Viacom18 picks up media rights of LaLiga, to telecast matches on MTV India, Voot
The three-year deal will re-introduce La Liga and clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona to the TV audiences in the country, as the league did not have a broadcast partner for the last two years.
Social network giant Facebook had the rights of the league since 2018, after it outbid Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN).
Viacom18, which doesn’t have a dedicated sports channel, is planning to live telecast 80 of the 380 matches of LaLiga on its youth channel, MTV, while all the matches will be streamed on OTT service Voot and on Jio platforms.
“LaLiga checks all the boxes for us,” Anshul Ailawadi, business head-youth, music and English entertainment at Viacom18, told ET. “It’s good to have property, has a strong and passionate fan following and the matches are going to be at 9.30 pm India time.”
He added that MTV is looking at reinventing itself and as it is seen as a house of reality, there is nothing more real than live sports.
