According to an official statement issued by Disney Star, the opening day of the IPL attracted 168 million unique TV viewers, registering a watch-time of 12.76 billion minutes, which is the highest ever for the opening day in the tournament’s history.
The opening day on March 22 also witnessed the highest-ever peak TV concurrency of 61 million viewers. Disney Star, which is the official broadcaster of the IPL, is airing the matches on the Star Sports network. “This growth is a reaffirmation of the incomparable capacity of live cricket to aggregate audiences on TV and provides a blockbuster start to tournament. We will continue to enrich the magic of one of the world’s biggest sporting events to take forward the launch momentum and deliver unprecedented viewership,” a Star Sports spokesperson said.
JioCinema, the official IPL streaming partner, issued a statement last week stating that 113 million viewers logged on to its platform on the opening day, which is a 51% increase in viewers compared to the previous edition.
The platform achieved a record 590 million video views on IPL 2024’s opening day, generating 6.6 billion minutes of watch time.
“We resumed where we left off last year, and the numbers testify there is no better way to experience the IPL than digital,” a Viacom18 spokesperson said.“India has completed its transition to being a digital-first sports-consuming nation, and the opening game record numbers validate this. We are going to see benchmarks reset and records rewritten throughout this season.”
