DSport-Viacom tie-up for NIDAHAS Trophy telecast

DSPORT joined hands with Viacom18 to live telecast the NIDAHAS Trophy series. India will play host to Sri Lanka in the tri-nation series opener on March 6.

The Discovery-owned sports broadcaster had acquired the exclusive India broadcast rights of NIDAHAS Trophy 2018 last week. The tie-up with Viacom for the live broadcast of the series is a first of its kind initiative for Indian broadcast industry.

While DSPORT will telecast English commentary, Viacom18 owned mass entertainment channels Rishtey Cineplex and Cineplex HD will feature the Hindi broadcast for the tournament. Rishtey Cineplex reaches out to a maximum number of viewers across any Hindi Movie channel with a reach of 460 Mn+ individual viewers across India (urban and rural). The platform, therefore, will add more eyeballs to the prestigious tri-nation series scheduled to begin on March 6, 2017. Cineplex HD will further add to the enhanced viewer base by taking the prestigious tourney to a premium Hindi content consumer base.

Explaining the rationale behind the partnership, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, said, “Sports broadcasting is a bit of a business conundrum – it represents a sizeable opportunity, but the cost of entry tends to be prohibitive. It has been a white space that we have continuously been evaluating and this association with DSPORT to air the NIDAHAS tri-series provides us with a fertile testing ground. As we endeavor to test waters with our very first broadcast of an international sporting property, what better than a cricket tri-series involving the national team.”

“The future belongs to collaborative broadcasting and this association between Discovery’s DSPORT and Viacom18’s Rishtey Cineplex is a pioneering initiative that seeks to broaden the horizon of sports broadcasting in India,” said Raj Nayak, COO, Viacom18. “Cricket is much more than a sport in this country – it is an emotion. With this collaboration, we will be taking this emotion to more than ~460mn additional viewers in India,” he added.

Commenting on the partnership, TS Panesar, Head of DSPORT Business, said, “In a first of its kind arrangement we are delighted to partner with Viacom18’s Rishtey Cineplex and Cineplex HD to bring Hindi telecast of the NIDAHAS trophy to millions of fans in India. The NIDAHAS trophy celebrates 70 years of Sri Lankan Independence and as such holds a special significance and we expect a keenly fought contest between India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.”

This tri-nation international T20 tournament will follow a round robin format with all the three teams playing each other twice, and the top two progressing to the final to be played on March 18th, 2018. All the matches will be played at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Schedule: Sri Lanka VS India – 6 March, Bangladesh VS India – 8 March, Sri Lanka VS Bangladesh -10 March, India VS Sri Lanka – 12 March, India VS Bangladesh – 14 March, Bangladesh VS SriLanka – 16 March and the Final – 19 March.

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