JioStar pushes HD
- JioStar launched a 'Watch on HD' campaign to position Star Sports HD as the preferred way to watch IPL at home. - The campaign explicitly leans into sharper, more immersive household viewing for the tournament. - The move is part of broader efforts to upgrade fans into premium viewing habits and capture higher-value ad and subscription dollars. (afaqs.com)
JioStar has started a new IPL marketing push that tells viewers to switch from standard definition to Star Sports HD at home. (jiostar.com) The company announced the campaign on April 22, 2026, and said it is built around a brand film set during an Indian Premier League match in a family living room. In the ad, a child finds his parents watching in standard definition and flips the TV to Star Sports HD. (jiostar.com) JioStar said the campaign is aimed at linear television, not streaming, and presents high definition as the default way to watch the tournament rather than a premium add-on. The company’s line for the film says even children know the “real fun” of the Tata IPL is on Star Sports HD. (jiostar.com) The timing is tied to the 2026 IPL season, which is underway now. The league’s official site on April 23, 2026 showed fresh match videos and listed JioStar as the official broadcaster and JioHotstar as the official digital streaming partner. (iplt20.com) JioStar is making this pitch after a broader reshaping of its sports TV business ahead of IPL 2025. In February 2025, The Economic Times reported that the company was rebranding Sports18 channels under the Star Sports name and adding regional sports channels in both standard-definition and high-definition formats. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) That 2025 expansion took JioStar’s sports portfolio to 24 channels across SD and HD feeds, according to the same report. The new HD launches included Star Sports 2 Hindi HD, Star Sports 2 Telugu HD, and Star Sports 2 Tamil HD, all aimed at premium audiences before the IPL season. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) JioStar’s own statement says younger viewers are helping drive this change inside households. The company said HD is now “widely accessible and easy to switch to,” and framed the campaign as a response to viewing habits that have already shifted. (jiostar.com) The company is making that argument while it also runs a large digital sports business through JioHotstar. The streaming platform says it carries more than 100,000 hours of programming in 17 languages and covers major global sporting events, including live cricket. (hotstar.com) The immediate goal is simple: get IPL households still watching standard-definition feeds to move up the ladder without leaving television. For JioStar, the sharper picture is the sales pitch, and the IPL is the moment it is using to make HD feel non-optional. (jiostar.com)
