MUMBAI: Viacom18, the digital rights holder of the TATA Indian Premier League, Monday laid down the gauntlet as it were on its upcoming tussle with rival network Disney Star for consumer share of mind and voice from IPL 2023.
While IPL TV rights holder Disney Star has declared it is targeting record TV reach of over 500 million from IPL, Viacom18’s OTT platform has set itself an even stiffer target of 550m. For context, 550m was roughly the total reach that IPL 2022 delivered for the House of Mouse from both TV and digital.
Towards that end, Viacom18 Monday opened the JioCinema CricStream Showcase, giving a glimpse of what consumers and advertisers will experience for the upcoming season.
The exhibition, spread across multiple zones, gave brands and industry leaders a sneak peek into the innovations on offer on JioCinema for both, advertisers and consumers.
“Our proposition is seeded in efforts to remove barriers for viewers such as accessibility, affordability, and language to scale up the league’s impact for advertisers and consumers alike,” said a Viacom18 spokesperson.
“The JioCinema CricStream Showcase is an exhibit of how we aim to move the needle and achieve this. The exhibition is a curtain-raiser to the spectacular viewing experience consumers will enjoy during the TATA IPL and the endless opportunities that a brand and advertiser will be able to seize on our platform,” the spokesperson added.
JioCinema’s offerings
The exhibition showcases JioCinema’s prime offerings for consumers during the TATA IPL, including 4K feed (a first for IPL), multi-language and multi-cam presentation, interactivity through stats pack and Play Along feature.
More than 110 experts will be available across 17 feeds and in 12 different languages. There will also be multiple camera angles to choose from, including detailed analysis.
12 Languages: English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Marathi. And introduced for the first time are Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Gujarati and Odia.
Other feeds
Fan feed
Fantasy Gaming feed
Lifestyle feed
4K (English)
TBC feed
JioCinema also has a dedicated zone on offline activations (read fan parks) planned to engage with the cricket-loving communities in the deepest pockets of the country.
For brands and advertisers, JioCinema has a dedicated zone that will demonstrate a new feature called ‘Brands You Love’, which will give advertisers additional exposure even after their ad is served. In the same zone, brands will be able to see all the ad assets available to leverage on JioCinema during the TATA IPL. Finally, the JioCinema Media Planner, a gamification experience, will give advertisers the choice to pick their budget and will immediately be showcased the benefits of picking digital.
The IPL 2023 season tips off March 31 with defending champions Gujarat Titans taking on Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. All matches will be live on JioCinema for no cost this season.
