MUMBAI: The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has registered 340 million video views on Hotstar through the tourney making it the most viewed sporting event ever on digital in the world. The eleventh edition of the World Cup registered a record 87 million unique users on Star’s digital platforms - Hotstar and starsports.com, over the course of the tournament, the highest ever aggregation of users for a sporting event on digital, claims Star India.
With 13.5 billion hits during the course of the event, the tournament registered an all-time high for any single digital broadcaster for a sporting event globally. The tournament also created global history for digital viewership with 50 million video views for the India Australia semi-final clash, the largest for a single event for any broadcaster anywhere in the world on digital. The game surpassed the previous record of 25 million video views set by the India - Pakistan league game of the WC.
Speaking on the achievement, Star India COO Sanjay Gupta said, “The tournament logged record views on digital from the opening day itself and broke the internet during the India - Pakistan game. Mobile has emerged as a preferred platform for the 87 million Indians, and we will look to renew the fans’ relationship with their sport again with the Pepsi IPL on Hotstar.”
Hotstar will stream all the 60 games of the Pepsi IPL live, including the qualifiers, eliminators and the final. With a dramatic surge in viewership on digital platforms in the last 12 months, Hotstar is likely to reach more than 100 million fans over the course of the IPL. Hotstar will also be programming a digital-only pre show that builds on the dramatic success of the two original shows it created for the WC, One Tip One Hand and Juicy Half Volley.
The Pepsi IPL has also witnessed interest from a mix of large traditional advertisers as well as new advertisers looking to associate with cricket. Key categories of advertisers include two-wheelers, four-wheelers, e-commerce, FMCG, handsets and durables.
Hotstar digital platform that has content across sports, TV shows and movies in seven languages, was launched on 1 February, 2015, 14 days before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. With over 12 million downloads in a month, the application has witnessed the fastest adoption of any digital service in the world.
