Streaming cricket at massive scale: lessons from JioStar's CTO. Streaming cricket in India. Cricket is not just a sport in India. It's the fabric of society and delivering it to tens of millions of people at the same time is the ultimate stress test for live streaming infrastructure. After a successful partnership to stream the IPL in India, Akash Saxena, CTO of JioStar, spoke with Xavier Leclercq, VP Business Development at Broadpeak, about what it takes to stream live cricket to audiences measured in tens of millions The conversation focused on practical challenges: sudden traffic spikes, infrastructure choices, monetization at scale, and constant pressure from piracy. Live streaming at a scale few platforms face. For JioStar, traffic does not build gradually. It jumps. Key moments in a match can trigger 4 to 5 million additional viewers within seconds. The IPL has already set major concurrency milestones, from 32 million streams in 2023 to 63 million in 2024 and 55 million in 2025, and teams are now preparing for events that could approach 100 million concurrent viewers within a few years. At that level, the challenge is not average traffic. It is handling sharp, unpredictable surges across mobile devices and connected TVs, without service degradation. That is the reality JioStar is engineering for. Hybrid delivery as a strategic choice. To sustain this scale, JioStar relies on a hybrid delivery architecture, combining public cloud CDNs with infrastructure deployed deep inside telecom networks. Broadpeak plays a role in this ecosystem as a technology partner, contributing to content delivery for live cricket events. As Akash explains, no single CDN can handle this level of demand alone. The goal is proximity: getting content as close as possible to users to improve quality, reduce latency, and control costs. This engineering approach is driven by the sheer scale of the task: resilience, efficiency, and control designed in from the start. And once delivery reaches this scale, monetization has to evolve with it. To hear Akash Saxena walk through these challenges and explain how live streaming at this scale actually works, watch the full interview with Xavier Leclercq below.

JioStar calls for fan unity with IPL 2026 campaign 'ek Hoke Dekh' March 30, 2026 JioStar, the official broadcast and digital partner for the TATA IPL, has launched its campaign for the 2026 season, titled 'ek Hoke Dekh'. The campaign film calls on fans to unite for the world's biggest T20 carnival, anchored by the tagline 'ek Hoke Dekh' (watch as one). The campaign theme is brought to life through a film starring cricketers Ruturaj Gaikwad, shreyas Iyer, krunal pandya, tilak verma, and mohammed siraj. Conceptualized by ZeroFifty and produced by Jamic Films, the film brings together the league's biggest stars in a slick, high-energy narrative driven by a groovy soundtrack. The story begins in a tea shop with an individual having a squabble with a visitor over his origin. The cricketers interrupt this moment, reframing the narrative through their own TATA IPL story, showing how belonging goes beyond geography and is defined by the teams they represent. The film culminates in rival fans coming together, reinforcing the campaign's message of unity. Each cricketer's story nods to their native roots and celebrates the fans who have embraced them in their TATA IPL cities. Together, these stories make a simple case to the nation: unite and watch the greatest T20 spectacle on earth as one. Speaking about JioStar's 'Ek Hoke Dekh' campaign, Siddharth Sharma, Head of Content, Sports, JioStar, said, "With 18 seasons of the TATA IPL behind us, team fandom has evolved into a social phenomenon. For two months every year, the lines of India's diverse ethnic tapestry blur as the TATA IPL unifies fans, rendering all other differences irrelevant. Our films magnify this proposition and showcase how the infectious euphoria of the TATA IPL bonds and unites people across the nation like nothing else." Speaking about featuring in JioStar's 'Ek Hoke Dekh' campaign, Chennai Super Kings Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said, "The film beautifully brings out a reality for many of us who play in the league. While we belong to a certain part of the country, the fans residing in the home city or State of our respective franchises have accepted and loved us as one of their own. The TATA IPL celebrates this and unites people in a way that no other league in the world does, and the campaign film brings it out beautifully." Sharing on the campaign, Shriram Iyer, Co-founder - ZeroFifty, said, " 'Ek Hoke Dekh' is a clarion call. The TATA IPL offers us a unique paradox- while it divides fans by franchise, it compels us equally to put aside all other ideas that divide us and come together to enjoy the game. Replete with rivalries, it is also an occasion that unites. The campaign is simply an invitation and a tribute to the spirit of unity." The 19th season of TATA IPL will see a battle of the young prodigies, heavyweights, and legends, promising to deliver a memorable spectacle. Catch all the action of TATA IPL, live and exclusive on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network.

JioStar starts Hindi digital feed for IPL26 to boost fan engagement. March 30, 2026 JIOSTAR HAS INTRODUCED a dedicated Hindi digital feed for the TATA IPL 2026, marking a significant step in enhancing the viewing experience and deepening engagement with India's vast Hindi-speaking audience. The initiative, available on the JioHotstar platform, is part of the broadcaster's expanded multi-language and multi-format coverage strategy for the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League. For the first time, IPL fans can access a specially curated Hindi digital feed that offers a "watch-along" format featuring former IPL champions and cricketing legends. The feed combines live match action with expert insights, storytelling and real-time analysis, aiming to create a more immersive and interactive viewing experience compared to traditional commentary formats. Prominent names such as R Ashwin, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag are part of the broader Hindi coverage ecosystem, bringing familiarity and credibility to the feed. The Hindi digital feed is one component of JioStar's expansive IPL 2026 broadcast plan, which includes 20+ feeds across TV and digital platforms, 150+ presenters, commentators and experts, coverage across multiple languages, including English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and several regional languages On television, Star Sports will deliver matches in five key languages, while JioHotstar expands accessibility with additional regional feeds such as Bhojpuri, Haryanvi, Marathi, Bengali and Gujarati. The launch reflects changing consumption patterns, with digital platforms increasingly becoming the primary medium for younger audiences and mobile-first users. JioStar's strategy integrates interactive formats like watch-alongs, personalised viewing experiences, and multi-language accessibility. In addition to language expansion, JioStar has introduced accessibility features such as Indian Sign Language and audio descriptive feeds, aiming to make IPL coverage more inclusive.