Reliance's JioCinema clocks record 1.47 billion digital views in first IPL weekend

Network18 Media & Investments

03/04/2023 13:44

BENGALURU, April 3 (Reuters) - The broadcasting joint venture of Indian conglomerate
Reliance Industries  RELI.NS  said on Monday its JioCinema app saw a record 1.47 billion digital
video views on the opening weekend of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament, as
well as 50 million mobile app downloads.
    The number of video viewers for the IPL weekend eclipsed what was recorded across the entire
last season of IPL on digital, said Viacom18, which is part of Network18 – the media unit owned
by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance.
    Viacom18 won digital streaming rights from 2023 to 2027, for 237.58 billion Indian rupees
($2.89 billion), which Disney previously held. 
    On the other hand, Disney-owned Star India  DIS.N  which is the official TV broadcaster of
the IPL, the world's richest cricket league, said it saw a total of 8.7 billion minutes of
consumption on television for the opening match on Friday between defending champions Gujarat
Titans and Chennai Super Kings.
    A peak attendance of 16 million viewers was recorded on JioCinema during the match, Viacom18
said.  
    The landscape for content consumption has increasingly moved "to digital and JioCinema
performance this week is the biggest evidence of it," Viacom18 Sports Chief Executive Officer
Anil Jayaraj said in a statement.
        Disney Star said in a separate statement that it was witnessing "continuing dominance"
of linear Television as the preferred platform for uninterrupted viewing of live cricket.
    The comments indicate heated rivalry between Reliance and Disney, which are aiming for a
major slice of advertisement revenue at a time when channels are seeing increased spending to
push viewership, with advertisers cutting back on spending due to an inflationary environment.  
    
    


($1 = 82.2650 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
 ((Navamya.GaneshAcharya@thomsonreuters.com; +91 8805175330 ;))