The peak concurrency during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final match between India and Australia on Disney+ Hotstar set a new world record as more than 59 million viewers tuned in.
The Sunday game shattered the 53m milestone set in the semi-finals week when Virat Kohli scored a record-breaking 50th ODI century and Mohammed Shami became the first bowler to pick three five-wicket hauls in a single edition of the 50-over World Cup to guide India to magnificent win over New Zealand.
The first eight overs of the game between the finalists saw peak concurrency touching 55m. However, soon with wickets falling, especially after Virat Kohli was bowled out, the viewership dropped to 46m.
The second half of the match saw concurrency going up, especially during the powerplay during Australia’s innings when India took two big wickets. Expectedly, the viewership dropped off as Australia inexorably headed towards a 6th World Cup crown built around Travis Head’s masterful 137 Australia to defeat favourites India by 6 wickets.
Commenting on this, Sajith Sivanandan – Head, Disney+ Hotstar India said, “The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will be remembered not just for its sporting excellence, but for the incredible passion it ignited among fans. Congratulations to both Australia and India on an incredible tournament and a heartfelt thank you to our viewers, whose passionate support has driven us to continuously elevate the live sports streaming experience. With a staggering 5.9 Cr concurrent viewers tuning in on Disney+ Hotstar for the final—almost twice as high as any peak concurrency record set before the tournament—the unwavering support of Indian cricket fans has consistently propelled us to new heights in live sports streaming. It has been a privilege matching their zeal with our innovation.”
Disney has had high hopes from the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup. The global streamer projected to marketers that it can reach over 50 million concurrent viewers in the tournament and reach 82% of the total annual video users in India during the nearly 50-day series, according to TechCrunch, which accessed an internal Disney Star presentation.
With no high-profile cricket game any time soon, and the next ICC tournament being the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup in an India unfriendly time zone of the US and West Indies, Hotstar is likely to maintain the record for the foreseeable future.
