Sharp drop in TV viewership for IPL 2023 opener; digital viewership on rise

Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the tournament, recorded a TVR of 7.29 for the opening fixture, a sharp drop from the 2021 edition

New Delhi: The season opener of IPL 2023 between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings recorded the second-lowest number in terms of TV viewership in the past six seasons even though digital viewership registered record-breaking opening day numbers, said a report.

According to information received here, Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the tournament, recorded a TVR of 7.29 for the opening fixture, a sharp drop from the 2021 edition (8.25) and 2020 (10.36).

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The engagement numbers for the 1st game came in at a lowly 33 per cent, the second lowest in the past six seasons and the BARC numbers were also reflective of this drop with the curtain raiser recorded at 22 per cent as opposed to previous year’s 23.1 per cent.

IPL 2023’s official digital streaming partner, Jio Cinema, surpassed Disney+ Hotstar’s digital viewership numbers from last year by the very first week of the tournament, said a statement.

“JioCinema’s TATA IPL debut proved to be hugely successful marked by record-breaking opening day numbers. The total match views on Day 1 on JioCinema touched 50 crores,” a statement read.

“Over 2.5 crore downloads of JioCinema were accounted for, making it a record for the most installed app in a single day. Additionally, over 6 crore unique viewers tuned in for the GT vs CSK match, which achieved a peak concurrency of over 1.6 crore on the platform.”