The recently concluded FIFA World Cup 2022 at Qatar recorded strong traction on digital with viewership surpassing TV for the first time ever, making the the football tournament the most engaged and viewed FIFA World Cup in India ever.
FIFA World Cup, which is considered as the most watched sports, saw its 2022 edition registering a reach of 110 million on JioCinema app that streamed the tournament live for free in India, making India one of the highest digital viewership markets for the FIFA World Cup.
Digital viewers overtook TV with JioCinema ranking the top downloaded free app on iOS and Android throughout the football tournament.
Reach refers to the number of people who have tuned in to watch a match or matches.
For the edge of the seat finale between team Argentina led by Lionel Messi and France, 32 million viewers tuned in to JioCinema that delivered arguably the most extraordinary FIFA World Cup Final as Argentina picked the FIFA World Cup Trophy for the first time since 1986.
On the back of nail-biting contests, the FIFA World Cup held India’s attention with 40 billion minutes of watch time being clocked across Sports18 and JioCinema.
According to data by Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC), the cumulative reach for the first 48 matches of the FIFA 2022 World Cup had touched 42.2 million in India and recorded an average reach per match of 5.9 million.
Top cities that recorded high traction for the football tournament included Kerala, West Bengal, Assam/North East/Sikkim, Tamil Nadu/Puducherry and Maharashtra/Goa with a cumulative reach of 13.1 million, 8.69 million, 7.1 million, 2.7 million and 2.3 million respectively.
On digital reach for FIFA World Cup, Anil Jayaraj, chief executive officer, Viacom18 Sports, had noted earlier that free streaming would ensure easy access for viewers of the football tournament.
In addition, the JioCinema enhanced live experience for viewers with Hype Mode. The mode allowed viewers to experience the FIFA World Cup 2022 matches from multiple angles. It also let viewers go back a few seconds to catch a defense-cutting through-ball again quickly, filters, camera angles, and more. The feature also offered various details and statistics about the teams during a match and showed the best possible angle of crucial highlights of a particular match.
JioCinema also partnered with Snap Inc for the football tournament and offered users voice-activated AR lens and content around the event on Snapchat’s Discover platform, a destination for Indian Snapchatters to explore news, entertainment, and expert editorial content.
Experts pointed out that FIFA World Cup will give a boost to JioCinema app in becoming a household name and this will help attract more advertisers on the digital platform. It was also noted that brands partnering with Jio Cinema app for the football tournament could see a 2x to 3x recall value.
More than 50 brands across e-commerce, banking, financial services, auto, fashion, hospitality and fintech had joined collaborated with Viacom18 Sports for the FIFA World Cup.
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