The chief executive of Sports at Viacom 18 Media, Anil Jayaraj. fields bouncers, googlies and even an occasional doosra from host Arijit Barman as the battle for eyeballs gets played both on and off the field this season. It’s the first time the media rights are split between Viacom18 and Disney holding the digital and television rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL). Both sides are bowling beamers at each other, claiming superior viewership numbers and each asserting conflicting claims of superiority of their respective platforms. Recently, Viacom 18 even said over 2 crore concurrent viewers watched a game! But after bidding Rs 50 crore per match, adding up to a total Rs 20,500 crore for the next 5 seasons (2023-27) will there be any money left to be made, especially when streaming is free at least for now? To explain the high stakes game, Jayaraj pads up for the power play.

Credits: CNN-News18, Jio Cinema, CNBC-TV18

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