ICC World Cup | Finale ties with India-Pak match for viewership numbers, no new record set

The nail-biting 12th ICC World Cup final which saw England beat New Zealand, failed to make or break any records on Hotstar, exclusive broadcaster Star's digital platform.

The match started with as little as three million concurrent viewers and retained numbers in the three to four million range for as long as the 42nd over of the match.

'Concurrent view' is the number of viewers who watched the stream at each second and hence fluctuates as viewers joined and left the stream.

The concurrent views touched 15.6 million in the Super Over, a rarity in the World Cup, as New Zealand tied with England's score. Super Over is the tie-breaking method used in Twenty20 cricket.

The numbers match the concurrent viewers recorded during the India vs Pakistan match, which Hotstar had then announced as the highest-ever for a One Day International (ODI).

However, the number is nowhere close to the 12th Indian Premier League edition's finale, which in comparison made a global record with 18.6 million concurrent viewers. In fact, India vs New Zealand semi-finals set a new record by reaching 25 million concurrent viewers.

The last match of the 2019 ICC World Cup did not have as many takers as is expected for a finale. Experts say this was because India crashed out in the semis.

Though a number of viewers did opt to use the over the top (OTT) platform, especially in the second half. In terms of viewership, the face-off between England and New Zealand gathered momentum only after 252 balls.

This was the point where the match took an interesting turn; so much so that the number of concurrent viewers shot up from around four million to 6.5 million, only to increase in every over.

The viewership shot up to eight million concurrent viewers in the 43rd over and again to 11.6 million in the 48th over, finally touching 15 million when the match was tied between the two teams.

While Hotstar was betting big on the World Cup, it was the India matches that garnered maximum viewership for the platform.

India’s loss in the World Cup dampened the sentiments of the cricket enthusiasts so much so that not even a tense final that ended in a tie and culminated to Super Over drama could pull more viewers to the digital platform.