Viacom18 wins BCCI media rights for both digital and television broadcast

Reliance Industries owned Viacom 18 won the BCCI media rights for the domestic and international games to be played in India. Viacom 18 has won the media rights for both television as well as the digital platforms. The media firm has bagged the rights for a total amount of Rs. 5996.4 crore.

Jay Shah, the Honorary Secretary of the BCCI, confirmed about the same via a post on X.

Shah also thanked Disney Star India for its support to the Indian cricket team. The previous media rights were with Disney Star India. In 2018, Disney Star won the media rights for for Rs. 6,138 crore.

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.

Viacom18 fended off challenged from Disney Plus and Sony Sports during the e-auction on Thursday.

N.P. Singh, MD & CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India, congratulated the winners of the e-auction for the bilateral media rights.

“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.” Sigh said.

The media rights were available in two packages. Package A, which is for TV, has the base price of Rs. 20 crore per match. Package B, which is for digital and rest of the world, has the base price set at Rs. 25 crore for one match.

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. CNBC-TV18