MUMBAI: The most anticipated clash of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 created Indian television history as 288 million viewers (TAM data CS4+ extrapolated to the universe using a standard conversion factor) tuned in to watch India take on Pakistan on 15 February, 2015.
The game was the most watched television event in India in the last four years, since the finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
The match between archrivals rated 14.8 TVR (TAM data M15+ ABC) across Star network including DD. The match rated 11.9 TVR (TAM data M15+ ABC) on Star network and 2.9 TVR (TAM data M15+ ABC) on DD. The India - Pakistan game delivered across town classes led by the top six Metros rating 17.2 TVR and 1million+ towns rating 15.5TVR (All data TAM data M15+ ABC).
Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “Nothing is bigger than the ICC Cricket World Cup and the Indian fans have shown their unflinching faith and passionate following for Team India as they began their World Cup campaign with a bang. As the country’s leading broadcaster, our efforts have been to showcase the best of cricket, have wider coverage, offer multiple languages and take the sport deeper by reinventing the viewer experience. With a host of innovations, we are committed to make this edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup the biggest ever.”
Star unleashed a host of innovations for the biggest spectacle in the country. The first ever broadcast in six languages of the India - Pakistan game received 76 per cent of the viewership from Hindi and regional feeds and the balance 24 per cent from English validating the multi-lingual strategy pioneered by Star.
A disruptive ‘Mauka’ ad campaign, which went beyond cricket on the field and leveraged fan passion in a unique way, went viral with over 17 million views online. Star roped in the most prominent voice in Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan, for India’s biggest game as he debuted as a commentator with the Star Sports panel of Kapil Dev, Shoaib Akhtar, Rahul Dravid and Sanjay Manjrekar for the India - Pakistan game.
The India - Pakistan clash at the World Cup took social media in India by storm as 324,000 consumers spoke 500,000 times about the match, generating a potential three billion impressions. The match dominated conversations on Twitter, with 10/10 trends on Twitter Web, and 15/15 trends on Twitter Mobile, India spoke about nothing else. Indian fans were hopeful of India’s victory, and #Indwins was used 90,000 times, starting well before the game ended. The Star Sports campaign #wontgiveitback was used 24,000 times, and the second installment of the ‘Mauka’ campaign was viewed half a million times within hours of its release.
