The ongoing World Cup 2023 has been unreal so far as the TV viewership has been exceptionally massive. With India being the host nation, there has been a 43% growth in minutes compared to the last edition of the mega event that happened in 2019. The BCCI secretary Jay Shah took to his social media handle and informed that fans are constantly following the World Cup as the viewership growth has been huge.
He wrote, “The #CWC2023 has been watched by 36.42 Crore viewers on TV in its first 18 matches - a new record for @cricketworldcup”.
“Fans have also been glued to their TV screens more than ever before with 43% growth in the minutes watched @StarSportsIndia.This is testament to the popularity of our sport and power of Indian Cricket fans” he claimed.
Earlier, the ICC came up with a statement which stated a huge increase in the viewership in the ongoing World Cup matches. The mega event also saw an outstanding 364.2 million viewers following the live telecast of the first 18 matches of the tournament. Talking about the high-octane clash between India and Pakistan, the game that was played on October 14 in Ahmedabad witnessed a massive peak of live concurrency as it was 76 million on television and 35 million concurrent viewers on digital.
ICC Chief Executive, Geoff Allardice said, “We are delighted to see the interest and engagement in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 through the unbelievable audience numbers on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar. The World Cup has captured the imagination of the public across India with records tumbling and hundreds of millions of fans enjoying the pinnacle event of the one-day game more than ever before.”
The record of highest digital concurrency was set during India’s game against New Zealand in Dharamsala on 22 October, witnessing 43 million concurrent viewers on Disney+ Hotstar during the final overs of the match.