MUMBAI: Times Internet Limited (Indiatimes) has sold the radio rights to All India Radio (AIR) for IPL - season 5, as part of its revenue sharing deal. This was the announcement made at a press conference held yesterday. Although Indiatimes had the radio rights for the previous edition it did not sell the rights.
A consortium led by Indiatimes had won the global rights to the Indian Premier League for Internet, Mobile, Radio and Television (for certain territories) for a total rights fee of Rs. 261.6 crore rupees for the four year period 2011-14, last year. Indiatimes CEO Rishi Khiani, said that the company had witnessed a 40% rise in revenue from the IPL, and expects to break even, this year.
Times Internet Limited (Indiatimes) is planning to integrate brands through gifts as a part of gamifying the experience of watching the web stream of the Indian Premier League, apart from launching a revamped web portal and a video timeline scorecard.
Similar to the last series, a parallel live feed will be offered on YouTube. The matches will be streamed on Indian telecom operator decks through Apalya, Indiatimes’ mobile partner. In addition to that it will also offer mobile apps on Android and iOS. While the Android app, which will be offered free, will not feature a live stream, the iPhone and iPad apps will be priced at $4.99 and $9.99, respectively and will offer a live stream.
Indiatimes will also offer video clips via mobile service, in addition to commentary on IVR. Khiani clarified that the IVR version would not be a repurposed version of the AIR commentary.