Mumbai: Star Sports has claimed that the opening weekend of the 12th season of VIVO IPL has broke all existing viewership records with 219 Mn viewers (All India 2+ U+ R) tuned in on the opening weekend on 23rd March and 24th March 2019, which according to the broadcaster was 31% higher than last year.
Specifically on the opening day of IPL 2019 between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, the reach in HSM grew by 30% while in South reach grew by 20% during the Match telecast hours that was driven bya strong regionalization strategy. Apart from the robust growth in reach, viewership (as measured by Impressions) also grew by a solid 29% (Source: BARC Preview Report – For the growth vs last year, comparison has been done with Coverage (in Mn) of Star Channels excluding DD on TV versus TV+OOH of this year)
Star Sports has launched ‘Game Banayega Name’,marketing campaign that culminated in a Dhoni vs Kohli fan face-off featuring the two legends themselves inviting viewers to tune in for the opening encounter on March 23rd.
In 2019, the regionalization story was strengthened with the introduction of Marathi & Malayalam taking the total number of languages to 8 (English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali being the other languages) which is the maximum for any sport tournament till date.
Additionally, Star curated a special feed targeting families & kids on Star Gold to invite a wider section of audiences. The first episode of ‘Sunday Funday’ was broadcast on the opening weekend to give viewers a fresh and relatable experience to VIVO IPL 2019. As part of the feed, an exclusive show – ‘Meet the Khelkars’ had cricketing legends Irfan Pathan, Virender Sehwag and Krishnamachari Srikkanth talking about their cricketing journey in a fun and light-hearted manner.
The commentary roster for VIVO IPL 2019 features over 100 experts from India and across the globe.The #SelectDugout meant for the ardent cricket fan who is always looking for more, also received an overwhelming response from the fans with the introduction of Brendon McCullum to the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Dean Jones, Kumar Sangakkara, Scott Styris, Anil Kumble, etc.
