The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League began with a bang, with 16.8 crore viewers tuning in to the season’s first game between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on March 22, according to the tournament’s official broadcaster on Thursday.
According to Disney Star, the first day of any season saw a record-breaking 1276 crore minutes in watch time. The watch-time minutes are the total of the time spent by each viewer watching the game.
In the 17th season of IPL, they also had the highest-ever peak TV concurrency for an opening day, with 6.1 crore viewers watching simultaneously on the Disney Star network.
“Disney Star recorded 870 crore minutes on the IPL’s first day in 2023. The company stated that TV consumption has increased by 16% since the previous edition.
The defending champions, Chennai Super Kings, defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets in the season opener in Chennai.
“This growth reaffirms Live Cricket’s incomparable ability to aggregate audiences on TV and provides a strong start to the tournament.
We will continue to enhance the magic of one of the world’s most important sporting events in order to sustain the launch momentum and deliver unprecedented viewership,” a Star Sports spokesperson said in a press release.
The channel stated that the record-breaking TV viewership on the first day is the result of a variety of programs leading up to the 17th season, which drew more than 24.5 crore viewers until a week before the tournament’s start.
JioCinema received 11.3 crore views on the first day of the IPL.
The streamer claimed that it saw a 51% increase from day one of IPL 2023. On the first day, JioCinema received 660 crore minutes in total watch time.
