Anil Jayaraj, Chief Executive Officer - Sports, Viacom18, was crowned Medianews4u Gamechanger 2022 in the Media category at the awards ceremony in Chennai on 31st May 2023.
The fifth edition of the annual event recognising path breaking contributions in the space of advertising, media and marketing awarded winners in 13 categories.
Jayaraj’s citation reads as follows:
The GameChanger 2022 Award for Media is conferred on Anil Jayaraj, Chief Executive Officer – Sports, Viacom18 Media:
For testing the waters with the FIFA World Cup on JioCinema and mainstreaming digital consumption of sports in India.
For making a bold play with free streaming of IPL despite high acquisition cost, demonstrating with confidence a commitment to dominate viewership.
For changing the way India’s favourite game is viewed by the masses and providing a valuable additional avenue of associating with IPL for a larger number of advertisers.
For laying a solid foundation for JioCinema to build on with original content and international partnerships.
In a recorded acceptance speech, Jayaraj said, “I really wish I could be there in person to accept this honour. I would like to thank Medianews4u, the jury and my team at Viacom18 Sports and humbly accept it.
“It’s been a whirlwind of a year for us at Viacom18 Sports. We’ve worked on marquee properties from the FIFA World Cup to SA20 followed by the WPL and finally, IPL. Somewhere along the journey, our deepest intent was to grow sports viewership in the country and delight consumers through our coverage. It’s been a joy to see that our vision came to life.
“In the recently concluded IPL, we reached what is essentially a record concurrent viewership number of 3.21 cr. Our job here was helped by the fact that we are seeing a dramatic shift among consumers, moving away from linear TV and legacy platforms to digital avenues and connected TVs. So in a sense, we are working to serve the future of inhouse sports consumption as well as outdoor. My sincerest gratitude to the jury for recognising this.
“Finally, not forgetting my fellow nominees for this award, who I think were equally deserving. I certainly wish all of them the very best.”
