JioCinema’s free streaming of IPL matches has clocked record-breaking viewership numbers, with the Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore match clocking the highest ever concurrent viewership of 2.4 crore. This beats the previous record held by Disney+ Hotstar, from the final match of 2019 season which stood at 1.86 crore.
The 2.4 crore concurrent viewership was reached during the last over of the second innings of the match.
While IPL ratings grew on TV between 2018 to 2020, the ratings have seen a continuous decline, dropping to as low as 3.68 TVR last season. The 4.72 TVR achieved this season is the 2nd lowest in the last six seasons, despite telecasting matches on FTA. (TVR = Percentage of target audience who viewed the matches, averaged across match duration).
In terms of reach, IPL Season 16 has reached 274 million viewers out of which 25 million viewers were added from OOH and FTA channel. Without OOH and FTA viewers, IPL Reach is the 2nd lowest in the last six seasons.
Whereas on digital, IPL is turning out to be a totally different story with record breaking numbers. On Wednesday, Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals TATA IPL 2023 match on Digital (JioCinema) clocked the highest ever concurrent viewership of 2.3 crore viewers. The previous record is 1.86 crore viewers on Disney Hotstar during the finals of 2019 season.
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Whereas, free streaming of IPL on digital for all viewers in India has resulted in a record-breaking number of views in the first week touching more than 550 crore. This followed a robust first weekend which totaled 147 crore views, yet another record for being the highest-ever opening weekend for the TATA IPL on digital.
Thanks to this huge reach of the season on digital, Reliance-owned JioCinema is also looking at recovering its investment in the Tata IPL live streaming rights within the next three years.
As per a PTI report, this positive outlook is fueled by a “record number” of viewership and support from advertisers. JioCinema is particularly buoyed by achieving its highest concurrent viewership of Wednesday’s match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing Tata IPL 2023. As the tournament proceeds to the knock-out stages, the company expects to set more records. JioCinema has already onboarded 23 sponsors and signed up over 100 small advertisers on its streaming platform.
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