Sports is definitely part of our streaming playbook: Bob Bakish of ViacomCBS on IPL
During the Q4 earnings call, the ViacomCBS President & CEO cautioned that there was a need to be disciplined while bidding for sports rights
ViacomCBS President and CEO Bob Bakish has said that the company is looking at selectively adding sports rights internationally while stating that the Indian Premier League (IPL) bid is being driven by its Indian joint venture (JV) Viacom18.
"So we’re looking at selectively adding sports product internationally, we’ve done some of that in Latin America, we’ve done some of that in Australia. The IPL thing in India is really Viacom18, which is our joint venture over there," Bakish told analysts during the Q4 earnings call while answering a question from an analyst about the potential IPL bid in India.
While stating that sports is additive and a differentiator, Bakish cautioned that there is a need to be disciplined while bidding for sports rights. "So, again, we think sports is additive and certainly a differentiator for us. You need to be disciplined in terms of how much you pay, and we need to be effective in terms of extracting the value, including through co-usage of other product. But sports is definitely part of our streaming play book. And by the way, we have a lot of benefit from our CBS Sports heritage as we pursue that opportunity," he added.
He also said that the company's streaming service Paramount+ has benefited from sports in US. He noted that sports content also helps in getting subscribers to sample entertainment content. "In terms of your question on international sports rights. Look, it’s early days, but we’ve seen the real benefit of sports as part of Paramount+ in the United States. The NFL, as you saw in one of the charts, was the number one source of subscriber additions for the product in 2021, and we have found that we can cross consumer, bring them in on sports and get them to consume entertainment product, sports fans, as an example, in the fourth quarter were also big consumers of shows like SEAL Team and Mayor of Kingstown and 1883, and that’s key to our overall plan and economics and ROI," he elaborated.
Viacom18, which is a 51:49 JV between Reliance-backed TV18 and ViacomCBS, has ventured into sports broadcasting segment with Sports18 and Sports18 HD. Former Star Sports Ad Sales Head Anil Jayaraj is spearheading the network's sports broadcasting business.
The network has already acquired rights to properties like FIFA World Cup, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue1, NBA, and Abu Dhabi T10 series. It is also in contention for upcoming media rights to properties like Indian Premier League (IPL), International Cricket Council (ICC), and BCCI. The three properties are expected to fetch anywhere between Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore depending on the competitive intensity.
