Indian media company Viacom18 will be mandated to broadcast between 70 and 140 days of domestic cricket per year as part of its national team broadcasting rights deal.
In addition, the broadcaster must digitally air between 70 and 160 days of domestic cricket.
Viacom18 recently purchased the exclusive rights to show Indian national and domestic cricket matches in the country for the next five years. These broadcasts will occur on its Jio Cinema digital streaming platform and the Sports 18 TV channel, as Viacom18 acquired both TV broadcast and streaming rights.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be able to determine which matches will be televised, streamed, or not broadcast.
Viacom will pay around INR 67.8 crore ($8.19 million) per fixture for the Indian national cricket team’s fixtures, an increase on the INR60 crore ($7.25 million) per game that previous rightsholder Star paid.
Over the five-year contract, the Indian national team will play 88 times. Viacom18’s term as media rightsholder for Indian cricket will begin in September with the upcoming India vs. Australia three-game one-day international series.
GlobalData was told by a senior source from the world of cricket broadcast rights that the per-game figure could potentially have gone much higher, even up to INR100 crore ($12 million), with the booming Indian economy factored in.
Viacom18 had previously secured the broadcast rights for digital distribution of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on its digital platform, and the entirety of the rights for the IPL’s women’s equivalent, the WPL. Disney-owned broadcaster Star still owns the rights to the TV broadcasting of the IPL.
Viacom18 must also meet the broadcast standards for TV and streaming delivery, including a sufficient quality video feed and compatibility for TV and mobile delivery.
The Indian media giant also owns domestic rights for a number of sporting competitions beyond cricket including the 2024 Olympics, basketball's NBA, Italian soccer's Serie A, Spain’s LaLiga, France’s Ligue 1, and Diamond League Athletics.
