Hotstar crosses 10 million concurrent viewers mark for IPL 2018 finale

Hotstar went past 10 million concurrent viewers mark to finish IPL 2018 with a peak of 10.3 million simultaneous users during final match played between Chennai Super Kings and Sun Risers Hyderabad.

The video streaming platform leveraged cloud delivery platform Akamai Technologies to live stream IPL matches.

IPL 2018’s final match was broadcast in eight languages on 10 TV channels across the Star network, as well as Hotstar on Sunday. The 11 different feeds were all available on demand on Hotstar. The service breached the 10 million mark two balls before the Chennai Super Kings claimed their trophy for the third time in the tournament’s history. 

Ajit Mohan, CEO, Hotstar, said, “When we launched Hotstar in 2015, the belief was that mobile video would be dominated by short form user generated clips. We were constantly reminded that the Internet was not yet ready for hosting big television events. And many digital platforms were pushing the narrative that the future of advertising would be very different from classic television, that marketers would move towards “skip” ads and “zero second” ads. We were sceptical of this narrative. What is remarkable about yesterday’s milestone is that it busts these myths emphatically. Thoughtful technology companies now have the scale and expertise to deliver big global events elegantly. It is clear that people still gravitate towards well-crafted stories, whether TV shows, movies, sports or news. And, marketers still value consumers who are actually engaged and paying attention. Mobile video is now mainstream. And we are proud that Hotstaris shaping this new world.”

Parimal Pandya, Vice President, Media, APJ, Akamai Technologies, added, “IPL 2018 Final set a new record for Hotstar and Akamai while crafting a new moment in the history of the Internet. 10.3 million Concurrent viewers is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most that have ever tuned in to watch live action of any kind delivered online. Supporting broadcast-level scale, quality, and end user experience is a tough technical challenge to solve, and Akamai is pleased to have delivered a superior service during the course of the VIVO IPL 2018.”

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