Game nights at home, packed sports bars and people glued to TVs on shop displays, have been traditions for major sports events such as India-Pakistan matches and the football world cup. But with almost 75 crore people in India now using internet from their phones, things have changed as viewers on trains, in parks and other public spaces catch live matches on their handsets. This trend reached its pinnacle during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, as digital viewership in India surpassed TV viewership.
Majority of Indian mobile users go for streaming
As JioCinema streamed the entire tournament for free, as many as 11 crore people tuned in to catch football action across the country. It also helped JioCinema surge towards becoming the most downloaded app on iOS as well as Android in India. The country currently has almost 50 crore digital viewers, which means that 94 per cent of India’s mobile subscribers consume content online.
Jio making the most of digitisation
Thanks to a pandemic push, Indians have started spending 52 per cent more time on OTT apps such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar and now Jio. Apart from multi-cam view during the match, JioCinema also partnered with Snap to provide voice-activated augmented reality to users for the matches. The platform had also brought 50 brands across diverse sectors on board, to help them reach Indian consumers during the event.
As digital revenues are expected to grow to more than Rs 4,000 crore by FY26, TV sports segment’s growth will slow down to 7 per cent in four years. Reliance Jio has also been expanding its market share in India, by gaining subscribers who are leaving Vodafone Idea, month after month.
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