The IPL 2020, which was plunged into uncertainty with COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc in India, is currently being held in UAE and the tournament has lived to its potential of turning all attention to cricket as the opening week witnessed the league being watched by 269 million viewers, says a report published in ANI.
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The data confirms that there is a rise of 11 million viewers per match as compared to IPL 2019 and a 15 per cent hike in advertising volume as compared to the 12th edition.
According to a BARC-Nielsen report titled ''Television Viewership and Advertising Consumption of IPL-13 2020'', there was a 21 per cent growth in the average impressions per match as compared to 2019 despite the fact that there are one match and fewer channels less this time around.
The report also claims that one out of every three television viewers watched the IPL and 44 per cent of the television households followed the tournament. As far as viewing minutes is concerned – the opening week saw a 15 per cent growth in comparison to the previous edition.
The advertising volume also amplified through the first six games before showing a two per cent dip in the last game even as the total advertisement volume (lacs) saw a 15 per cent rise.
Coming to the OTT platforms, the user base has seen a 32 per cent rise over the recent weeks mainly due to massive gains in Disney+Hotstar. There has been considerable growth in audience base for Sports related Apps and Fantasy Sports Apps, Disney Hotstar in the opening week of IPL.
While the IPL 2020 opener between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) saw a viewership of 52 million impressions (29 per cent more than 2019), match No. 2 to 7 continued to fetch more than 34 million impressions.
As compared to recent weeks, smartphone usage saw an increase of 8 per cent in the IPL week. Video streaming also witnessed an increase of 13 per cent in comparison to recent weeks.
(With ANI inputs)
