MUMBAI: According to a report by the Economic Times, the last leg of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) may be televised on Hindi general entertainment channel Star Plus in a bid to boost the tournament’s reach on TV.
The report stated that a highly placed source in Star India said that discussions were on and the “bosses have almost decided” to run the knockout, semi-finals and final matches of IPL on mass channels.
According to the source, the bosses chose Star Plus over Star Gold.
“We stated that we will reach 700 million viewers via TV and digital (Hotstar) this IPL. While Hotstar reach is great, on TV, despite being aired on 10 channels, reach is not good enough. Especially in the Hindi speaking markets, where earlier rights holder (Sony) had put the matches on Hindi movie channel, it is 15-20% lower,” the report said quoting the source.
Last year, Star India won the global media rights of the IPL from the BCCI for five years for Rs 16,347.5 crore.
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