IPL 6 records 52% growth in online viewership

The action packed tournament is being streamed live by Times Internet, the official digital partner of IPL, in partnership with YouTube

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | May 16, 2013

IPL 6 is proving to be a smashing hit online. Cricket fans in India and all over the world are enjoying front seat live action on internet, contributing to strong growth in online viewership of the exciting tournament. The numbers reflect a new benchmark in online viewership in global and Indian sports history.

The fast-paced, action packed 20-20 cricket is streamed live by Times Internet Ltd (TIL), the official digital partner of IPL, in partnership with YouTube. As per the viewership numbers recorded for 38 matches, which is 50 per cent of the tournament, IPL online across both www.boxtv.com and www.youtube.com/indiatimes combined recorded a 52 per cent growth in viewership over 2012 (75.2 mn against 49.3 mn last year.). Furthermore, the combined viewership of users watching highlights and clips saw a whopping 480 per cent growth in watch-hours over 2012. That's a staggering number and no other live event has ever created this kind of reach in India.

Bangalore and Hyderabad lead the viewership with 14 per cent each, with Delhi coming in a close second at 10 per cent. Maximum online views were registered on April 23 in the match between RCB and PWI and on April 25 between MI and RCB.

"Over the last two years, we've offered IPL fans across the world a superior experience online and steadily grown a loyal viewer base. For IPL 2013, we've worked hard to make the online experience more social and interactive than ever before, and our traffic numbers so far are proof enough that IPL fans are loving it," said Satyan Gajwani, CEO, Times Internet.

Speaking about the response to IPL Season 6, Praveen Sharma, Head of Media Sales, Google India, said, “Better streaming experience, increased mobile and tablet device access and growing awareness about the availability of IPL online is fueling the growth in viewership. In the past, we usually saw rise in the first two weeks of the tournament and then it picked up again during the final week. But this year, the growth has been consistent through the tournament. At this rate we are hopeful of registering strong growth in total viewership by the end of the tournament over last year.”

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com