IPL viewership up 31% in first weekend, set for a record: Star

MUMBAI: Indian Premier League 2019 has seen a massive jump in reach as well as average viewership in the first weekend, media rights holder Star India said, citing BARC PreView data.

The network reached 219 million TV viewers across India (urban+rural, TV and out of home) for the first three matches, registering a 31% jump over previous year. “We are very excited with the initial numbers of the opening weekend, which shows that this is going to be the biggest IPL ever, as promised by Star,” said Gautam Thakar, CEO at Star Sports.

Reach in Hindi speaking markets (HSM) grew by 30% to 79 million on the opening day, compared to 60 million year ago, while in South, reach was up by 20% for the match between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore .