IPL 2020 grabs more eyeballs, per-match viewership sees 11% growth

The viewership for the current season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) continues to grow with more and more Indians switching to TV to watch the league.

According to the latest data by Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC), the ongoing 13th edition of IPL has registered seven billion viewing minutes for the first five weeks of the league, which includes the first 41 matches aired across 21 channels.

If we compare the viewership numbers with the previous season, IPL 12 had recorded 5.5 billion viewing minutes for 44 matches aired across 24 channels.

This shows that season 13 of IPL has seen a 28 percent growth in viewership so far as compared to IPL 12.

The reach of every IPL match this year is also higher. IPL 13 has recorded a cumulative reach of 108 million for 41 matches, 11 percent higher than IPL 12. During the 12th edition of IPL, the league had registered a cumulative reach of 98 million.

Overall, IPL 13 has registered 233.9 billion viewing minutes and has been watched by 361 million viewers in the first four weeks of the league.

In the opening week, IPL 13 had garnered 269 million viewers and 60.6 billion viewing minutes.

In addition, female viewership for the 13th season of IPL has grown 33 percent as compared to season 12.

In the opening week of IPL this year, female viewership was recorded at 3.7 billion viewing minutes for the first seven matches. On the other hand, 2.8 billion viewing minutes were recorded for the first eight matches last year.

Also, a new study by Wavemaker, a media company, shows that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is driving the social media buzz of the league.

The study also mentions 11 leading players who are popular on social media currently including Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Sanju Samson and AB DE Villiers.