Viacom18, an Indian joint venture operation between TV18 and ViacomCBS based in Mumbai, has announced that it has acquired the broadcast and digital rights for Italian Serie A for the Indian sub-continent region for the next three seasons.
The upcoming edition of Italian Serie A will kick off on August 21 at 10 PM IST and after the development, the matches will be aired live on Voot, Viacom18’s TV channels and Jio.
Commenting on the development, Gourav Rakshit, Chief Operating Officer, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, said: “One of the core propositions of our network is the promise of variety in content. Sports is a whitespace that we have been consciously experimenting with for some time now. The response to our initiatives, thus far, has been very encouraging. Italian Serie A is one of the most exciting & competitive leagues in Europe and we are excited to bring it to our viewers across digital and broadcast platforms.”
Meanwhile, Ferzad Palia, Head – SVOD and International Business, Viacom18 Digital Ventures said: “We are delighted to host the Italian Serie A across our network. The league enjoys great affinity with football lovers in India. Some of the world’s top clubs, coaches and players make the Serie A stand out as one of the best leagues in the football world. We are confident of growing the fan base through a slew of initiatives that are lined up.”
For the association, Viacom18 had entered into a partnership with Infront, which has been appointed by Serie A to look after its international media rights for all platforms across Europe, Asia, Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa and America (excl. USA).
Speaking on it, Amikam Kranz, Vice President Media Sales and Operations, Infront said: “This is the start of what we hope will be a positive relationship between Infront and Viacom18. Serie A already has a significant resonance with Indian football fans and this will help us further grow the audience in the country. We believe this is the beginning of what we hope will be a promising future.”
Notably, Serie A has been voted as the World’s Best Nation League in 2020 by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.
In this league, the top four teams will enter the group stages of the Champions League, while the fifth ranked team will qualify for the Europa League group stage.
Several star footballers like Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alexis Sanchez, Paulo Dybala and other will feature in the league.
Recently, Viacom18had bagged the exclusive TV and digital rights for the upcoming Abu Dhabi T10 series.