JioCinema Signs Rohit Sharma As Brand Ambassador

Last month, competitor, The Walt Disney Company India-owned channel Star Sports signed Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh as its brand ambassador.

Sharma will work with the team at the OTT platform, collaborating on their vision that is focused on making sports viewing synonymous with digital through initiatives. He will take its digital-first proposition for all premium sports properties expanding the fan base, the company added.

The cricketer said, “I am very pleased to associate with them and be part of this journey as it enables the shift to the digital platform and offers a higher degree of flexibility, accessibility, interactivity, and personalization to cricket fans.“

Viacom18 Sports‘ CEO, Anil Jayaraj, said, “Sharma embodies the spirit of sportsmanship, and unmatched leadership, representing the values that fans and players alike hold dear. This partnership is a natural extension to our quest in leading India on a path that represents an exciting future."

For this season, the OTT platform is broadcasting the Indian Premier League free. It said it had a peak concurrency of over 2.4 crore.

The Reliance Industries-controlled broadcast network outbid rival Disney Star to pick up the five-year digital rights of the league with a bid amount of ₹23,757.5 crore, while the latter retained TV rights for ₹23,575 crore.

TAM Sports, a division of TAM Media, has claimed that about 25 categories that advertised on television, with about 35 advertisers in total and 60 brands in the first week of the league. The company said it took into account only commercial advertising on television, with only live matches and did not include pre-, mid- and post-match programmes.