JioCinema is celebrating a new record as digital viewership overtook cable TV for the first time during a global sports season, as per the service. According to the telecommunications company, a whopping 32 million viewers tuned into its JioCinema website and phone app, during the final match of the FIFA World Cup 2022, where Argentina emerged victorious over France, in a nail-biting contest that stretched into a penalty shootout. Meanwhile, 110 million viewers watched the World Cup finals on digital platforms, placing India as one of the “highest digital viewership markets” for the global event.
That said, it is worth noting that Jio hasn’t offered a clear definition of how the viewership numbers are calculated. During the first two days of the FIFA World Cup 2022, multiple users reported issues when trying to stream the matches on the JioCinema website and the app. While Gadgets 360 was able to confirm that the app functioned normally for the finals, it’s not clear whether the figures were based on click-throughs, or having the page open for an unspecified number of minutes.
According to Jio, audiences consumed a “mammoth 40 billion minutes” of watch time, across JioCinema and the Sports18 channel. The company also claims that the app “continued to be the No. 1 downloaded” software on iOS and Android throughout the tournament. “We promised to give consumers easy access to the world-class presentation of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and on the back of that, the tournament became the most-watched global sports event on digital where India [Indian football team] has not participated,” said Viacom18 Sports CEO Anil Jayaraj, in a prepared statement.
“This demonstrates the power of digital and the preference viewers and fans have shown to consume their favourite events, which will now see Paris Saint-Germain teammates and FIFA World Cup Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappé and FIFA World Cup and Golden Ball winner Lionel Messi join forces in the [French domestic] Ligue1.”
In addition to free live streams of FIFA World Cup 2022 matches, the JioCinema app also included a Hype Mode, which pops open with interesting trivia, squad lineups, and statistics of the two teams playing live, with the added benefit of being able to rewind back to relive key highlights. A Multicam toggle was included on the JioCinema app on Android TV as well, allowing users to view the match from various camera angles.