Tag: Sony Pictures Network

  • Broadcasters support return of RPD in BARC measurement module

    Broadcasters support return of RPD in BARC measurement module

    MUMBAI: Broadcasters have shown unified support towards the need to improve the current audience measurement technique used by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).

    In their responses to the multiple queries that TRAI had put forth in a consultation paper broadcasters—ABP News Network, Sony Pictures Network, and Discovery Communications Indiahave contended that the introduction of Return Path Data (RPD) vide digital set-top boxes (STB) will improve the measurement process. They also noted that raw data should be provided to the broadcasters as it will help them in improving their efficiency.

    Another point raised by the broadcasters is that there should be an increase in the number of sample homes used for collecting data. Discovery Communications India noted, “All STBs should facilitate RPD technology, however, the same can be considered to be done in phases. The additional cost would only be limited to include the requisite software and hardware to support the technology.”

    However, the broadcasters did not propose any change in the stakeholding pattern of BARC. Currently, IBF has 60 per cent shareholding while the ISA and AAAI hold 20 per cent each in BARC. They also declined the need to introduce competition in the viewership measurement domain. Discovery Communications India stated that it would lead to chaos and duplication of data while Sony Pictures Networks said it will lead to skewing of results to the convenience of a few stakeholders.

    Responding to the query if DPOs should be mandated to facilitate the collection of viewership data, broadcasters differed. While ABP News Network denied the possibility completely stating that it might lead to data tampering, Discovery Communications India supported the idea saying, “As the subscriber data is already available with them hence it would make the process time efficient and the process easier in toto.”

    Sony Pictures said, “In order for the data collection process to be fair, neutral and immune from any bias, all interested parties including DPOs should be kept outside of the process. However, if DPOs are mandated to roll out hybrid STBs or RPD technology to capture viewership data for greater reach resulting the data should directly reach BARC or else there could be scope for manipulation as discussed above (DPO to act as a pure pass-through). Hence, stringent technology and security checks should be deployed to ensure that the data is not manipulated.”

    In addition to this, Sony Pictures also asked for the draft Personal Data Protection Bill 2018, proposed by the Justice Srikrishna Committee, to be complied with to ensure the privacy of individual information while data collection for viewership counts.

    TRAI had released the said consultation paper in December last year, seeking responses of the various stakeholders to several pertinent questions related to TV viewership measurement. The consultation was a result of various stakeholder meetings asking to improve the existing BARC mentoring format. The last date to file the responses was extended by a month to 2 February on 28 December 2018.

  • Movie premieres, HD adoption, OTT challenge for English entertainment, movies in 2018

    Movie premieres, HD adoption, OTT challenge for English entertainment, movies in 2018

    MUMBAI:  It was a good year for English entertainment and movies channels. 2018 saw some big Hollywood premieres even as channels went the route of content segmentation and HD adoption.

    Leaving behind the concerns of GST and demonetisation, the industry did much better this year. Industry experts suggest that a small correction expected in the content acquisition cost in 2019. This will come on account of two things – revenue growth across years in the genre and the evolution of business models as some broadcasters are sharing their first output windows with SVOD players.

    Times Network EVP & head-entertainment cluster Vivek Srivastava said, “We had a strong festive season and are now set for an aggressive Q4 to end the year. We have driven premiums, sponsorships and managed to deliver great value to our advertisers. The highlight for us would be the success of MNX. With it, we now have two brands in top 4 (Movies Now and MNX) and that’s a healthy space to be in. We command more than one third of the total English entertainment viewership and are poised to drive our fair share from the market.”

    Two of its channels out of the four are in the top 5 list of BARC ratings week 49. Movies Now led the chart with 2769 impressions ‘000 and MNX was at the third position with 2213 impressions ‘000.

    Times Network’s newest brand MNX has been dangling above HBO in six metro markets. The group has close to 1500 titles and 25-30 shows for its movie channels. The content comes from four major production houses Disney, MGM, NBC and Warner Bros which are long term deals. The network holds the second output of NBC after SPN India.

    Sony Pictures Network India’s (SPNI) English cluster grew by 34 per cent in FY19 (17 per cent till date) as compared to FY18 (13 per cent). The legacy brand AXN, in 2018, emerged as the leader in all India 15+ market with 25 per cent market share according to the broadcaster. The channel introduced two new properties in 2018- AXN Premiere Club and AXN Bestsellers.

