ICC World Cup 2023: India-Pakistan match shatters global streaming record on Disney Hotstar

India won the toss and chose to bowl

India playing against Pakistan during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 drew the highest number of viewers on digital, setting a new global streaming viewership record.

The India versus Pakistan match on October 14 recorded 3.5 crore viewers on Disney Hotstar, surpassing the global streaming milestone of 3.2 crore viewers, which was recorded during the finale between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans in the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Disney Hotstar, the official streaming partner of the ongoing cricket World Cup, recently recorded a peak in viewership during the India versus Pakistan match in the Asia Cup this year, with 2.8 crore viewers.

Also read: Disney+ Hotstar loses 12.5 million subscribers in its biggest-ever quarterly drop

The streaming platform had previously registered a record of 25.3 million concurrent viewers, which was set during the ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final match between India and New Zealand in 2019.

To attract more viewers on the platform, the streaming service announced in June that it would offer free streaming of marquee cricket tournaments, including the Asia Cup and the upcoming ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, to mobile users in India.

Also read: Disney+ Hotstar hits new milestone as India vs Pakistan Asia Cup match draws 28 million viewers

Last year, Disney Star retained the digital and television rights for all ICC events until the end of 2027 for a reported $3 billion and sublicensed the television rights to Zee Entertainment Enterprises.

The streaming service has lost nearly 21 million subscribers in the past three quarters. Its paid member base dropped to 40.4 million subscribers for the quarter ending July 1, 2023, from a peak of 61.3 million subscribers in the quarter ending October 2022. The drop in paid users came at a time when the company lost the rights to stream IPL, one of the key content offerings that drove its initial growth in India.

Also read: Disney explores strategic options for India business: Report

Disney Star, which controls Hotstar, is in talks to sell its India streaming and television business, according to news reports. Disney is reportedly exploring a sale or a joint venture for its Star India (now Disney Star) business, which the company inherited as part of its $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019.