IPL 13’s opening week saw 15% growth in viewing minutes compared to the 2019 edition, with 269 million viewers in 86 million households watching the league in the first seven days. The numbers suggest that one in three viewers watched IPL 13 live during the first week.
2020 IPL League stage schedule | Points table
A breakdown of this data suggests that 147 million (39%) of this audience is urban and 145 million (34%) is male audience. A good 40% of the general audience, estimated at around 70 million, is devoted to socio-economic ranking, a new ranking system devised by BARC.
Additionally, the highest advertising volume was recorded during the 37 weeks of the lockdown and is still higher than the volume in the peak period. During this peak period, the average time spent in front of the TV screen increased 27% and 10% more once the IPL was launched. Those follow-up developments say that India has yet to get close to its peak festival season, Dussehra and Diwali, and expect the numbers to rise in the future.
The biggest question looming about IPL, compared to all other sports properties in India and around the world, was whether they could hold up in a market that has cooled down due to prolonged closures, due to Covid-19. While the pandemic continues to test the patience and immunity levels of India and the world, the sport has certainly proven to be the great unifier that it has always been.
# Dream11IPL Opening Match Sets New Record! According to BARC, an unprecedented crowd from 20crore tuned in to see the… https://t.co/urrA6dW7Ic
– Jay Shah (@JayShah) 1600763946000
In simple figures, the first week of this year’s IPL has recorded 11 million more viewers per game, compared to last year. In that, and unsurprisingly, the Hindi audience has ranked number one. Based on the audience, the report suggests that the total ad volume for the opening week also increased by 15% compared to the previous IPL, with the second, fourth and fifth games recording the highest jump.
Additionally, the advertiser count also increased by 19% and the brand count increased by 22%. In fact, the report says that smartphone use increased 8% in the first week of IPL compared to the last few weeks, while streaming video increased 13%. The BARC-Nielsen report says a total of 60.6 billion viewing minutes were recorded, across seven games and 21 channels.
The average impression per game in the first week of the tournament increased from 25.8 million in 2018 to 32.2 million in 2019 and 39 million in 2020, thus registering a jump of 21%. The opening match of the tournament, between Mumbai Indians Y Super Kings of Chennai, recorded 52 million impressions, while the other matches in the first week of the IPL garnered more than 34 million impressions, viewed by more than 100 million viewers match by match.
These numbers should be a shot in the arm for the sports industry as it continues to find ways and innovate as the world battles Covid-19. With technology beginning to play a bigger role in the sport with each passing season, the increase in television numbers will be music to the ears of the sports industry, removing all doubts about its potential to gain live attention. .
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