Viacom18 bags BCCI media rights | Cricket News

MUMBAI: As expected by many in industry circles, Viacom18 bagged the media rights of the Indian cricket board (BCCI’s) home international and domestic games for the next four-and-a-half years — from September 2023 to March 2028 — for a cumulative figure of Rs 5,963 crores in an e-auction on Thursday. The newcomer, which broadcasts live action on its digital platform Jio Cinema and Sports18 television channel, won both digital as well as television rights, having agreed to shell out a price of Rs 67.8 crore per game, thus outbidding Disney Star and Sony.
The TV component amounted to Rs 32.5 crore per game (approx), while the digital valuation stood at Rs 35.3 crore (approx), culminating in an aggregate sum of Rs 67.8 crore, which is Rs 7.8 crores, or 12.92% higher than the Rs 60 crore that Star India had paid the BCCI in the previous cycle.

In simple terms, in the digital category, Viacom18, which now takes over from Disney Star, bid Rs 3101 crore for the digital rights, and for television rights, it bid Rs 2862 crore. Owned by the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and led by Uday Shankar, who revolutionized the broadcast industry in India during his time as the head of Star India, Viacom 18 already owns digital rights for the IPL (2023-2027), and both digital and TV rights for the Women’s Premier League (2023-2027).

The network will broadcast 88 games (25 Tests, 27 ODIs and 36 T20I) over the course of 4.5 years in an agreement that starts with a three-match ODI series against Australia at the end of September, just before the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. Disney Star, which was earlier Star India, had won worldwide rights to India’s games for Rs 6138 crore for a total of 102 international matches.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah said on X (previously Twitter), “Viacom18 will broadcast 88 games over the course of five years in an agreement that concludes in March 2028 and commences with a three-match ODI series against Australia at the end of September. Congratulations @viacom18 for winning the @BCC 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.” He also thanked Star India, the outgoing broadcaster.
Last year, Viacom18 had secured the IPL digital rights for Rs 23,758 crore. The network then won the global media rights for the WPL for Rs 951 crore for the period 2023-27.
Thursday’s development marked the end of an 11-year Star Sports era for India’s home matches, both domestic and international, which started from 2012.
“We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the BCCI for a transparent and efficient ebidding 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,” NP Singh, MD & CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India, said, congratulating the winners of the e-auction.