IPL 2020: 269 Million Viewers Watched the Tournament in The First Week
BARC said one in three viewers watched the IPL. Around 269 million people watched matches in the first week of the 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020).
The opening week of the 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) saw 15% growth in viewing minutes as compared to the same period in the last season of the tournament, data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) shows.
One in Three Viewers Watched The IPL: BARC
BARC said one in three viewers watched the IPL. Around 269 million people watched matches in the first week of the 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) being played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is 1.1 million more as compared to the last season of the tournament. TV viewership monitoring agency BARC-Nielsen said in its report titled ‘Television viewership and advertising consumption of IPL-13 2020’ that viewership of every minute in the first week of the current season increased by 15% over the previous year.
The first week of IPL 2020 has seen a 21 per cent increase in average impressions per match compared to the 2019 season. In the first week of the tournament, 60.6 billion viewing minutes have been recorded on seven matches and 21 channels.
Opening Match, Watched by 200 Million Viewers
On 22 September, Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Jai Shah, said that the opening match played in the 13th season of the Indian Premier League was watched by nearly 200 million people. According to Shah, this is the highest number of people watching the inaugural match of any sport in any country.
Jay Shah wrote on Twitter, “As per BARC, an unprecedented 20crore people tuned in to watch the match. Highest ever opening day viewership for any sporting league in any country- no league has ever opened as big as this.”
The inaugural match of IPL-13 was played between the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on 19 September, Mumbai Indians were defeated by Mahendra Singh led Chennai Super Kings by five wickets.
IPL’s viewership grew by 30 per cent: Star India
On Thursday, official broadcaster Star India claimed that IPL’s viewership grew by 30 per cent over last year in only the opening week of the tournament.
The regional markets have also grown by a massive 39.4 per cent over last year, it claimed.
“We are thrilled to deliver the biggest ever IPL. The opening week for Dream11 IPL 2020 resulted in a staggering new viewership record with an increase of 30% over last year,” Thakar stated as quoted by Hindustan Times.
