Boatmen watch the Cricket World Cup final match between Australia and India on their mobile phones at river Yamuna in Prayagraj, on November 19, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP
The India-Australia cricket World Cup Final match on Sunday created a record peak viewership of nearly 5.9 crore, according to Disney+Hotstar, despite the host nation ending on the losing side.
With this, it has surpassed the peak concurrency of 5.3 crore viewership recorded in the India-New Zealand semifinal match.
Peak concurrency, which is the highest number of viewers during a live stream, for the final match on Disney+Hotstar was nearly 5.9 crore, according to a statement from the the OTT platform.
The India versus Pakistan league match of the World Cup tournament last month had recorded a peak concurrency of 3.5 crore.
Sunday’s final match was also telecast live by Disney Star on the Star Sports network but viewership numbers will be released only a week later by television audience measurement body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).
Disney+ Hotstar India Head Sajith Sivanandan said, “With a staggering 5.9 crore concurrent viewers tuning in on Disney+ Hotstar for the final… higher than any peak concurrency record set before the tournament — the unwavering support of Indian cricket fans has consistently propelled us to new heights in live sports streaming.”
The India-Australia final match was also screened by leading multiplex operator PVR INOX at 150 cinemas in over 60 cities comprising major metros, Tier-1, 2 and 3 cities with over 70,000 cricket fans watching the match when it started translating to over 70% occupancy, PVR INOX Ltd Executive Director Sanjeev Kumar Bijli said.