Hotstar claims global record with 18.6mn concurrent viewers in IPL 2019 final

Premium streaming platform Hotstar claimed to have set a new global benchmark on May 12 when it registered an unprecedented reach of 18.6 million concurrent viewers during the finale of IPL 2019. “The match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings saw the streaming giant soar past its earlier record of 12.7 million concurrent users, achieved during an earlier game in the same tournament,” Star India’s OTT platform said in a press statement.

The 12th edition of IPL began with Hotstar aiming to reach 300 million unique visitors. By the end of the tournament, Hotstar had not only recorded in more than 300 million users but witnessed a 74% increase in watch-time as compared to last year, further cementing its position as the home of digital sports viewing in India, the statement said.

This year, Hotstar streamed the matches on a completely new technology stack that used 10x lesser compute, while handling almost 2.5x times more traffic, rendering better quality at lower bit-rates than ever before. Deploying a breakthrough advertising product, Hotstar enabled advertisers to target refined cohorts of its 300 million audience, allowing ad targeting at unprecedented scale.

Varun Narang, Chief Product Officer, Hotstar, said, “At Hotstar, we have an innate belief in delivering a game-changing viewing experience to our consumers through ideas that challenge the status quo. The achievements of this season once again bear witness to Hotstar being the most preferred sports destination for the country. With technology as our backbone and our all-round expertise in driving scale, we are confident we will continue to break global records and set new benchmarks with each passing year.”

IPL 2019 began on March 23 and concluded on May 12. The seven-week tournament was streamed live on Hotstar in eight languages. The streaming giant is now gearing up for the ICC Cricket World Cup that commences on May 30.

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