    In 2018, Sony Pix witnessed some big Indian television premieres like Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, Mortal Engines, First Man, Skyscraper. SPNI business head English cluster Tushar Shah said, “We believe that content will continue to be the driving force. We at SPN offer best-in-class entertainment to viewers across all our platforms. Our programming and marketing initiatives are driven by clear consumer insight and deep market research. We are extremely happy with our content performance and are bullish about a bright future.” The English cluster of SPN picks up content from Disney, Warner Bros, NBC Universal, Lionsgate and PVR Pictures.

    The English movies genre is a tough nut to crack with many players vying for a small viewership pie. But that didn’t deter Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) from launching a new channel to wow viewers. On 3 June, &flix was launched under its separate ‘&’ brand identity. The channel claimed that it was meant for those who are in search of new experiences and wanting to take quantum leaps. This also saw the shutdown of Zee Studio, an 18-year-old brand.

    Zeel’s English cluster brings content from a large library of exclusive titles sourced from many independent Hollywood players and studios such as Paramount, PVR, Sony and Disney.

    This year also saw &Prive HD cement its base in the market. The channel had upped its list of top rated movies to show during primetime. In early 2018, it had 450 titles to boast of, just a few months after launch, from names like Paramount, Reliance, Tanvir and PVR. &Prive HD is taking the non-conformist route, just like its target audience of 22-50, by even picking up films from independent producers in Europe.

    Launching an exclusively HD channel and that too for the crème-de-la-crème of Indian viewers was a risk. High net worth homes are the target of &Prive HD but this is also the segment that can afford many other quicker options like OTT.

    Turner India, which holds two channels HBO and WB also had a list of premieres to enthral viewers including Dunkirk, Wonder Woman, The Lego Batman movie, Annabelle 2, Transformers: The Last Knight, Baywatch, Justice League, Kong: Skull Island etc. In the start of the year, the network had its aim as engaging its fans deeper with personal communication through mediums that they are comfortable with such as WhatsApp.

    According to the KPMG in India’s M&E report 2018, the English GEC genre saw an 8.5 per cent growth in advertising expenditure from 1.7 per cent in FY17 to 1.8 per cent in FY18, despite pressure on relative positioning in English viewership on account of the change in the measurement methodology. English Movies genre also witnessed an increase of 3.33 per cent in FY18 compared to FY17.

    “2019 is expected to start on a good note with Q4 carrying forward the positivity and excitement of the festive season. The fact that we have some of our biggest properties – ‘100 Mania’ on Movies Now and ‘Kings of Hollywood’ on MNX only strengthens the proposition. Also with the elections coming up in 2019 and the economy going strong, we are likely to have a strong exit to this financial year,” Srivastava added.

    Times Network estimated that the genre grew by 15-20 per cent more than the previous year’s figure which was Rs 700 crore.

    There was an increase in the uptake of HD channels with 10-12 million subscribers availing HD services at the end of FY18. This number is likely to have gone up by the end of the calendar year 2018. The DTH players have been the front-runners in up-selling HD services to their customers with MSOs only managing to garner about 1-1.5 million HD subscribers. On an average, an HD subscriber results in a 1.5-1.7x ARPU as compared to SD subscribers.

    Another challenge that these genres will have to face in the coming years will be that of the growing presence of OTT. With data cost coming down and access to content widening (over 30 OTT players already), viewers could be tempted to skip the remote in favour of their cell phones whenever they wish to watch an English show or movie. What still works in favour of TV is its picture consistency, which gets hampered on OTT due to unstable data, and the screen size. For now, it also looks like OTT players, including ones from SPNI and ZEEL, are more focused on creating new content rather than depend on seen ones to grow viewership.

  • Facebook to sub-licence La Liga to broadcaster: Report

    Facebook to sub-licence La Liga to broadcaster: Report

    MUMBAI: Social media giant Facebook took several industry pundits by surprise when it acquired the India sub-continent rights for La Liga’s 380 league matches for the new season, which commenced on Friday. It is now being reported that the league’s broadcast in India will not just be limited to the social media platform, but will also be sub-licenced to a TV channel as well.

