New Delhi: SonyLIV, the over-the-top platform of Sony Pictures Network (SPN), is targeting to achieve 45 million viewership from the ongoing Fifa World Cup 2018. The official broadcast partner of Fifa in India, SPN has invested heavily on the digital medium this year.
“We are clocking three to five million viewership on the digital platform (both app and website) on a daily basis. The traffic in the first week is almost six times higher than the overall traffic of Fifa U-17 World Cup, which was hosted in India last year,”said Uday Sodhi, executive vice president and head, digital business, Sony Pictures Network India.
The match between Spain and Portugal held on 15 June was the most popular game so far with a viewership of 7-8 million and concurrent viewership of close to one million. The most popular teams include Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Brazil. The top cities driving traffic for SonyLIV include Kolkata, Kochi, Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi and Mumbai.
With 85% traffic coming from male users, the average time being spent on the digital platform is around 16 minutes. “It is a testimony that a large part of our user base is watching the entire first half of matches online,” added Sodhi.
SonyLIV said its data-led content such as Match Centre, which supplements match telecast with live scores, player positions, team information and match stats, has garnered 25 million engagements so far.
With encouraging viewership figures, the network said it has brought 16 advertisers on board, with 10 to 12 of them advertising exclusively on the digital platform. Some of the key advertisers include Cadbury, Patanjali Ayurveda, online food ordering platform Swiggy, beer maker Carlsberg India, ride hailing app Uber, VIP Industries, tech firm Apple and Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI), among others.
SonyLIV is offering the telecast in four languages—English, Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam. While live matches are behind a pay-wall for paid subscribers, the non-paying subscribers can watch ad-supported telecast with a delay of five minutes. SonyLIV has also launched a ‘Super Sports’ pack for Rs199 for six months, ahead of the World Cup. The service will also offer features such as key moments, highlights, match playbacks and real-time updates.