MUMBAI: Viacom18, on Friday, made a formal announcement to launch the network's brand new dedicated sports broadcasting pay-TV channel that went on air the same evening.
It was a 'soft launch' that made a 'very loud noise', sending ripples across the broadcast industry in India and signalled the mass media JV's firm entry into a very exclusive space.
To be called 'Sports18', the brand new sports channel - available on HD & SD - will host some valuable sports properties this year including the 2022 Fifa World Cup, the NBA, La Liga, Serie A, alongside some more football, tennis, and other sports.
"We are pleased to launch a dedicated sports channel for an audience across demographics and geographies. Sports18 will strive to be India's most-coveted broadcast network by providing fans easy access to a comprehensive bouquet of international and premier sports content," Viacom18 Sports CEO Anil Jayaraj said.
While the channel may receive its own share of traction, the launch itself wasn't the only reason why the ripples made waves on Friday. It was the timing of this 'soft launch', weeks ahead of the Indian Premier League's (IPL) 2023-27 cycle of media rights going on sale, that caused the effect.
TV18 is the subsidiary of the Network18 Group, the mass-media arm of Reliance Industries that was among the first companies to pick up the Invitation-To-Tender (ITT) for the IPL rights in the second week of June.
Alongside Network18, American media conglomerate Disney, global e-commerce and content giant Amazon, Sony Corp-owned SPNI (Sony Pictures Pvt Ltd) and the Zee Group are among the major players who have picked up the tender document.
The BCCI had brought out the ITT earlier this month inviting potential bidders to participate in an e-auction (in the second week of June) for the sale of the coveted IPL rights. There has been heavy speculation over the last few weeks that Viacom18 is all set to enter into a 'massive bidding war' with the above-mentioned global and local players to grab those rights.
There is also serious chatter that the value of IPL rights for this upcoming cycle could go way north of Rs 60,000 crore, given participants in the fray and the dynamics fuelling it.
"For the first time, they've (Viacom18) dipped their little big toe into these (sports broadcast) waters. The launch of this channel and the timing of it has the obviousness of what is being discussed in hushed tones for a while now," say senior industry executives.
This 'speculation' has much to do with the word doing the rounds that Reliance-backed Viacom18 will go 'all out' to secure the IPL rights. The broadcast-arm of India's largest private limited company is being seen as a "disruptor" of sorts by industry-players. With parent company Reliance Industries having major interests in telecom and e-retail, the grabbing of IPL rights - one that guarantees eyeballs in India like no other property - is not being seen from the perspective of 'broadcasting' alone.
"Cricket like any other sport, until now, was just content, apropos of its popularity and demand in India. A broadcaster bought it at a price and sold it across platforms (TV & digital) that guaranteed DTH / digital subscriptions (viewership), ad revenue and social engagement. Over the last couple of years, with OTT platforms consolidating, battle for subscriptions resulting in pricing wars, e-businesses sprouting and sharing of content becoming a global norm, viewership space has seen rapid changes," say those tracking these developments.
Viacom18 can soon be expected to make similar announcements - such as this brand new sports channel - in the OTT segment too, giving their existing platforms the necessary boost.
"HotStar is a prime example that encapsulates a bit of everything over the last few years. When (former Star India boss) Uday Shankar was heading Star, he gave the company the impetus and the direction by creating a platform (HotStar) that was among the major selling points for Disney to start eyeing Fox. Eventually, when Disney bought Fox, close to 18% of that deal - valued in excess of US$52b, essentially the deal-sweetener, was Fox's India business," say industry executives.
Shankar and Jayaraj were colleagues when Star India (part of the Disney umbrella now) wrote a winning cheque of Rs 16,347 crore to bag the IPL rights in 2017 for the 2018-22 rights cycle.
Those keeping an eye on the developments say, creating a value-driven platform, this time not necessarily from the perspective of 'decking up the bride for marriage' (read: the prospect of a future sale, like Fox to Disney) but to engage with consumers pan-India from the standpoint of retaining market footprint alone, will once again be at play.
Going forward, the sale of IPL rights in June offers to take the idea of 'content' beyond the spectrum of just engaging with sport fans. Sport content, apropos of traditional linear broadcast or modern-day, tech-driven digital dissemination, is now being seen as a major catalyst catering to other businesses and guaranteeing more eyeballs across mediums.
"The sale of IPL media rights is not about cricket anymore. Cricket is the dessert in an a-la-carte that has other tantalizing appetizers and main courses," industry heads say. "You have to consume it all before you get to the dessert".
The channel that got launched is merely the window offering a peek.
