Viacom18 enters sports broadcasting market with the launch of Sports18 channel

The much-awaited sports channel from Viacom18 was finally launched on April 15, 2022. It will showcase premium sports content such as the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, NBA, LaLiga, Ligue 1, Serie A, Abu Dhabi T10, and top ATP & BWF events.

The new channel will be available in both SD and HD formats, however, as of writing this story only Sports18 1 SD is added on Airtel Digital TV at LCN 293  with plans for the addition of HD version in upcoming days. Availability of this channel among DTH users is also limited only to Airtel Digital TV at the moment. 

Tata Play is expected to launch Sports18 1 channel on its platform on Monday, April 18. UCN Cable, Digiana Cable MP have added this channel. Voot, JioTV and JioTV+ users can also stream it online on smartphones and Jio set-top boxes.

Apart from premier picks from the world of football, basketball, tennis, cricket and badminton, the channel will provide access to programming covering international sports news, magazine and highlights shows.

Pricing and Promotional Offer

The updated Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) in January confirmed the launch of the Sports18 channel in India. Both Sports18 1 and Sports18 1 HD are priced equally at Rs 8 per month each (18% tax extra). 

To promote the new channel, Viacom18 has also announced promotional schemes valid till May 14, 2022. Under this offer, any customer can subscribe to Sports18 1 and Sports18 1 HD channels on à-la-carté basis for free. 

“We are pleased to launch a dedicated sports channel for an audience across demographics and geographies,”  said Viacom18 Sports CEO Anil Jayaraj on the launch of these channels. “Sports18 will strive to be India’s most-coveted broadcast network by providing fans easy access to a comprehensive bouquet of international and premier sports content”, he added.