Mukesh Ambani’s JioCinema to take on Disney+ Hotstar, and Amazon Prime with free 4K IPL streaming

• JioCinema will offer free 4K streaming of the Indian Premier League matches.
• The platform will offer multiple camera angles, match statistics, and multi-language support.
• Viacom18 had acquired exclusive digital rights for IPL for $2.7 billion.

Mukesh Ambani’s Viacom18 won the exclusive digital rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL), one of the world’s most-watched sporting events for the 2023-2027 cycle by paying a whopping $2.7 billion, and recently announced that the IPL matches will be streamed on the company’s JioCinema.

Earlier, Disney+ Hotstar had the rights to stream IPL matches, and it was one of the selling points of the platform, which it advertised heavily to gain subscribers. JioCinema is taking a different path and is expected to offer free streaming to its users, meaning users will not have to pay to watch IPL matches.

The IPL 2023 edition is scheduled to begin on March 31, as Chennai Super Kings take on the Gujarat Titans.

JioCinema to offer free 4K streaming

JioCinema is not only going to offer content for free, but the company is also expected to offer an enhanced experience by offering 4K streaming at 60 FPS, compared to 1080p content offered by Disney+ Hotstar. Users will be able to switch between different camera angles.

The company will also offer real-time match statistics such as wagon wheels, pitch heat maps, etc. Viewers can select from 12 languages, including Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, and more. The commentary, score, and statistics will all be shown in the selected language.

Initial focus on advertisements

According to a report by Economic Times, JioCinema intends to offer the matches to as many people as possible with an intention to earn revenue from advertisements. The company’s executives have estimated that over 550 million viewers will watch the IPL, which will go on for nearly eight weeks.

“We believe the IPL moving away from paid content is a potential threat to TV advertising in the medium term. It would be difficult for Viacom18-Jio Cinema to recover even 50% of its content acquisition cost via the digital route, if content is free at least in the near term. However, in the medium to long term, change in consumption habits and growing Smart TV penetration would lead to digital ad revenue moving closer to TV advertising, if IPL content remains free of charge,” Elara Capital said in a report.

JioCinema reportedly partners with 3 lakh housing societies

According to a report by e4m, as part of its strategy to reach viewers, JioCinema has partnered with 3 lakh housing societies in metro cities, 25,000 restaurants, and 10,000 colleges across the country that use JioFiber broadband to stream IPL matches.

“While many of them already have big screens, at some places, we would put up our screens,” a Viacom18 official told e4m.

Jio will take on existing giants such as Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime, which offer cricket streaming for different matches.

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