    According to Mumbai Mirror, Facebook officials from Singapore and US apart from their Indian representatives are in advanced talks with a Mumbai-based sports television station to seal the deal for the same.

    Given that Facebook does not charge consumers for the La Liga content, it remains to be seen how the broadcaster will air these matches.

    Facebook currently streams the live matches for free to its 348 million users in the region, including 270 million in India. The company did not disclose how much it had paid to acquire the rights, which cost Sony Pictures Network $32m (€28m) the last time it was for sale in 2014. The Financial Times, however, quoted a sources suggesting that Facebook had shelled out something between €10 million and €20 million for the rights.

    Facebook, which streams the matches on Facebook Watch, had opened the channels of negotiation with the television company for quite some time.

    La Liga president Javier Tebas said, “We are delighted to team up with Facebook and be able to bring the action closer to all followers of La Liga in the Indian subcontinent.”

    Facebook head of global live sports programming Peter Hutton said, “For Facebook, the deal is an important experiment.” It has been trying to win broadcast rights in India to major sporting events including the Indian Premier League. “We see this as a great opportunity to bring people together around world-class football and also help La Liga reach new audiences.”

    The season kicked off on Friday night with matches between Girona versus Vallodolid and Real Betis versus Levante. Although these are early days in India for the live online broadcast of the games, there is an opinion that Indian fans still prefer the big screen for live action. It could be a reason why Facebook is looking to sub-licence the rights to a broadcaster.

  • MNX challenges legacy players in the movies category

    MNX challenges legacy players in the movies category

    MUMBAI: The rise in India’s urban educated millennials has also led to the spurt of channels in the English entertainment and movies genre. Over the last few years, several new additions have made their way including MN+, &Prive and Sony Le Plex.

    In this space, Times Network has found the right set of audience for all four channels claims Times Network EVP and head English entertainment cluster Vivek Srivastava. He is aware that beating a legacy player is not an easy task. The channel says it has been head and shoulders above HBO in six metro markets.

    The group has close to 1500 titles and 25-30 shows for its movies channels. The content comes from four major production houses like Disney, MGM, NBC and Warner which are long term deals. The network holds the second output of NBC after Sony Pictures Network.

    English cluster of Sony Pictures Network, on the other hand, picks up the content from Disney, Warner Bros, NBC Universal, Lionsgate and PVR Pictures. &Prive and &Flix of Zeel also have a bigger library with exclusive titles sourced from many independent Hollywood players and studios such as Paramount and PVR.

    According to week 32 of BARC data in the six metros, Times Network has two of its flagship channels, Movies Now and MNX, in the top five list. Movies Now is going to be an eight year old brand in December 2018 and is a home for all the blockbusters. On the other hand, MNX, the youngest channel in its English movies portfolio has been consistent in ratings since its launch in July 2017. The company endeavours to broaden the audience base to be in the top five list.

    “The quarter is gone by and the revenue of MNX is extremely healthy. MNX actually completes the portfolio. We have a family brand as Romedy Now, a sophisticated brand in MN+, Movies Now is the flagship brand that houses the superhero franchise. All the blockbusters will find a space on the channel. MNX being the youngest brand in the mix, it caters to all audiences and all the various titles get a space on this channel,” Srivastava adds.

    In the last two-three years, the Indian audience has evolved and become smarter and knows what to expect. “In this context, the marketing has become a lot easier as the consumer knows the content very well,” he adds. In FY19 Q1, the network got brands like Amazon, Pepsi, Airtel, Trivago, Ford, Flipkart, PhonePe, Myntra to name a few, for all its English movies and entertainment channels.

    As far as the category is concerned in terms of revenue, Srivastava estimates the genre to grow by 15-20 per cent more than the previous year’s figure which was Rs 700 crore.

    On the content acquisition cost, Srivastava points, “There is a little bit of correction expected in the content acquisition cost as we move forward. The correction will come on account of two things – revenue growth across years in the genre and secondly the evolution of business models as some broadcasters are sharing their first output windows with SVOD players.”

    HD is the next array of growth as far as the category is concerned. According to Srivastava, there are only two genres which drive HD viewership, sports and movies. MN+ is an HD-only channel which is performing well, both from a viewership and revenue standpoint.

