Mumbai: Disney+ Hotstar created yet another historic record of 4.4 crores concurrent viewers in the world of cricket streaming propelled by Virat Kohli's sublime 49th one-day century during India's ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match against South Africa at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. Kohli lifted Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulders when India won the 2011 World Cup, today Kohli stands equal to the Master blaster with his century. For Disney+ Hotstar, this marks the highest peak concurrency number achieved across all formats of cricket, breaking their own recent concurrency record of 4.3 crore viewers created during the India Vs. New Zealand match earlier in this tournament. The platform previously set the global streaming record for cricket at 3.5 crore concurrent viewers during the India vs Pakistan match on 14 Oct 2023, making this the second time Disney+ Hotstar has surpassed its own standards of success during the run of the ongoing tournament.
Commenting on this, Hotstar India head Sajith Sivanandan said, "Our users have consistently lifted us to new heights in cricket streaming during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. We cannot thank them enough for their commitment and passion that have enabled us to redefine milestones in live streaming. Surpassing our own record with 4.4 Cr concurrent viewers tuning in for the India vs South Africa match, we are now eagerly looking forward to seeing where their unwavering support and fandom takes us as we head towards the tournament’s finale.”
Disney+ Hotstar in collaboration with International Cricket Council (ICC), recently added MaxView – a technological innovation that allows cricket fans to watch the game in vertical mode (9X14 portrait view) for the very first time in the history of streaming cricket. This feature facilitates a one-handed viewing experience, aligning with the way most users consume content. MaxView is a brand new, bespoke opt-in feature. Other surrounding features, such as the Live feed tab, Scorecard tab, have also been made available in vertical mode, along with vertical ad formats.
