Star India reimagines IPL 2018, aims to reach out to 700 million fans

Post bagging the Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights in September this year for a period of five years, Star India has set out to make the tournament the biggest show ever. The media rights were acquired for a whopping Rs 16,347.5 crore. 

Star India will leverage the power of TV and digital, airing the tournament on its 10 Star Sports channels as well as on Hotstar. Thus, the reach is expected to increase to 700 million viewers as compared to last year’s 550 million. 

In order to increase its local spread, IPL will be telecast in 6 languages – Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali. 

Star India is looking at technology to power new viewing experiences that will bring the stadium home. This will be enabled through first time live on digital and TV, check-ins and live scorecard on hand-held phones, thereby increasing fans’ engagement with IPL. 

Sanjay Gupta, Managing Director, Star India, commented, “The decade-old Indian Premier League is one of the most loved sporting events in the country. At Star, we want to reimagine IPL to give our viewers a never before sporting experience. By leveraging the combined reach of digital and television media, through our 10 channels in six different languages, we aim to reach out to 700 million fans across geographies. Technological innovation is at the heart of the experience, bringing the stadium home and giving the fans an interactive and immersive viewing experience.”