On Thursday, Viacom 18 created a near monopoly in the Indian cricket broadcasting sphere by bagging both TV and digital rights of the national team's home series for the next five years with a cumulative bid of approximately Rs 6,000 crore, beating Star India and Sony in a three-way battle. The BCCI had invited separate e-bids for both linear (TV) and digital for best price discovery. As per the statement of a broadcasting industry source who was closely tracking down the developments, Viacom 18 paid approximately Rs 3101 crore for digital and Rs 2862 crore for linear TV. As has been the trend, digital has fetched more. "With IPL digital rights being bought by Viacom for Rs 26,000 crore plus, they now have almost all the high-profile cricket properties save IPL linear TV and ICC events."
The rights will come into effect with India's three-match home series against Australia beginning on September 22 and ending on March 31, 2028.
Jay Shah, who is the secretary of BCCI, said on "X", "Congratulations @viacom18 for winning the @BCCI Media Rights for both linear and digital for the next 5 years. India Cricket will continue to grow in both spaces as, after @IPL and @WPLt20, we extend the partnership with @BCCI Media Rights as well."