IPL 2023 LIVE Broadcast: All is not lost for Disney-Star. Star Sports has bounced back with record-breaking viewership after an underwhelming TV rating in the opening match. Star Sports has registered a whopping 6230 Crore minutes of viewership on TV. It is the second-highest number in terms of viewership in an opening week apart from Covid times. As per BARC data, Star Sports has also increased TV-Ratings among affluent male urban sports audiences by almost 25% in comparison to the last edition. Follow Indian Premier League LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
“We are elated with the overwhelming response to Disney Star’s broadcast of Tata IPL 2023. Following on from a great opening, viewing figures continue to break records registering the 2nd highest reach and watch-time for the first 10 matches in IPL history. We are grateful for the continued love and support Star Sports receives from fans as their preferred destination. The peak concurrency on TV for the opening match of 5.6 Cr – the highest ever in IPL history (excluding Covid times) – demonstrates the power of IPL combined with Star Sports in aggregating viewers at the same time,” said Sanjog Gupta, Head – Sports, Disney Star.
To win back the audience in an intense battle with Viacom18’s JioCinema, Star Sports has also launched #MySocietyStadium initiative. Former cricketers who are part of the commentary panel join the fans for match screenings.
Star Sports has introduced the latest technological advancements, including Dolby Atmos audio, interactive features with Airtel Digital TV and Tata Play, an ambience feed, live subtitling, and enhanced technology like Holobox, Traxis, and Hawkeye 4K Cam for the match screenings inside societies. Apart from that, Star Sports has also been live broadcasting in 9 languages to attract more viewers and add regional flavour.
To note, Star Sports recorded a 31% growth in TV ratings for the opening match between Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings. However, it was still the second lowest in terms of TV ratings by BARC. Star Sports also witnessed a growth of 20% in reach compared to last season. Additionally, Tata IPL on Star Sports delivered 14 crore viewers on opening day with a peak concurrency of 5.6 crores and an engagement of 76 minutes.
This is also the first time in last two years that IPL has seen an increase in viewership. While the peak was IPL 2020 due to Covid-19, TV ratings plummeted to 8.25 in IPL 2021 and hit lowest at 5.57 in IPL 2022 for the opening game of the season. This time, it has recovered to 7.29, which is still the second lowest.
In terms of reach, Star Sports has recovered slightly to attain a 22% reach among urban Indians. In 2020, it had reached its peak at 27.6 with many people still in lockdown. But there was a steady decline to 23.1 in IPL 2021 and hit the lowest at 18.3 last season. But this season, the reach has improved to 22.0.
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