The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 kicked off on October 5 seemingly to a lukewarm response, especially if ‘experts’ were to be believed. With the Indian team’s strong showing, the stands and screens seem to have come alive.
The live broadcast for the first 18 tournament matches has clocked up 123.8 billion viewing minutes which is a 43 pc growth compared to the previous edition in England and Wales in 2019, informed an ICC statement.
The World Cup has also witnessed 364.2 mn viewers tuning in to the live broadcast of the first 18 matches, the statement added.
The figures are for Star Sports and Doordarshan combined, across 2+ Urban and Rural audiences (BARC).
The India-Pakistan match played on October 14 in Ahmedabad witnessed a peak live concurrency on television of 76 mn and 35 mn on digital.
India’s clash against New Zealand in Dharamsala on October 22 eclipsed the record for highest digital concurrency reaching 43 million concurrent viewers on Disney+ Hotstar during the final overs of the match. This was the highest peak across any format of cricket ever on digital, according to ICC.
In-stadia, more than 542,000 fans attended matches up to the mid-way point in the event, which is 190,000 more than at the equivalent stage in 2019.
Geoff Allardice, Chief Executive, ICC, said: “We are delighted to see the interest and engagement in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 through the unbelievable audience numbers on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar. The World Cup has captured the imagination of the public across India with records tumbling and hundreds of millions of fans enjoying the pinnacle event of the one-day game more than ever before.”
Sanjog Gupta, Head – Sports, Disney Star, said: “Marquee cricket continues to demonstrate unparalleled capacity to aggregate audiences across platforms and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has set new viewership benchmarks on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar. With the Indian team’s strong performance, the fluctuating fortunes of top teams, and a competitive points table, we expect a further increase in the momentum of the tournament. Disney Star is committed to serving sports fans and will continue to delight viewers around the world with its coverage of the global event.”
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