Suffice to say cricket is more than just a sport in India. It is, for lack of better phrasing, akin to a religion. And while people had only the radio or TV to follow the excitement 10 years ago, things have dramatically changed now with a rise in technology and digital media. Apart from Cable or regular television programming, fans can now watch cricket on OTT platforms such as Hotstar and SonyLIV. Should there be bandwidth issues while commuting, followers can resort to apps such as ESPNcricinfo, Cricbuzz or even Google, whichever is faster in giving them updates.

Here's a look at what experts from the industry say about the role Google, TV, streaming services, and apps play in the world of cricket scores.

Edited Excerpts:

Ashish Bhasin, chairman and CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network, South Asia

There is no doubt that everybody wants to watch sports on a large screen first, that's the first preference. But people today, particularly the younger audience and office-goers are on the move, therefore, a lot of viewing has shifted online and that's an increasing trend. A few years ago, people in offices would assemble in a room at lunchtime when an important match was on, but today, not a single person can be seen in that room because they are watching it on their mobile or laptop.

Bandwidth, in general, has been improving significantly and rates of data are falling, particularly with Jio coming in, solving some of the problems. Hence, people can watch a match on Hotstar or SonyLIV, easily. Of course, on Hotstar, the other issue is that if you are a free subscriber, you are going to get lag and watch for a shorter time. You have to be a paid subscriber to get full benefits, although many people do not pay for subscriptions for online content. Non-subscribers have no option but to go to other apps or google the scores and that's the individual role each of these platforms play.

Uday Sodhi, business head - digital, Sony Pictures Networks India (SonyLIV)

Taking into account the overall internet audience - 450+ million users, people watching videos on OTT apps constitute 250 million. Even out of the 250 million, not everyone is watching the entire match on digital. A lot of them are watching it on TV as well. The combination we see is what the use cases for digital cricket viewing are. During the Fifa World Cup, we realised that people, when they were transiting or not in front of the TV, they still watched it on SonyLIV. Even when in front of a TV set during family viewing time, everyone didn't want to watch football yet, the youngster in the house was watching it on SonyLIV. We also got amazing viewership on the Amazon Fire Stick, Android TV apps and Chromecast.

I don't think there is one homogenous consumer out there nor is there a single-quality bandwidth that every consumer gets, everywhere in the country. I also don't think everybody has the same model handset in terms of the ability to watch and the quality one would get on that phone. There is a significant growth happening in the OTT space, but is it a replacement for TV? No, it isn't. Is it an additional screen? Yes, it is. And does it become a second screen for most people? Probably, when they are moving it is their first screen and at home, it becomes a second screen. Different people view it differently.

Akshay Kolhe, director - sales, ESPN Digital Media India (ESPNcricinfo)

Television is a lean-back medium where you want to get together and watch a match or when you are really free and doing nothing. Even for the highest rated match like a semi-final or final of an ICC tournament like the World Cup, we would have close to 16-17 TVR generated during that match which is just 10 per cent of the total tuneable audience. So, it is not that all people following cricket will be watching it on TV. That could be for various reasons. TV serves its own purpose and in India, it is only growing. However, digital is also growing, although TV remains the most dominant medium because of its reach. If you look at cumulative reach because TV households are much larger and there's the bandwidth issue as well. Also, there's the added fun of watching sports on a big screen. Of course, you can't take that everywhere and that's where your small screen or digital comes into play.

Having said that, digital is a lean-forward medium. If you are streaming on Hotstar, you can easily switch over and check scores or even watch replays. We are in a 24/7 access era, even while travelling; gone are the days when you would skip important work for matches. Within the digital system, streaming is where you can watch a match and digital where you can read the ball-by-ball commentary, both have their own fun.

Pratik Gupta, co-founder, Foxymoron

India still has a one-TV-a-home phenomenon. Instead of it becoming two TVs, Indians are now using mobile phones as a second screen. So, if a person is at home or at work, they use streaming service via Wi-Fi to see the score. If a person is in a social situation where they are not able to get great internet access, they use Google, Cricinfo or Cricbuzz for quick updates. The difference between Google and Cricinfo is that the latter gives a more detailed analysis like ball-by-ball commentary and they have integrated Twitter and small videos as well. For people who don't get to see all that, Google is the worst-case scenario. But with Voice Activation becoming popular "assistants" like Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant, who have become an important source of dissemination while you are doing other things, allow you to simply ask for the score to get it. And these are integrated with your phone. According to statistics, America is doing about 400 billion voice searches per month, that's a huge number and it is going to increase in India.

I don't think streaming services are bad at all; I have seen streaming services abroad and our services are at par with them. Our infrastructure for internet connectivity is still poor. We still have the poorest 4G in the world. Unfortunately, the OTT guys can't do anything about it. But Jio has done a good job of increasing the amount of time people spend on these apps. I would look at streaming services as a second screen, ESPNCricinfo and Cricbuzz as intermediate cases where you get more information and Google as a worst-case scenario and, I believe, voice search for scores is the future.

For feedback/comments, please write to newsteam@afaqs.com

First Published : November 12, 2018 04:15 AM