T20 cricket leads viewership stakes across TV and digital platforms

Viewership for cricket on days when the Indian cricket team hits the field supersedes all other preferred television viewing. The recently concluded Asia Cup delivered the highest ratings of the season, among sports, with 26.6 crore (excluding Finale) viewers at an all India level.

Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India also reported that the Asia Cup India-Pakistan match was the No. 1 programme (across genres) to be viewed in its recording history. Live telecast of the fourth match of the Micromax Asia Cup T20 2016 between traditional rivals India and Pakistan on DD National was ranked first among the top shows on Hindi GECs in BARC ratings for Week 9 (February 27-March 4) of 2016. The match garnered ratings of 24,804.

Cricket by far has proved to outshine all programming formats consumed by television audiences in India across audiences. BARC’s viewership measurement figures tell a story where cricket’s television viewership has consistently dwarfed viewership of all other forms of programming, including general entertainment, since April last year. A fact mirrored in the busy schedule of cricket with the ever-popular T20 format on Star Sports for the last eight weeks, which has kept Indians glued to their television sets.

With the advent of multiple screens, Hotstar has now emerged as a significant source of viewership and is fast becoming the primary screen for an increasing number of consumers in metropolitan India. The Asia Cup India-Pakistan match was the highest watched T20 match ever on Hotstar with engagement levels for Asia Cup matches being 1.5 times higher than even the 2015 IPL.

Interestingly, the viewership amongst affluent males (15 years and older) in urban India for matches when India played one-day international or T20 games is significantly higher than even the lead entertainment channel’s share on those cricket days.

The highlight is that cricket’s share of television audience in rural India was even greater among the same demographic group, more than twice the share of eyeballs garnered by the lead entertainment channel on those days.