India vs Pakistan viewership breaks record on Disney+ Hotstar streaming platform

A record number of Indian fans were glued to their mobile phones, laptops and smart TV screens on Saturday as the Indian team defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

The match between India and Pakistan, said to be the biggest rivalry in the world of sports, was a hugely exciting match, but it turned out to be a one-sided match. The Men in Blue defeated Pakistan for 199 in 42.5 overs, winning easily by seven wickets.

Star Sports has the exclusive rights to broadcast all 48 matches of the World Cup digitally through its TV channel and sister streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar.

Traditional TV viewership numbers have not yet been released, but the streaming platform confirmed that the match broke the record for the largest number of people to watch a single live stream at once.

More than 35 million viewers tuned in at one point during Saturday’s match, with Disney+ Hotstar marking the highest point ever, set earlier this year in the Indian Premier League (IPL) final against Chennai Super. It was announced that the number of simultaneous viewers exceeded the record of 32 million people. Kings (CSK) and Gujarat Titans (GT).

This easily surpassed the previous record of 28 million viewers for India’s match against Pakistan in the 2023 Asian Cup. At its peak, he reached 21 million viewers for the final of that tournament, India vs. Sri Lanka.

“We would like to thank all the fans who tuned in to watch the India vs Pakistan match on Disney+ Hotstar. Thanks to your love for the game, Disney+ Hotstar achieved an amazing concurrent viewership of 3.5 million viewers. ,” said Sajith Sivanandan, President, Disney+ Hotstar India.

The new record is a boost for Disney+ Hotstar, which is owned through a subsidiary by The Walt Disney Company, which has seen subscriber declines over the past three quarters.

The streaming platform faces increasing competition in India, particularly from Reliance Industries Ltd.’s JioCinema. The company has acquired the IPL streaming rights for the 2023 season, as well as the rights to stream popular HBO shows such as Game of Thrones and The Last of Us. It was previously available on Disney+ Hotstar.