NEW DELHI: The recently concluded India-England test series witnessed a cumulative reach of 103 million, as per official broadcaster Star India citing data from TV ratings agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India.
Reach is the number of target households in thousands where the event was viewed for at least one minute. It is to be noted that the numbers, provided by Barc India, represent male viewers above 15 years of age across urban India only who watched the matches across Star Sports channels.
The network claimed that it was the highest Test match viewership in the last five years, registering 1.3 million average minute audience (AMA). Star said the data reflects the popularity of the longest format of the sport, which also gained impetus with the introduction of the World Test Championship (WTC).
It said every game in the series mattered for qualifying for the WTC final. Key players such as Axar Patel, R. Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant kept fans engaged through the series, boosting viewership. Following a 3-1 test series win against England on 6 March, team India will play New Zealand in the final in June.
“Resumption of international cricket in India after almost a year, high stakes to the series with a spot in the World Test Championship final on the line and quality opposition, provided the ideal context for the series. This was bolstered by Star’s high decibel marketing campaign (India Taiyar Hai) and regional customisation in four Indian languages, set the stage for record viewership. Keeping the momentum going, we will continue to offer viewers an action-packed summer of cricket with the upcoming India-England ODIs, followed by IPL 2021 and the World Test Championship final," said Sanjog Gupta, head – sports, Star India.
Currently Team India is playing limited-overs cricket against England with the ongoing T20 and the upcoming ODIs commencing from 23 March.
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