IPL 2024’s Opening Day Smashes Records with Massive Viewership, Disney Star Reports

• ByStartupStory     |    March 29, 2024

The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) kicked off with a bang as the opening day witnessed an unprecedented surge in viewership, setting new records for the tournament, announced the official broadcaster, Disney Star, on Thursday.

A staggering 16.8 crore viewers tuned in to catch the season’s inaugural clash between the Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on March 22, marking a monumental start to the cricketing extravaganza.

Disney Star revealed that the opening day also saw a remarkable watch time of 1,276 crore minutes, the highest-ever recorded for the first day of any IPL season. This watch-time figure encapsulates the cumulative duration spent by viewers engrossed in the thrilling encounter.

Moreover, the 17th season of the IPL witnessed an unparalleled peak TV concurrency for an opening day, with a staggering 6.1 crore viewers concurrently glued to the broadcast on the Disney Star network.

Commenting on this remarkable achievement, a spokesperson for Star Sports expressed their delight, stating, “This growth is a reaffirmation of the incomparable capacity of Live Cricket to aggregate audiences on TV and provides a blockbuster start to the tournament. We will continue to enrich the magic of one of the world’s biggest sporting events to take forward the launch momentum and deliver unprecedented viewership.”

The broadcast channel attributed the record-breaking TV viewership on the opening day to a multitude of pre-tournament programs that captured the imagination of over 24.5 crore viewers in the week leading up to the start of the IPL.

In addition to the staggering TV viewership numbers, the digital realm also witnessed a substantial surge in engagement. JioCinema, a leading streaming platform, reported a whopping 11.3 crore viewers on the first day of the IPL, marking a remarkable 51% increase compared to the opening day of IPL 2023. The total watch time on JioCinema on day one soared to an impressive 660 crore minutes.

The scintillating clash on the opening day saw defending champions Chennai Super Kings emerge victorious over Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets in a thrilling encounter hosted in Chennai.

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