    He gives out the formula for a successful channel as: “To sustain in the category with more than two channels, you should be able to provide fresh content to your target audience. Until and unless you have a distinct identity to the channel it will never succeed.”

  • Sony India bets on Pro Volleyball League

    Sony India bets on Pro Volleyball League

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India has signed a multi-year deal with Baseline Ventures and Volleyball Federation of India (VFI), to broadcast the inaugural season of the Pro Volleyball League in February 2019. SPN will broadcast all 18 matches of the Pro Volleyball League live across its sports channels.

    Pro Volleyball League will give budding Indian athletes a platform to hone their skill and compete against some of the leading players from across the world.

    Excitement around the league has been building up steadily with volleyball being a sport that attracts people from all walks of life, from local villages’ rural areas to urban international schools all over India.

    Sony Pictures Networks India president sports and distribution business Rajesh Kaul said, “At SPN our focus has always been to promote a multi-sport culture in India and Pro Volleyball League is the perfect addition to our sports portfolio. Volleyball is an extremely popular sport in n key markets like South and North India, producing world class players. From early discussions we realised that our values are completely aligned with Baseline Ventures’ – nurturing the development of various sports in India and we are happy to be on-board for the Pro Volleyball League.”

    The current league structure will consist of 18 matches, which will be played across two indoor venues. The teams will consist of men from the national teams across all FIVB (the international governing body of the sport) member nations, with a predominant Indian player pool. Player auctions are scheduled for later this year and franchise-owners can bid for the Indian players from a bank of over 90 players, while the foreign players will be recruited via player draft.

    Pro Volleyball League CEO Joy Bhattacharjya, “To allow for a good and clear broadcast window for the League and to ensure that the League can be promoted extensively across all platforms including the hugely popular digital platform Sony LIV, we have decided to kick-start Pro Volleyball in early February 2019. India is today consuming great sports content through the year and with Sony as a partner, we hope to deliver a well packaged product that will leave a lasting impression on one and all”

    Baseline Ventures India MD Tuhin Mishra, “SPN has been successfully bringing some of the best global sports action to the Indian audiences for years now. Moreover, we completely believe them to be the right partners for the global sport of Volleyball to take centre stage in India. Being pioneers in offering a great mix of live action sports with entertainment, SPN offers us an opportunity to create do something similar with the Pro Volleyball League. We really look forward to a great association.”

  • Mayank Dayal joins SPN’s sports side

    Mayank Dayal joins SPN’s sports side

    MUMBAI: Mayank Dayal has joined Sony Pictures Networks India as associate vice president, where he is responsible for handling the sports cluster’s marketing and communications strategies as well as overall branding and imagery. He also handles the annual marketing plans, creating a calendar of campaigns and events, setting the marketing budget and analysing the market and competitors. Dayal replaces Murtuza Madraswala who quit the organisation in April this year.

    Previously, Dayal was working with Viacom18 as director, marketing of kids’ cluster. He joined the organisation on December 2012 and worked for more than nine years and held several positions. Before handling kids cluster, he was director marketing – Comedy Central and Vh1. Prior to that he was senior manager marketing for more than four years and before that, he worked with the organisation as manager – marketing.

    Dayal started his career with Linterland Rural as an executive trainee and also worked with Star India for more than seven years. Before joining Viacom18, he was working with Star India as an assistant manager. In the past, he has also worked with Bharat Petroleum and served the organisation for four months as a trainee in marketing.

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  • SPN’s digital play for the FIFA World Cup

    SPN’s digital play for the FIFA World Cup

    Mumbai: In a bid to offer consumers a world-class sporting experience, Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) has pulled out all stops for their coverage of the FIFA World Cup. After launching the ‘meri doosri country’ promotional campaign, the company has now planned a major digital push for the showpiece event.

    The strategy for the digital telecast on SonyLIV, SPN’s OTT platform, has been crafted around three key elements – language, data and consumer participation.

    “The football is an involved fan. We have designed our coverage keeping in mind dedicated football fans. So, stats and data are an important part of our offering.” SPN, EVP and head of digital business, Uday Sodhi tells Indiantelevision.com.

    The ‘Match Centre’ will offer viewers live scores, commentary, match information and stats alongside the live match telecast. This feature is aimed at engaging dedicated football fans. Four language options – English, Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam – will be available on SonyLIV, something that’s never been done before.

