The opening match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 brought joy not just to the Indian team fans, but also the broadcasters of the tournament.
According to aMap ratings, a total of 38 million people tuned in to watch the match as India launched their campaign with a thumping win over Bangladesh. The viewers on ESPN Star touched 18.8 million while another 20 million people saw the match on Doordarshan. Average time spent by viewers watching the match was recorded to be at 85 minutes, an increase of 70 per cent over the data recorded for the practice matches. For the practice matches featuring India, average time spent by viewers was 52 minutes.
The match delivered a peak rating of 12.48 television rating (TVR) across six metros, according to data from TAM. The average rating of the match across the six metros stood at 7.8 TVR. The average ratings of the inaugural match was 11 per cent more than the opening match of IPL season 3 across the same target audience.
The match, which witnessed a brutal batting display by India, got a strong response online as well. According to ESPN Star, the Web site
Commenting on the viewership numbers, Mr Sanjay Kailash, Executive Vice President – Advertising Sales and New Media, ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd, said, “We are delighted with the ratings. There have been lots of discussions and comparisons with rival properties over the past few months but the opening match of the tournament has clearly proved the fact that ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is indeed ‘The Cup That Counts'.”
“In fact, the ratings of the opening match of the ICC Cricket World Cup are substantially higher than the corresponding opening match of IPL 3 for starters. And here we are talking of a larger time duration vis-à-vis a T20 match in IPL. Our partners are also getting the benefit of better deliveries as the online performance is adding on to the existing on-air offering. We expect the ratings to go up even further,” he added.