New Delhi: JioCinema, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Viacom18, has signed men’s cricket India captain Rohit Sharma as its brand ambassador. The company said that the cricketer will work on the OTT platform’s vision of making sports viewing synonymous with digital.
Last month, competitor, The Walt Disney Company India-owned channel Star Sports roped in Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh as its brand ambassador.
Sharma will work with the team on the OTT platform, supporting their vision, which focuses on making sports viewing synonymous with digital through the initiative. The company said it will take its digital-first proposition to all premium sports properties looking to expand the fan base.
“I am delighted to join them and be a part of this journey as it enables transformation on digital platforms and provides cricket fans with a higher level of flexibility, accessibility, interactivity and personalisation,” said the cricketer.
Anil Jayaraj, CEO, Viacom18 Sports, said, “Sharma embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and unmatched leadership, representing values that are dear to fans and sportspersons alike. A natural extension of our quest to go that represents an exciting future.”
For this season the OTT platform is airing the Indian Premier League for free. It said that its maximum concurrency was over 24 million.
The broadcast network, controlled by Reliance Industries, had bid for the digital rights of the league for five years to rival Disney Star. 23,757.5 crore, while the latter retained the TV rights 23,575 crores.
TAM Sports, a division of TAM Media, claimed that approximately 25 categories advertised on television in the first week of the league, with approximately 35 advertisers and 60 brands in total. The company stated that it took into account only commercial advertising on television with live matches and did not include pre-, mid- and post-match programs.
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