MUMBAI: Viacom18 has bagged the BCCI’s TV and digital media rights for bilateral India matches on home turf for the next five years, for the period 2023-28.
As already reported, Disney Star and Sony Sports were the only other participants in the auction.
The rights have reportedly been acquired for Rs 5966.4 crore (TV & digital combined) for 88 matches, which translates to Rs 67.8 cr per match as the composite rights value.
The base price set by the Indian cricket board per game for TV was Rs 20 crore while for digital it was Rs 25 crore. It bears noting that media watchers had put the expected composite winning bid to be in the Rs 60-70 cr per game ball park. So it is as per expectations.
The e-auction for awarding the rights was conducted on Thursday.
Congratulating Viacom18, BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted: “Congratulations @viacom18 ? for winning the @BCCI Media Rights for both linear and digital for the next 5 years. India Cricket will continue to grow in both spaces as after @IPL, and @wplt20, we extend the partnership @BCCI Media Rights as well. Together we will continue to capture the imagination of ??cricket fans.”
The rights were earler with Disney Star. “Also a big thank you to @starindia @DisneyPlusHS for your support over the years. You played a key role in making India Cricket reach its fans across the globe,” Shah tweeted.
Meanwhile, NP Singh, MD & CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India, too congratulated BCCI and Viacom18. “We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the BCCI for a transparent and efficient e-bidding process and to the winners for securing the bilateral media rights. Our disciplined bid was grounded in market forecasts and a long-term growth strategy. We remain committed to delivering top-tier sporting entertainment as we continue to see growing enthusiasm across various sports genres,” said Singh.
For the the five year period of 2023 to 2028, the bilateral cricket matches played in India will be broadcast on Sports 18 while at the same time they will be streamed on the JioCinemas app.
The broadcast cycle starting from September 2023 till March 2028 will have around 88 international matches which could go up to 102.
Viacom 18 now hold the TV and digital media rights for the international bilateral matches in India, digital media rights for the Indian Premier League and TV and digital media rights of the Women’s Premier League.
