Power Play: Mukesh Ambani will stream IPL for free after paying Rs 23,758 cr for rights

Mukesh Ambani-led Viacom 18 will now be streaming India's biggest cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League for free after winning the bidding war that cost the media group almost Rs Rs 23,758 crore.

This is the first time Viacom 18 bagged the streaming rights after fending off rivals like Disney Hotstar and Amazon Prime. Disney's Hotstar had streaming rights for the last five years.

Viacom 18 was expected to broadcast the tournament on two of its OTT platforms, Voot and JioCinema, and one TV channel Sports18. Last year, the Competition Commission of India approved the merger of Viacom 18 Media Private Limited (Viacom18) and Jio Cinema OTT platform which was owned by Reliance Projects and Property Management Services Limited (RPPMSL)—a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited.

However, in a recent media roundtable, CEO (Sports), Viacom18 Media Anil Jayraj said that no such announcement has been made about the merger of the two platforms. "We will be building Jio Cinema on the back of what we have in terms of existing content as well as new acquisitions,” he added.

Read: 'Jio Cinema and Voot might not merge anytime soon'

However, IPL will only be free to watch on JioCinema for the first year. “We’re trying to build a sports business that delights the Indian consumer and provides the largest aggregation of viewers. We’re actually trying to access anybody who has an internet-enabled device. This year, we want to do it without any cost or any charge so that we can get the maximum number of users and advertisers can have the choice of audience they want to target,” Jayaraj said.

The 16th IPL will be the second big bag for Viacom18 that will be streaming on JioCinema after the FIFA World Cup 2022. However, the FIFA experience left football fans in India disappointed after a glitchy, buffering viewing experience.