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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Viacom18 Media Private Limited secured exclusive media rights for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in seven territories: India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The International Olympic Committee announcement came on December 21, 2022; in India, the Games were later shown on Sports18 and streamed free on JioCinema.
What Viacom18 acquired
The agreement made Viacom18 the exclusive media-rights holder for Paris 2024 across the seven listed territories. “Exclusive” describes the rights package in those markets; it does not mean Viacom18 owned the Olympics or controlled Olympic broadcasting worldwide. The original announcement also described multiplatform distribution and a commitment to free-to-air television coverage in the region. Scroll.in reported the announcement and its terms.
The deal also included non-exclusive media rights to the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games. That was a separate, non-exclusive component—not the same rights arrangement as the Paris Games.
Which countries were covered?
The official Olympic broadcaster-territory list names these seven markets:
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- India
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Maldives
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Sri Lanka
“India and the subcontinent” is shorthand, not the formal rights list. The Olympic territory document confirms the allocation. The rights announcement alone does not establish that the same channels, streams, languages or viewing options were available in every market.
How viewers watched in India
The Games ran from July 26 through August 11, 2024. In India, Viacom18 distributed coverage on the Sports18 television network and through JioCinema. Viacom18 announced that JioCinema streaming would be free. That is distinct from free-to-air television: streaming is delivered through an internet platform, while free-to-air describes television available without a pay-TV subscription. Sports18 carriage and channel availability could depend on a viewer’s television provider and package.
The detailed India presentation was announced later than the rights deal. In July 2024, Viacom18’s plan included 20 concurrent feeds: 17 sport-specific streams and three curated feeds focused on Indian athletes, women athletes and global action. The digital presentation was billed as available in 4K. English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu options were specified for selected coverage, not necessarily every feed. The Economic Times reported the July presentation details.
Why the rights mattered to Viacom18
The Olympics gave Viacom18 a major global sports property beyond cricket, and a chance to draw viewers to JioCinema as well as Sports18. The company had recently carried the FIFA World Cup in India and acquired digital IPL rights for the following cycle. That broader portfolio made Paris 2024 strategically useful: a multi-sport event could showcase streaming, television, language options and sponsorship inventory together. Those are business implications of the deal, rather than claims about the IOC’s reasons for awarding it.
The scale and variety of Olympic events also made the package different from a single-sport property. Multiple live feeds gave viewers more choice, but required them to choose among streams; for the broadcaster, the breadth offered many moments to promote, while Olympic events generally provide fewer natural advertising breaks than cricket.
Reported price, projections and advertising rates
The IOC announcement did not disclose the acquisition price. The Economic Times reported that Viacom18 paid $31 million for the 2024 Olympic rights, and that Sony Pictures Networks India had paid a reported $10 million for the Tokyo Olympics. These are media-reported figures, not official IOC disclosures. The same report covered the commercial presentation.
That report also described India rate-card and sponsorship figures. They were quoted sales rates or proposed sponsorship outlays, not proof of final transaction prices or realised revenue:
| Inventory or package | Reported rate or outlay |
|---|---|
| Mobile and standard/HD television spot, per 10 seconds | ₹1.4 lakh |
| Standalone HD-channel spot | ₹60,000 |
| Connected-TV spot | ₹75,000 |
| Digital mid-roll or pre-roll advertising | ₹250 per impression |
| Co-presenting sponsorship | ₹20 crore |
| Associate sponsorship | ₹12 crore |
| Special-partner sponsorship | ₹7 crore |
The Economic Times report said Viacom18 projected 100 million television reach on Sports18 and 150 million digital reach on JioCinema before the Games. Those projections are not the same as post-event audience figures; the report also cited 18 concurrent sport-wise English feeds in the advertising presentation, while the later July coverage plan described 20 total feeds.
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What Viacom18 reported after the Games
After the event, Viacom18 and Network18 reported that coverage across JioCinema and Sports18 reached more than 170 million viewers and generated 15 billion minutes of watch time. These are company-reported audience and usage figures, not independently audited measurements. Network18’s investor update and the company announcement hosted by Business Standard provide post-event reporting. The Economic Times also reported the audience and noted that Olympic advertising opportunities were more constrained than cricket’s: its post-Games coverage.
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