Times ties up with IPL teams, Google for live streaming

Times Internet Ltd that holds global Internet, mobile and radio rights for IPL today said it has partnered with two IPL teams as well as Google for live streaming of the ongoing cricket matches.

"We have already tied up with Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab franchisees to distribute match content. We are in the process of signing up with rest of the teams," Times Internet Ltd (TIL) CEO Rishi Khiani told PTI.

He said people logging on to the team websites will be directed to the Indiatimes portal, through a separate URL created for individual teams.

Khiani said the company is also talking to other teams for a similar pact.

Moreover, TIL has tied-up with Google to stream live IPL matches, and related content, on a dedicated YouTube channel in addition to the Indiatimes website.

"Partnering with YouTube a step forward for us in creating supplementary distribution channels for Indiatimes to reach out to cricket fans world over," Khiani said.

For mobile distribution, the company has signed a deal with Apalya Technologies.

"We are also launching mobile applications and are tying up with partners in global markets like the UK, the US, Middle East and Australia," Khiani said.

He said advertisement spots on the portals, both for YouTube and team websites, were being sold by the company.

"There is a good response from advertisers and we have already closed deals with a few," Khiani said, without giving names and financial details.

Already, it has signed a pact with Kerala Tourism and Maruti Suzuki for ads on the website.

He said the company is also in talks for distribution of cricket content on radio.

Asked about expected ad revenues, Khiani declined to give an exact figure but said the company would be able to recover the annual cost that it had paid to the BCCI for the IPL rights.

TIL had bagged global radio, Internet and mobile rights from the BCCI for IPL matches till 2014, along with Nimbus Communications which bought global broadcast rights for some territories for a combined value of over Rs 260 crore.