New Delhi: The biggest festival of cricket, ICC men’s ODI World Cup 2023 is in full swing and has effortlessly managed to keep the cricket lovers across the globe glued to their screens by its midpoint.
In its first 18 days, the prestigious tournament has breached numerous viewership records by engaging millions of fans who are leaving no stone unturned in making it the most-watched cricket World Cup of all time.
World Cup 2023 breaks viewership records
On Monday, the president of BCCI Jai Shah took to his Twitter handle and informed the cricket fans about the record-shattering viewership the ongoing tournament has catered so far.
He wrote “The CWC2023 has been watched by 36.42 Crore viewers on TV in its first 18 matches – a new record for cricket world cup. Fans have also been glued to their TV screens more than ever before with 43% growth in the minutes watched StarSportsIndia. This is a testament to the popularity of our sport and the power of Indian Cricket fans.”
The #CWC2023 has been watched by 36.42 Crore viewers on TV in its first 18 matches – a new record for @cricketworldcup. Fans have also been glued to their TV screens more than ever before with 43% growth in the minutes watched @StarSportsIndia. This is testament to the popularity… pic.twitter.com/XzKYs4OGXS
— Jay Shah (@JayShah) October 28, 2023
CWC2023 has recorded a smashing combined watch time of 123.8 billion minutes which is about 43% more in comparison with the ICC World Cup 2019 which was hosted by Engaged & Wales.
India Vs New Zealand achieves highest concurrent digital viewership
Calling Chiku bhai “Cheekhu bhai” because his batting leaves us screaming in awe! 😱#ViratKohli#CWC23 #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/PRZLirke0W
— Disney+ Hotstar (@DisneyPlusHS) October 22, 2023
While the high-octane clash between Asian cricketing superpowers and arch-rivals India and Pakistan witnessed a monumental concurrent viewership of 111 million (76M on TV & 35 M on Disney+ Hotstar), the recent encounter between India and New Zealand in HPCA’s Dharamshala stadium even went past that by receiving the highest ever concurrent digital audience of 4.3 million during the climax of the game.
With that, the thrilling World Cup 2023 match between India and New Zealand became the most-watched game of cricket on a digital platform of all time.
Déjà woohoo! Another record-breaking performance by all of us! 🎉🥳
Time for a hat-trick?🤞#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/IBm2V39dIl— Disney+ Hotstar (@DisneyPlusHS) October 22, 2023
Overwhelmed with the peak viewership recorded on his digital platform during the India vs New Zealand clash, the head of Disney+ Hotstar Sanjog Gupta expressed his joy and thanked the fans for their love and support.
Sajith said, “Marquee Cricket continues to demonstrate unparalleled capacity to aggregate audiences across platforms and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has set new viewership benchmarks on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar. With the Indian team’s strong performance, the fluctuating fortunes of top teams, and a competitive points table, we expect a further increase in the momentum of the tournament. Disney Star is committed to serving sports fans and will continue to delight viewers around the world with its coverage”.
ICC’s Cheif executive Geoff Allardice also commented on the CWC 2023’s monumental viewership and said, “We are delighted to see the interest and engagement in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 through the unbelievable audience numbers on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar,”
“The World Cup has captured the imagination of the public across India with records tumbling and hundreds of millions of fans enjoying the pinnacle event of the one-day game more than ever before”, he added further.
Cricket World Cup 2023 staggering In-stadium attendance
Notably, along with the significant spike in the on-screen viewership of the Cricket World Cup 2023, the tournament has also witnessed a huge rise in its offline viewership in comparison with the last edition of the ICC ODI World Cup.
So far, over 550,000 fans have attended the ICC World Cup matches from the stands of the stadium which is about 200,000 more than the attendance recorded during CWC 2019.
