The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Viacom18 have announced a multi-year broadcast partnership.
With this alliance, live NBA games and programming will be telecasted to fans in India, across television and OTT streaming platforms.
The NBA coverage will be available in English and Hindi through Viacom18's television channels, Vh1 and MTV and digital platforms, VOOT and Jio TV.
Coverage will include weekly Live games, NBA All-Star, the NBA Play-In Tournament, the NBA Playoffs and the Finals.
Sunny Malik, head of global content and media distribution, NBA India, said, "We are thrilled to partner with Viacom18 to broadcast and stream live NBA games to a nationwide audience. The popularity of basketball in India continues to grow, and by offering a range of NBA programming on Viacom18 in both English and Hindi, we look forward to reaching and inspiring millions of new and existing NBA fans across the country.”
Anil Jayaraj, CEO – sports, Viacom18, said, "While sports is the biggest whitespace that we are entering to build a truly inclusive and differentiated proposition, we need to look at diverse sporting events from across the globe. Basketball is a sport that is increasingly gaining attention and affinity in India. Through this partnership with the NBA, not only do we want to make basketball mainstream, but also build its lifestyle appeal among sports fans.”
Anshul Ailawadi, head of youth, music and english entertainment for Viacom18, added, “Globally, basketball is more than a sport – it is a lifestyle. As we look to build basketball into a cultural phenomenon in India, we welcome this deep partnership with the NBA. For this association, we will be initiating a heavily localised marketing outreach and consumer connect programme aimed at building fandom for the sport.”
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