Cricket means India vs Pakistan. Not anymore. It’s India vs Australia and even IPL final is more popular than IND vs PAK clashes now. As per latest Star Sports data, IND vs AUS World Cup final delivered a record-breaking peak viewership of 131 million double of GT vs CSK IPL 2023 final and triple of IND vs PAK Asia Cup clash.
With that, Disney-Star finishes 2023 on a high. Disney-Star has had a challenging year with dwindling subscribers count on Disney+ Hotstar and reports of potential sale of the OTT business to rival JioCinema. But the TV business continues to be a dominant player. Star Sports had record-breaking year in 2023 with over a billion viewership from IPL 2023 and World Cup 2023 combined. Asia Cup too was hit with over 250 million viewers tuning in.
As 2023 ends, Star Sports shared its record viewership count. Not just the total viewership count but there were record-breaking numbers from simultaneous viewership.
IND vs AUS > IND vs PAK
India vs Australia World Cup final had a highest peak viewership of 131 million. And as Rohit Sharma & Co chased their third World Cup trophy, it offered a double viewership than IPL Final 2023. Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings IPL 2023 Final was hit but it only delivered a peak viewership of 64 million.
And it goes without showing that India vs Australia has now surpassed India vs Pakistan to become the new rivalry of world cricket.
Similarly, new team Gujarat Titans have also become a force to reckon with as Mumbai Indians haven’t had great last two years.
Viewership Records
Tournament | Total viewership | Peak viewership |
IPL 2023 | 505m | 64m |
World Cup | 518m | 131m |
Asia Cup | 266m | 46m |
In Asia Cup though, it was India vs Pakistan which deleievered a peak viewership on Star Sports of 46m.