    SPN’s consumer participation will rely on a second screen experience. With guests in the studio, the plan is to marry  digital offerings with the TV coverage. This will enable fans to comment on the match and the experts’ opinions, make predictions and participate in polls and contests during and before the match.

    Ahead of the World Cup, SonyLIV launched a ‘Super Sports’ pack for Rs 199 for 6 months. Paid subscribers will have access to live matches behind a pay-wall, while free subscribers’ feed will be ad-supported with a five-minute delay.

    A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study deduced that India’s OTT video market will be among the world’s top ten by 2022. Star India’s OTT platform, Hotstar, breached the 10 million impressions mark during the Indian Premier League final. Given the high consumption of digital video and the formidable FIFA brand, all eyes will be on the numbers SonyLIV delivers.

    Sodhi expects between 4 to 5 crore consumers to use the platform during the quadrennial extravaganza.

    “Unlike 2014, this edition will be telecast at India prime time. In fact, I think it’s been eight years since the FIFA World Cup was telecast at timings that are convenient for Indian viewers,” he says.

    Sodhi has been instrumental in building the SonyLIV platform into a credible destination for sports fans. The experience of successfully working on big-ticket FIFA and UEFA events has helped prep the SPN team for the 2018 World Cup.

    Given the proliferation of digital video and scale of the event, does he have any concerns about robustness of the platform?

    “Football has steady viewership through the match unlike cricket, which peaks at crucial moments. We are not worried about the scale. We did big numbers during the India-South Africa cricket series. There is no problem on that front,” Sodhi says confidently.

    SonlyLIV’s digital coverage will also be available on its partner platforms like Apple TV, Android TV and Amazon Fire among others.

    In terms of size, scope and stage, the FIFA World Cup is the apex of global sporting competition. The 2018 edition could be seen as a test case for the potential of the OTT market in India. How the digital strategy of SPN plays out eventually and the response from the consumers will offer crucial insights and lessons to all the stakeholders going forward.

  • Is it the end of the road for anime in India?

    Is it the end of the road for anime in India?

    MUMBAI: Back in the 90s, a new legion of toon addicts was created in India with the advent of anime shows such as Pokémon, Dragonball Z and Naruto that were telecast on Cartoon Network. A few years later, the genre hasn’t found the popularity in Indian kids that it has in some other parts of the world.

    The popularity of anime has suffered owing to parental restrictions because of the adult themes in some of the content, relatively low promotions and the lack of merchandising. Long gone are the days when anime fans, or Otaku, went bonkers collecting tazos or duel master cards or even the Pokémon Red Emulators.

    While cartoons and anime are both caricature sketches that are, in turn, animated, the latter has a very distinct style of art using specific visual elements for its characters. A majority of the animes are based on manga comics that were not easily available in India until online shopping companies started selling anime DVDs and manga comics from other parts of the world.

    Sony Pictures Entertainment’s channel Animax was one of the channels that aired Japanese anime content in 1998. Last year, the channel was replaced by Sony Yay, which has a full-fledged focus on local home-grown content. Recently, Turner International India announced that it would pull the plug on its anime offering Toonami from 15 May. This is a clear indication that the genres failed to elicit interest from its young audience. At present, Toonami airs shows from the Cartoon Network Studios, Hanna-Barbera and the Warner Bros Animation libraries.

    Doraemon, Shinchan and Ninja Hattori, which are still the most popular among kids after Chhota Bheem, started life as manga series and were subsequently adapted as anime shows. These shows are among the flagship shows that the Indian broadcasters showed on television but, as the TV viewing evolved, the focus shifted to local home-grown content. That was the time when Chhota Bheem was born in 2008.

    A media professional said that anime series are still popular among the kids. “Who wouldn’t love watching Pokemon, Dragonball Z. These shows would have worked only if they were promoted well like the shows like Chhota Bheem, Motu Patlu and among others. If these channels push anime content, the kids will love it. It is not the case like kids are not watching these shows that are why they are shutting the channel; in fact, it is because they want to come up with their original content.”

    However, another media expert had a different view. “Japanese content was created during the 70s and 80s and was picked up by the broadcasters because they had to fill the programming slots, so there’s a different approach between Japanese content and original content,” they pointed out.

