India Vs New Zealand gets more viewers than FIFA WC Final

The viewership of the India vs New Zealand match during the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup set a new record on October 22nd on Disney+ Hotstar. When Virat Kohli was approaching a century, the viewership reached a record-breaking 4 crore. As the match concluded with Ravindra Jadeja leading India to their first ICC World Cup victory over New Zealand since 2003, the viewership had climbed to 4.3 crore. Disney+ Hotstar celebrated this achievement with a post saying, "Déjà woohoo! Another record-breaking performance by all of us! Time for a hat-trick?".

However, one user pointed out that in the past, when people relied on DD or cable for broadcasting, such major games likely attracted an audience exceeding 4.3 crore. They emphasized that this accomplishment might not be as extraordinary as it seems, attributing it to the availability of cloud infrastructure and streaming apps. Additionally, the user expressed doubts about the significance of the viewership numbers, suggesting that it's due to technological advancements rather than inherent interest in the game.

Déjà woohoo! Another record-breaking performance by all of us! 🎉🥳
Time for a hat-trick?🤞#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/IBm2V39dIl

— Disney+ Hotstar (@DisneyPlusHS) October 22, 2023

Commenting on this, Sajith Sivanandan - Head, Disney+ Hotstar India said, "We want to thank our users who flocked to Disney+ Hotstar for the thrilling game between India vs New Zealand, and helped us reset the world record for concurrent viewers for a live streaming event. We served 4.3 crore concurrent viewers (43 Million) at its peak during the match - a historical high and easily surpassed the 3.5 crore number (35 Million) previously set for the India vs Pakistan match in the same tournament. As the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 enters its business end and as it grabs the attention of India increasingly, we will continue to strive towards bringing these memorable moments to our users' screens."

This feature facilitates a one-handed viewing experience, aligning with the way most users consume content. MaxView is a brand new, bespoke opt-in feature. Other surrounding features, such as the Live feed tab, Scorecard tab, have also been made available in vertical mode, along with vertical ad formats.