New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS) The first Test of the ongoing 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series between India and Australia at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur has turned in impressive viewing figures, breaking into the top three for most watched bilateral Test matches in the last five years since 2018.
The first Test between India and Australia, where the hosts won by an innings and 132 runs, registered 5.5 million AMAs (Average Minute Audience) which placed it just behind two Tests of the four-match India-England Test series in 2021, one of which was a day-night match in Ahmedabad.
“Cricket viewership on TV continues to deliver impressive figures. The recent results are a strong testament to Star Sports’ brand of storytelling expressed through its compelling marketing campaigns and riveting programming which has fuelled the stature of the events.”
“Building the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as an unmissable contest between the top Test teams in the world with the added context of a place in the World Test Championship final on the line, fuelled appeal for the series,” said Sanjog Gupta, Head — Sports, Disney Star, in an official statement.
On the other hand, the match between India and Pakistan in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on February 12 registered a cumulative reach of 28 million. This match, kickstarting India’s campaign in the Women’s T20 World Cup with a seven-wicket victory, clocked a total of 1.39 billion minutes with 7.3 million AMAs, making it the second most-watched women’s T20I.
The viewership for the India-Pakistan game in the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup is second only to the India-Australia final played in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It also showed a staggering 91% increase in AMA’s compared to India’s opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020 against Australia.
“The Women’s World T20 is the culmination of a year-long campaign to promote Women’s Cricket and drive support for Team India. We are overjoyed that our continued focus on the women’s game, which included high-decibel campaigns and an increased supply of content, is delivering strong results, and fuelling the growth of the game. These results also strengthen our belief that Star Sports continues to be the most loved brand and platform for fans to engage with marquee cricket properties,” added Gupta.
With an action-packed cricket calendar, including IPL 2023, Asia Cup 2023, and ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 among others, one can say that television viewership of cricket will be on a rise this year.
–IANS
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