IPL 2023: JioCinema and Star Sports engage in intriguing battle of viewership to lure eyeballs

The 16^th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is up and running with the defending champions Gujarat Titans locking horns with Chennai Super Kings at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, March 31. While some fans have headed for the in-stadium frenzy, millions of others have resorted to television and digital media to witness the cricketing carnival. 

With this, two giants in JioCinema and Star Sports have crossed swords too in the race to attain the most viewership. Viacom18-backed JioCinema has left no stone unturned in garnering the views this season as they have introduced quite a few pathbreaking technologies for the fans to relish the game. 

In the war between the two giants, Star Sports has launched India’s first-ever 4K (UHD) TV channel in response to Jio’s 4K. Star also added a record nine languages for the live stream of the event, with notable players such as Sunil Gavaskar, Jacques Kallis, Virender Sehwag, Kris Srikkanth, and Yusuf Pathan among others in the star-studded line-up across the languages.

However, it is JioCinema that seems to be leading the race at the moment. Viacom18 decided to add as many as 12 languages live stream and has also included the 360-degree VR (Virtual Reality) feed for fans witnessing it using the VR headset. Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Zaheer Khan, Suresh Raina, and Anil Kumble are among some of the illustrious names in the expert list featuring for JioCinema.

JioCinema's game-changer: Varied Camera Angles

Onto the most interesting feature, which is also new even for the IPL- the different camera angles. Viacom18 along with Jio has decided to take the fans on an exciting adventure with the introduction of watching the game from not one, but four different camera angles apart from the regular view.

They have introduced the Bird’s eye cam, Cable cam, Stump cam, and the batter cam apart from the main camera angle to witness the high-octane clashes. Speaking about the Bird’s eye angle, the focus will be a side-angled view of the contest which will take place on a real-time basis without any interruptions of highlights (runs/wickets).

The Cable cam is basically the camera that is attached to the ropes which will provide the feed of the entire game assuming fans tune into the angle. The action can be watched from a top angle, unlike the regular camera angle.

Speaking about the Stump cam, this too is a real-time camera without any replays. The angle is from the stumps which are present at the opposite end (non-strikers) of the batter and will display the feed throughout the game. Interestingly, fans can witness the real-time no-balls from this particular feed.

Finally, the Batter cam, as the name suggests, will focus primarily on the batter throughout the contest. Much like the other three angles, this cam is also real-time and without any replays and broadcasts the feed from a side-angle.

While the streaming war is still ongoing, however, Viacom18 is looking to have the majority share of the pie in terms of viewership. JioCinema’s move to make it free-to-air for customers across all subscribers puts it in a better position than the regular subscription model of Star Sports. 

Cinematic sound experience: Star Sports’ game to push the viewership

While JioCinema has been making numerous arrangements for consumers to have an exciting experience, Star Sports too has tried to stay on course with the game.

As they continue their association with Dolby to provide the feed in Dolby ATMOS (5.1.4) with an immersive audio experience on its HD channels, the two have decided to enhance the configuration of over 40 microphones across the stadiums to capture the cinematic sound experience for its viewers. 

A couple of other interactive features involve ‘Real-time Highlights’, ‘Key Moments’, and ‘Comprehensive Statistics’ for fans to keep track of the game with real-time statistics.

It is understood that Viacom18 is aiming to breach the 500-million digital viewership mark with the ongoing season of the IPL. Only YouTube has a record monthly 514 million viewers in India. All in all, these are exciting times for fans who will cherish the next 52 days of action-packed games on the trot and double-headers almost every weekend.