viacom18 has acquired rights to properties like FIFA World Cup, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue1, NBA, and Abu Dhabi T10 series.
Sports broadcasting in India will now have three dominant players – Star Sports, Sony Sports Network and Sports18. Alongside the three biggies there are also two niche players in Eurosport India (owned by Discovery India) and 1Sports (promoted by Lex Sportel Vision Pvt Ltd).
