Disney Star, host broadcaster of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, on Thursday stated that a record 518 million (51.8 crore) Indian viewers watched the recently concluded ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup matches on the company-owned television channels during the 48-day event.
Disney Star saw over 300m viewers tune in for the TV live broadcast of the final between India and Australia. The final saw a peak concurrency of 130m viewers on TV and 59m peak concurrency on Disney+ Hotstar (digital). The streamer set a global streaming record for the fifth time during the tournament.
As per BARC, ICC’s marquee 50-over tournament crossed a viewership of half a billion viewers for the first time.
The live TV broadcast for the tournament garnered 422 billion minutes of TV watch time making it the most watched ICC Men’s World Cup in the history of the event. The final between India Vs Australia delivered a peak concurrency of 130m, which surpassed the previous highest peak concurrency in the tournament with India Vs Pakistan at 75m and India Vs New Zealand at 80m.
Speaking about the recent success of the World Cup 2023, K Madhavan, Country manager & president, Disney Star, said: “…We would also like to thank the fans, who showered their support throughout the tournament and with their unwavering passion making this historic achievement possible.
“Disney Star is dedicated to paving the road for sports broadcast in India and it has been extremely encouraging to see growth across both the linear and digital mediums, thereby increasing the fan base of cricket. This is testament to the uniqueness of the India market where linear and digital continue to grow alongside each other. This successful tournament has set the stage for a promising future in our association with the ICC.”
