MUMBAI: The opening fixture of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between England and South Africa has recorded a massive 114m* reach on the Star network, which is the highest for any opening World Cup game.
This is 2.2x** of the opening game of the most recently played ICC tournament, the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, between England and Bangladesh. The average impressions recorded for the ICC CWC 2019 Opening match are 101m*.
The ten-team tournament being played in a single-round robin format from May 30th to July 14th is broadcast on Star Sports Network and Hotstar, the official global rights holder of the tournament.
Commenting on the opening numbers, a Star Sports spokesperson said: “We are thrilled with the record opening numbers and believe that the early numbers will only get bigger with the India games that follow.”
The broadcast of CWC 2019 began with the warm-up matches and is available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bangla and Malayalam (Opening and all India match days), apart from Select Dugout.
The Star Sports network pulled all stops to make the opening game the biggest ever. The opening day saw Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar make his debut as a commentator and expert with a special segment dedicated to him called #SachinOpensAgain. He was seen with other legends like Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag going down memory lane. Sachin will be seen in the commentary box for all other India games as well. #SelectDugout is back for the ICC CWC 2019 and was part of the opening game too with legends such as VVS Laxman, Matthew Hayden, Dean Jones and Scott Styris along with Parthiv Patel and Irfan Pathan. #SelectDugout will be available for all India games, Sundays, Semis and the Finale.
360-degree marketing campaign
Star Sports unveiled the official campaign – #CricketKaCrown at the time of the VIVO IPL 2019 playoffs and has already crossed 50 million views across digital platforms. The TVC was complemented by a strong on-ground activation campaign #LeJayenge in leading metros through collaboration with public transportation agencies. Continuing the fan banter into the tournament, fans can expect a series of films with the Indian fan – Vicky – planned under #CricketKaCrown for India vs Australia (currently on-air), India-Pakistan and India-England.
* TG 2+ U+R, Source: BARC (TV + OOH), Only Match Telecast Hours considered
** Comparison has been done with Star Channels excluding DD on TV versus TV+OOH of this year
ICC CWC 2019 Channel Bouquet: STAR Sports 1, STAR Sports 2(v), STAR Sports 1 Hindi, STAR Sports 1 Tamil, STAR Sports 1 Kannada, STAR Sports 1 Telugu, STAR Sports 1 Bangla, STAR Sports 1 HD,STAR Sports 2 HD(v), STAR Sports 1 HD Hindi, STAR Sports Select 1 HD, STAR Sports Select 1 SD, Asianet Plus, Jalsha Movies, STAR Gold, STAR Gold HD, Star Suvarna Plus, Star Maa Movies, STAR Vijay Super
