SUMMARY
JioCinema said that the partnership will allow the user base of ShareChat and Moj, pegged at over 325 Mn, to access its sports content
Users of the social media platforms can access the curated content in multiple languages via various JioCinema handles
JioCinema has been making aggressive moves to grow its customer base and the Reliance-Disney merger is expected to further bolster its share in the OTT market
Reliance-backed over-the-top (OTT) platform JioCinema said it has partnered short-video social media platforms Sharechat and Moj to showcase its sports content, including the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Women’s Premier League (WPL), the Indian Super League (ISL), and the 2024 Olympics.
In a statement, JioCinema said that the partnership will allow the user base of ShareChat and Moj, pegged at over 325 Mn, to access the sports content derived from the content on the streaming platform.
The users of the social media platforms will also get access to unheard tales, anecdotes, and conversations from dressing rooms narrated by JioCinema’s experts, it added.
“As we continue our endeavour to make digital omnipresent for sports content consumption through JioCinema, this partnership will take our efforts far and wide across the breadth of the country,” said Hursh Shrivastava, head of strategy, acquisitions and partnerships at Viacom18 Sports.
“ShareChat and Moj will not only bring a newer audience but also scale to our regional presentation across multiple languages,” he added.
The statement said that users can access the curated content in multiple languages via various JioCinema handles on the two platforms.
The development comes at a time when Mohalla Tech Private Limited, the parent company of ShareChat and Moj, is grappling with rising losses. Its loss surged 38% to INR 4,064.31 Cr in FY23 from INR 2,941.51 Cr in the previous fiscal year.
In December last year, ShareChat fired nearly 200 employees in a second layoff exercise in 2023 to cut costs. Besides, Moj has been seeing a decline in numbers of monthly active users. According to data by Data.AI, the monthly active users of Moj fell from 72 Mn in January 2023 to 54 Mn in December 2023.
Commenting on the partnership, Gaurav Jain, chief business officer at ShareChat and Moj, said, “We’re thrilled to partner with JioCinema to bring the excitement of premium sports from around the world, including the Tata WPL, Tata IPL, Olympics, and Indian Super League to ShareChat & Moj. Short-form video has come a long way in India and this collaboration marks a significant milestone in our journey to offer diverse and engaging content to our over 325 Mn users”.
Mohalla Tech is bullish on the opportunity provided by sports tournaments and has partnered with Pro Kabaddi league, Tata Open Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu Premier League in the past for better engagement.
It is pertinent to note that JioCinema has been making aggressive moves over the past couple of years to boost its content library, especially in the live sports category, to increase its customer base.
The recently announced Disney-Reliance merger is expected to further help JioCinema bolster its presence in the sports segment. Besides JioCinema, the merged entity will also have the OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar in its portfolio. The new entity is expected to account for 75-80% share in the country’s OTT sports market.
