India Pakistan encounters are known to break viewership and rating records as it is the most anticipated game in all sports. This match is watched closely by not only the 2 billion population of India and Pakistan but the rest of the world as well. When the T20 World Cup returned after five years, the excitement for the T20I clash only grew further.
India Pakistan game breaks the India West Indies 2016 SF viewership record
The ICC T20 World Cup, which is the biggest ever cricket tournament to be staged in the UAE and Oman, broke viewership records in several regions, including garnering a record reach of television reach of 167 million and record consumption of 15.9 billion minutes in India on the Star India Network, for the highly-anticipated India-Pakistan clash.
This clash is now the most viewed T20I match in history, breaking the previous record of the India-West Indies semi-final match from the 2016 edition of the ICC event held in India. In the UK, viewership for the India v Pakistan match grew by 60 percent on Sky UK whereas the overall viewership for the market went up by 7 percent.
Despite India’s early exit from the tournament, the overall TV consumption for the full tournament in India was recorded at 112 billion minutes. Viewership share amidst younger audiences in India (children below the age of 15) was at a healthy 18.5 percent. The highly successful marketing campaign “Live the Game” targeting a younger demographic could be given a credit for this.
ICC T20 World Cup: A viewership and rating success
ICC’s partnership with Facebook was a driver for the significant increase in video views, with a total of 4.3 billion views across all channels for the tournament, compared to 3.6 billion views which were garnered for the 2019 edition of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup
The consumption across ICC’s digital assets also grew, recording a total of 2.55 billion minutes. ICC’s social media channels also saw significant growth in the engagement at 618 million across those platforms, which is a 28 percent jump since the 2019 edition of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said: “We are pleased with these outstanding global viewership numbers, that demonstrate the power of T20I cricket to attract a huge audience across the globe on linear and digital platforms. It reinforces our belief that there is a significant opportunity and appetite to grow the game in our strategic growth markets including the USA, so more fans can enjoy it, more kids are inspired by it, and sponsors and broadcasters want to be a part of it.”
Highlights:
• India Pakistan game becomes the most-watched T20 game
• ICC T20 World Cup becomes a viewership and rating success
