The Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries’ broadcasting joint venture reported on Monday that during the first weekend of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament, its JioCinema app achieved a record 1.47 billion digital video views in addition to 50 million downloads of mobile apps.
CHENNAI: MS Dhoni, captain of the Chennai Super Kings, during the Monday, April 3, 2023 cricket match between the Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. R Senthil Kumar/PTI Picture; PTI04 03 2023 000321B ( PTI)
The IPL weekend’s video viewing, according to Viacom18, a division of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance-owned media company Network 18, has topped the total for the entire previous season of the IPL on digital.
Formerly held by Disney, the digital streaming rights from 2023 to 2027 were purchased by Viacom18 for 237.58 billion Indian rupees ($2.89 billion).
The inaugural game between the defending champion Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings on Friday was seen for a total of 8.7 billion minutes on television, according to Disney-owned Star India, the official TV broadcaster of the world’s richest cricket league.
According to Viacom18, 16 million viewers—the largest number ever—watched the match on JioCinema.
Anil Jayaraj, CEO of Viacom18 Sports, noted in a statement that the landscape for content consumption is shifting toward “digital, and JioCinema’s performance this week is the biggest example of that.”
In a different statement, Disney Star stated that it was considering linear television’s “continued dominance” as the preferable platform for uninterrupted live cricket viewing.
The remarks reveal a competitive atmosphere between Reliance and Disney, who are vying for a larger proportion of advertising revenue. At the same time as advertisers are cutting back on spending because of inflation, the channels are looking to increase spending to increase viewership. is of.