JioHotstar, Sony Sports set sights on ad windfall from India-England series

New Delhi: The India-England bilateral Test series is set to be telecast live on Sony Sports channels on television and JioHotstar on digital from Friday, June 20.

The series kicks off with the first Test at Headingley, Leeds on June 20, followed by matches in Birmingham (July 2), Lord’s (July 10), Manchester (July 23), and concluding at The Oval (July 31).

Despite falling right after the IPL season, the Test series has attracted a fair amount of interest from advertisers, with inventories filling fast, multiple advertisers and media buyers told BestMediaInfo.com.

This is the first time in India that two large private broadcast networks will share the feeds, under a licensing deal signed between Sony Pictures Networks India and JioStar last month.

In 2022, Disney Star India sold television rights for ICC Men’s events to Zee Entertainment for USD 1.4 billion. However, Zee walked out of the licensing deal in January 2024, following the failure of merger talks with SPNI.

For the upcoming India-England Test series, JioHotstar is primarily selling its inventory on a CPM basis. The streaming platform is offering a rate of Rs 180–400 per CPM, depending on the targeting levels, at least three media agency executives confirmed.

JioHotstar is offering multiple sponsorship options with outlays ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 7 crore.

For television, Sony Sports is offering a 10-second spot for Rs 85,000 to 90,000 for sponsors. The broadcaster has set the rate at Rs 95,000 for spot buys.

The comprehensive live coverage of the India tour of England will be showcased across four languages — English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.

Viewers can catch all the action live on Sony Sports Ten 5 and Sony Sports Ten 1 channels in English, Sony Sports Ten 3 in Hindi, and Sony Sports Ten 4 in Tamil and Telugu.