    In the early years of Indian animation, broadcasters found it suitable to licence shows from other countries for air time. But as the industry picked up, producing and owning IPs became cost-effective. Channels didn’t need to depend on borrowed material like anime. Another aspect is that it is not easy to dub anime content, considering the different East Asian culture. Local shows can be easily modified to the kids’ thinking.

    However, it would be wrong to say that the anime culture isn’t developing in India. Growing fan clubs; online social media groups are providing great platforms to share and gather information; stores are printing anime clothes, cups, gifts and other merchandise for shopping in several areas. Though not in every city, Comic Cons are being organised and promoted as well. Awareness is increasing, but slowly and it seems the teen and adult audiences are more inclined towards it than children.

    It remains to be seen whether Turner comes up with a replacement of Toonami just the way Sony Yay entered the market. The future of Indian home-grown content seems bright, as far as new characters emerging on every kids’ channels is concerned, but it will be interesting to observe whether broadcasters find answers to the conundrum of Japanese anime content in India.

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  • Star’s BCCI rights bid not as astronomical as we all think

    Star’s BCCI rights bid not as astronomical as we all think

    MUMBAI: Star India has made history by making two of the biggest bids for acquiring cricket rights in India—for the coveted Indian Premier League (IPL) along with the Indian cricket team’s home matches. After Star India successfully bid Rs 6,138.1 crore for the home matches, the question on everyone’s mind was whether the broadcaster would be able to recover and subsequently make a profit.

    To acquire the IPL media rights, Uday Shankar agreed to pay Rs 16,347.5 crore for five years. For the first 10 years of the league,  Sony Pictures had paid nearly half that amount to the BCCI for double the period.

    The BCCI rights were conducted through e-auction, which went to Star India after three long days of competitive bidding between Star India, Sony Pictures and Reliance Jio.

    The Indian team’s future tours programme (FTP) for the current five-year cycle includes 102 matches with 22 tests, 45 ODIs and 35 T20Is. Meanwhile, the next four seasons of the IPL, along with the ongoing year, will constitute 300 T20 matches.

    When calculated by hours of mandated play, the 300 matches in the IPL add up to 900 hours while the home matches have a tally of 1080 hours. Star India paid Rs 54.5 crore per match for the IPL rights and, after protracted bidding, paid Rs 60.1 crore per match for the 2018-23 home rights across five years. This was nearly a 50 per cent increase from the Rs 40.1 crore the broadcaster paid for the 2012-18 cycle cycle when it bid Rs 3851 crore for 96 matches. The 96 matches included 33 tests, 48 ODIs and 15 T20Is with 1371 hours of mandatory play.

    In the current FTP, the number of test matches has reduced by 11 and the sport’s most sellable format, T20I, has increased by 20 matches.

    Interestingly, the 2012-18 cycle had more test matches and fewer T20Is compared to the 2018-23 cycle and, therefore, the per hour rate has doubled in the current cycle. In the 2012-18 cycle, the per hour rate was Rs 2.80 crore as compared with Rs 5.88 crore in the ongoing cycle.

    For the first 10 years of the IPL, Sony Pictures Network coughed up Rs 12.69 crores per hour of play as compared to Rs 18.16 crore being paid by Star India to the BCCI for the IPL between 2018 and 2023.

    Analysts in many quarters felt that Star India paid a hefty premium per match for the BCCI rights thereby making it hard for the broadcaster to recover money leave alone profit. However, an analysis of the per hour rate of mandated play reveals that the company didn’t overstretch its bid. Armed with its regional feeds along with production rights, it seems that Star India may still gamely monetise the rights.

    Also read:

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  • Winning bid nets BCCI Rs 6138.70 crore for home rights

    Winning bid nets BCCI Rs 6138.70 crore for home rights

    MUMBAI: The battle for the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) home media rights has finally ended with the e-auction coming to a close after a three-way fight between Star India, Sony Pictures Network and Reliance JIO for the past two and half days. The bidding value has reached Rs 6138.10 crore. The BCCI will announce the winner of the rights at 5 pm today.

    The penultimate bid at the auction was Rs 6,111.70 crore. The first bid on day three was recorded at Rs 6,085.30 crore. Within minutes, the bid bar was raised by another Rs 26.4 crore.