IPL: JioCinema to reach linear TVs, live stream at 3L housing societies & 10K colleges

The digital offerings of Viacom18, the streaming rights holder of the TATA Indian Premier League, not only offer free streaming of IPL matches but also aim at massive consumer engagement by offering content in 12 regional languages, chat-with-commentators features, and KBC-like quizzes and prizes to make the live telecast of the matches more interesting and engaging. 

“We are speaking with Amitabh Bachchan and a few other top celebrities to run the quiz. The name will be finalized soon,” an official told e4m. 

Meanwhile, the company has tied up with three lakh housing societies in metro cities, 25,000 restaurants and 10,000 colleges   ross India to stream the IPL matches during this season through the broadband connection. 

These campuses already have Jio broadband connectivity. While many of them already have big screens, at some places we would  put up our screens, Viacom18 officials said. 

In an attempt to engage with the cricket-loving communities in the deepest pockets of the country, several offline activations are also planned.  

Viacom18 has also come up with Jio Media cables that can connect even low-end smartphones with old linear TVs, including the CRT one, and stream IPL through the Jiocinema app. 

The cable, which currently costs nearly Rs 1,500 might be available for a few hundred bucks soon. 

The industry experts believe that Jio’s strategy may turn out to be a disrupter in the IPL telecast. 

Jio Glasses

The company plans to launch specially-designed Jio Glasses this IPL season that gives a 360-degree VR feed using JioDive. The glasses cost Rs 25,000 and would be available at Jio stores. 

Tapping SMBs

There is no bar for advertisers. Anyone, even the local shopkeeper can advertise on IPL now, company officials said. While the company insists it hasn’t decided on any bar to advertise on the platform during IPL, officials admitted that they would be tapping small and medium sized businesses. 

The company is in talks with all major digital ad platforms such as Google and Facebook as well seeking a collaboration in this regard, an official claimed. 

Add innovations

Viacom18 has come up with a couple of ad innovations that will allow users to pause the ad which can be watched later. Besides, it has created a sidebar to display the scoreboard, hypes of the match etc. where ads can be displayed without annoying the users.  

4K videos

While the company would be recording and streaming 4k videos through its high end cameras and systems, most app users would be able to watch only HD video. About 10 percent of smart TV users have wifi and broadband connectivity that can stream 4k videos. 

Women IPL

Some of these offerings, such as chats with commentators, would be available for women IPL as well which will begin in March.