JioStar helps advertisers to balance reach with performance, optimising every rupee: Ishan Chatterjee

Cricket isn’t just a sport in India—it’s a full-blown cultural phenomenon. And if there was ever any doubt, the India-Pakistan clash at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 erased it, racking up a staggering 60 crore viewers on JioHotstar.

This fever-pitch fandom isn’t new. Ever since the Indian Premier League (IPL) stormed onto the scene in 2008, it transformed cricket into ‘cricketainment’—a high-energy fusion of sport, drama, and star power. It’s also become a goldmine for advertisers, offering an unbeatable mix of reach, engagement, and impact.

But as IPL 2025 looms, running from March 22 to May 25, there’s a bigger shift at play. With OTT viewership soaring to record highs, is India’s digital dominance now the default? And if so, how are advertisers rethinking their playbook to keep up?

To decode the evolving game, Campaign sits down with Ishan Chatterjee, chief business officer—sports revenue, SMB and creator, JioStar. For those who came in late, JioStar is IPL’s official media rights partner, and the platform is a joint venture between Viacom18 and Star India. From audience engagement to ad spend optimisation, Chatterjee shares insights on how brands can make every rupee count in cricket’s ever-expanding commercial arena.

IPL 2024 saw 620 million viewers, up from 449 million in 2023. Given this trajectory, what is your realistic projection for IPL 2025 viewership?

The trend clearly indicates sustained growth, and IPL 2025 will build on this momentum. There is no other sporting event in India that delivers the unmatched scale and reach of IPL, making it the biggest event of the year for advertisers.

Are there any new growth drivers at play, or is there a ceiling to this expansion?

Key growth drivers include the combined power of TV and digital, deeper penetration of premium HD and connected TV, and increasing participation from regional and female audiences. Advertisers are already capitalising on these shifts, with strong demand across FMCG, beverages, fantasy sports, BFSI, auto, ACs and fans and paints, among others.

While scale remains a major draw, the real opportunity lies in engagement—our focus is on driving richer, more immersive experiences for both viewers and advertisers. IPL 2025 will continue to offer brands an unparalleled platform to connect with India’s most diverse and engaged audience.

While India’s ad rates remain significantly lower than global benchmarks, with JioStar’s formation, will advance rates see an uptick? And if advertisers must pay more, what new ad formats or innovations will JioStar introduce to justify the premium?

The industry today is shifting from a pure reach-based model to a performance-driven approach, where deeper audience engagement, precise targeting, and measurable ROI justify premium pricing.

With JioStar, we are not just delivering reach but also deeper engagement, audience insights, and measurable outcomes—elements that drive value for advertisers globally. Our partnership with Nielsen introduces third-party validated measurement to digital live sports in India for the first time, ensuring greater transparency and accountability.

Additionally, our expanded suite of innovative ad formats—from interactive CTV placements to AI-driven audience segmentation—empowers brands to connect with audiences in more meaningful and impactful ways.

As advertisers shift focus from traditional reach-based metrics to performance-driven investments, JioStar is enabling them to optimise every rupee spent with precision and effectiveness

JioHotstar now requires a subscription, but Indian consumers remain highly price-sensitive. If paywalls lead to a decline in free viewership, will this impact advertiser interest, considering reach is the key metric for most IPL sponsors?

We at JioHotstar, are democratising access to premium sports and entertainment. True to its mission, JioHotstar allows users to experience premium entertainment without requiring an immediate subscription.

Viewers can enjoy marquee live sports events like IPL and ICC Men’s Champions Trophy for free and subscribe for an uninterrupted and enhanced experience. Once users experience the depth and quality of the content, they can choose to continue through our affordable price plans.

Media reports suggest Parle Products, IPL’s biggest TV advertiser last year, hasn’t finalised its TV plus digital plans and is still negotiating with JioStar. Are major advertisers re-evaluating their IPL spends, and if so, why?

Every year, brands reassess their IPL strategy based on business priorities, consumer insights, and media innovations. What remains unchanged is IPL’s ability to drive unmatched brand impact across the funnel.

While we can’t comment on ongoing discussions, demand remains strong, with several categories such as FMCG, beverages, fintech, fantasy sports, paints already onboarded across TV and digital. We also have ongoing conversations with brands from other categories, reinforcing continued confidence in IPL as a high-impact advertising platform.

What are JioStar’s asking rates for IPL 2025 across TV (SD+HD), CTV, and digital (cost per thousand impressions)? How do these compare to last year’s rates, and what justifies any shifts?

IPL continues to be the most sought-after advertising platform, offering unparalleled reach and engagement across TV and digital. While we do not disclose specific rate details, JioStar’s advanced targeting capabilities, enhanced measurement tools, and innovative ad formats ensure advertisers derive maximum value from their investments.

With premium HD viewership growing, CTV adoption accelerating, and new-age ad solutions like click-to-engage and AI-driven segmentation enhancing outcomes, IPL’s pricing reflects its evolving impact in the media landscape. Our cross-platform approach enables brands to optimise their spending while achieving measurable results.

JioStar is promising deeper audience engagement insights with its partnership with Nielsen. How will this granular data influence ad spend allocation across TV, CTV, and digital, and will it encourage a shift from traditional ad-buying strategies?

Our partnership with Nielsen marks a paradigm shift in digital sports advertising in India, bringing third-party validated measurement to live sports for the first time. With deeper audience insights and enhanced transparency, advertisers can now make more data-driven decisions, providing advertisers with cutting-edge solutions that enhance transparency and precision.

This will empower brands to move beyond traditional reach-based buying towards performance-led investments, optimising ad allocation across TV, CTV, and digital. As a result, we anticipate a growing shift towards data-driven strategies that maximise efficiency and ROI across platforms.

With JioStar’s access to deeper consumer insights, how do you see ad-tech solutions evolving? Will programmatic buying and AI-driven audience segmentation redefine how brands approach IPL advertising?

The future of sports advertising is programmatic and AI-powered, and IPL 2025 will be a significant step in that direction. JioStar is redefining how brands engage with IPL audiences by leveraging cutting-edge ad-tech solutions.

With over 100 advanced targeting options, including demographics, language, first-party data, brands can craft hyper-personalised campaigns with unmatched precision. AI-powered audience segmentation further enhances campaign efficiency, ensuring brands reach high-intent consumers at the right moment.

As digital advertising evolves, these innovations enable advertisers to move beyond broad-based buying to highly measurable, performance-driven investments, maximising impact across TV, CTV, and digital.

As JioStar positions itself as a data-driven leader, how do you see this impacting competition? Will this force the industry toward greater transparency, or does it create a walled-garden ecosystem that limits advertiser flexibility?

JioStar is setting new industry benchmarks by prioritising transparency, accountability, and innovation. Our partnership with Nielsen ensures advertisers have independent, third-party validation—something that has been a long-standing gap in live sports advertising.

Far from creating a walled-garden, our approach is designed to empower advertisers with actionable insights, enabling them to make more informed decisions. As the market evolves, we expect these best-in-class measurement standards to set a new industry benchmark, fostering greater accountability and efficiency in live sports advertising.