Freebies Continue: JioCinema To Stream India-Australia ODI Series For Free

After streaming the Indian Premier League (IPL) for free, JioCinema is set to stream the three-match ODI series between India and Australia for free.

The international series, which is scheduled to start on September 22, will be streamed on JioCinema in 11 languages, Viacom18 said in a statement.

“The 3-match ODI series between India and Australia will give viewers a peek into inarguably the new home of Indian cricket and with that responsibility, we will continue to bring the paradigm shift in the way sports is consumed,” said Anil Jayaraj, Viacom18 – Sports CEO.

“It is our constant endeavour to offer fans what they love the most in never-seen-before ways and digital allows us to continuously push the envelope and combined with linear/ offline TV, we will deliver BCCI events on an unparalleled scale,” he added.

Viacom18 has won the media rights for the Indian cricket team’s international home matches as well as the domestic matches of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) till 2028.

JioCinema’s free broadcast of IPL 2023 garnered more than 449 Mn viewers, with the streaming platform claiming to have recorded ‘record’ revenues from it. The final of the tournament clocked 32 Mn viewers.

Earlier in June, Disney+ Hotstar also decided to take the JioCinema route and offer free streaming of the Asia Cup and the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup to mobile users. The streaming platform registered a peak 2.8 Cr concurrent viewers during India Vs Pakistan match in the Asia Cup 2023.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is expanding its presence in the OTT space through JioCinema. The OTT platform also won the media rights for the Indian Super League (ISL) until FY25 and entered esports streaming. Earlier, it partnered with NBCUniversal and HBO to further strengthen JioCinema’s offerings.

In its Q2 earnings, RIL claimed that JioCinema generated higher revenue from digital streaming of IPL compared to its rival Disney Star, which had the TV rights for the marquee cricket tournament.