Why Jio Cinema Streaming FREE IPL?
Jio is going to change IPL 2023 completely. Till now, you used to watch IPL on Starsports and Hotstar. But Starsports had more viewership and Hotstar had less.
But Hotstar had an advantage. Their active user base was more than 300 million. Hotstar was the number one ODTF in India. And they had the highest-paying subscribers. Because more than half of the people subscribed to Hotstar for IPL.
But Jio Cinema is going to change this. Jio has planned to make IPL 2023 more popular on the internet. And revolutionize IPL 2023. IPL 2023 can be seen for free on Jio Cinema. You don’t need an account to watch Jio Cinema. You can log in to their website and watch IPL for free. Before this, you had to take Hotstar’s subscription to watch IPL. And you could watch IPL live only after taking their subscription.
Jio has changed this. You can watch IPL 2023 on Jio Cinema. You can download Jio Cinema app on your smartphone. And you can watch IPL 2023 on Jio Cinema Play Store and iOS App Store. You can watch IPL 2023 live on Jio Cinema.
But what is Jio Cinema going to do?
IPL will be streamed in 4K. Before this, IPL matches were limited to 1080p. Because they never thought of advancing in technology. But Jio has taken their rights to advance in technology. They have convinced BCCI to install 4K cameras. So that people can enjoy the experience. Obviously, you can enjoy 4K only on smart TVs. They have added 12 languages support. They have added multi-camera mode. They have added hype mode. You can watch live statistics and recent highlights. You can rewind the live match to see if you missed a shot.
You can watch Dolby Atmos audio. But you can watch Dolby Atmos audio only on TVs. You can’t use it on a mobile phone. You need a proper home theater setup.
So, they are trying to deliver the experience on IPL. Which was not available on Hotstar. And Jio is delivering the experience for free.
But why is Jio doing this?
Jio has invested Rs 20,000 crore for IPL. This is a huge number. But..
how Jio would earn money if they show all the matches for free?
Jio Cinema showed FIFA World Cup for free and it was a huge hit. Argentina vs France final match was a huge success. 3.2 crore people came to watch it. This is the first time that more viewership is seen on digital. And 110 million people watched the entire tournament. Jio Cinema earned money from the advertisement.
But what will they do in IPL?
400 million viewers will come to watch Jio Cinema and the number of concurrent viewers will also increase. Hotstar had a maximum of 20-25 million concurrent viewers. It hardly touched the 3 crore mark. But Jio is showing 4 times more viewership. So 100 million people will be able to enjoy IPL in their own languages.
At the start of FIFA World Cup. Jio Cinema’s matches were lagging and freezing. And everyone’s experience was different. But when the tournament came to an end, my experience was improved. Jio has made its technology more advanced. Jio brought in the technical and engineering team of Disney Plus Hotstar.
But when Jio is spending so much money, how will it earn money?
The number one reason is the advertisement. Jio has tried to attract as many advertisers as possible. Media Partner Asia reported that 60% of the advertisers will be spending on digital platforms. So Jio-Cinema will earn more money as compared to Star Sports.
But one more thing, Jio has many advertisers. Which means these many advertisers will show ads on Jio Cinema. So you will get a better experience but you will also get ads on Jio Cinema. People can see in their preferred language. You can watch live stats, rewind, quick highlights, etc. So these are some good things that Jio has done.
But Jio’s main weapon is yet to come. And that is 5G. Jio has technically made its 5G free. So you can watch IPL 2023 unlimited for free.
Because they have kept a limit of FUP. Jio’s 5G is available in 406 cities. And Jio has more than 1 lakh towers which are compatible with
5G. So this is a huge number. And customers of Jio will be able to benefit from this.
If other customers want to watch Jio Cinema for free, they can watch it here. Because there is no restriction on SIM cards. Another thing they have done is Jio Media Cable. You can watch Jio-Cinema matches for free on Jio phone. And you can enjoy live cricket matches on Jio -Cinema for free.
Will Jio Cinema always be free?
If you are only getting IPL and limited things, then it is possible that Jio will keep it free. Because Jio knows that until they bring extra content, It cannot be paid. It will only be paid when people get value for money. That means Jio Cinema will increase downloads and add more content. And when people are ready to pay for it or are ready to make it exclusive for Jio Sim, then it can bring some changes.
Hotstar has suffered the biggest loss in this. A report has revealed that Hotstar can lose 15 million subscribers by the end of 2023.
Hotstar’s major success was with IPL. IPL was a blockbuster hit for Hotstar. But Hotstar is not able to repeat that success as the budget
has been cut and Hotstar is losing a lot of content.
Star Sports is the only entity left in IPL that can show cricket matches. But if people shift to digital, it will be a shock for Star Sports. In the near future, IPL’s digital and TV rights will be at a similar price. So, Digital Rights might cross TV Rights. Maybe, Jio will also enter sports.
IPL was just a start. FIFA World Cup, WPL was also there.
But they have also brought in ICC matches and cricket matches. And they have also brought their TV network, Sports18. So, a lot of things can happen. And it seems that an interesting battle is going to happen.
By the way, where are you going to watch IPL? In Star Sports, Jio-Cinema? And which team are you going to support?