 "IPL 2023: Digital viewers on opening weekend top total viewership in 2022")
The number of video viewers on the first weekend of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 was higher than the digital viewers of the entire 2022 season. In a release, Viacom18 said that JioCinema clocked over 1.47 billion views during the weekend. This was even higher than the total digital viewership during ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
"Digital is targetable, addressable and interactive. Unlike legacy services, measurement on digital is based on the exact number of people who come in to watch and not based on subjective extrapolation from a small sample set. The landscape for content consumption has irrevocably moved to digital and JioCinema's performance this week is the biggest evidence of it," said Anil Jayaraj, chief executive officer (CEO) of Viacom18 Sports.
The average time spent per viewer per match was 57 minutes. This was 60 per cent higher than the average viewer per match during the opening weekend of last season.
This is also the first time the championship is being broadcast in 12 regional languages like Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Oriya and Gujarati. Moreover, it is also free to watch for the audience.
The viewers can watch the highlights on demand. The streaming of the matches takes place in 4K resolution (Ultra HD).
The JioCinema app also lets the viewers check statistics such as score and pitch heat map on phones, while those watching on laptops or bigger screens will be able to see the information alongside the match.
Additionally, the "Hype" feature allows the users of the JioCinema app to get access to player statistics on demand.
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The app saw 50 million new app downloads over the weekend.
In the opening match, between MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings and Hardik Pandya's Gujarat Titans, achieved a peak concurrency of 16 million. In addition, JioCinema registered over 25 million downloads on the same day.