IPL 2016 viewership reaches 347 million
May 27, 2016 at 12:22 PM
The ninth edition of the rich Indian Premier League (IPL) has reached a massive viewership of 347 million, Sony Pictures Networks India announced on Thursday.
The official broadcasters of the twenty 20 cricket tournament, Sony Max, Sony Mix and Sony ESPN-part of Sony Pictures networks India-have drew millions of viewers each week making the tournament larger and bigger.
“IPL achieved a viewership of 793 GVM (gross TV viewership in million) in prime time at an all India level, in its sixth week and was way ahead of the No.2 channel which was at 377 GVM. Even at an HSM level, VIVO IPL with 578 GVM in prime time was way ahead of the No.2 channel at 311 GVM,” according to the release.
The T20 tournament recorded a 60 percent growth since the opening week to achieve a cumulative reach of 347 million, the highest for any sporting event on television in India.
The areas which saw growing viewership lately were Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Rajasthan, North East, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, and Bihar.
This year fans were jaded by an overdose of T20 cricket. As the tournament started after the World T20 in India IPL found partly empty stands in the first couple of matches. The scenario has changed in the last phase of the tournament as some of the close matches increased the interest among the fans who started going into the stands and watched the game on TV.
This year the T20 series started in January with India’s tour of Australia then the Aai Cup T20 in Bangladesh which was won by India beating Bangladesh at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangala national stadium, Dhaka.