Mumbai: The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 garnered a reach of 167 million on TV. The event staged in the UAE and Oman, broke viewership records in several regions, including India, as per data shared by the cricket governing body.
There was nearly 10,000 hours of live coverage of the tournament offered across TV and digital platforms in 200 countries. This edition of the tournament saw increased viewership and consumption in India, Pakistan, the UK, Australia, and the strategic market of the USA.
The India-Pakistan clash saw consumption of 15.9 million minutes in India on the Star TV Network and became the most viewed T20I match in history, exceeding the previous high of the India-West Indies semi-final match from the 2016 edition of the ICC event held in India.
The overall TV consumption for the full tournament in India was recorded at 112 billion minutes, despite India’s early exit from the tournament. Viewership share amidst younger audiences in India (children below the age of 15) was at a healthy 18.5 per cent.
Digital consumption for the tournament saw an explosive growth on Disney+ Hotstar in India, adding significantly to the overall television viewership in the market, noted ICC.
In the UK, viewership for the India v Pakistan match grew by 60 per cent on Sky UK whereas the overall viewership for the market went up by 7 per cent. In Pakistan, the event was being broadcast by three players for the first time namely PTV, ARY and Ten Sports, which led to further growth in viewership by 7.3 per cent compared to the 2016 edition of the event.
In Australia, the viewership increased by 175 per cent on the Fox Network. In the USA, which the ICC recently named as one of the focus markets for the sport, the tournament was the most viewed cricket tournament ever on ESPN+.
ICC’s partnership with Facebook was a driver for the significant increase in video views, with a total of 4.3 billion views across all channels for the tournament, compared to 3.6 billion views which were garnered for the 2019 edition of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
The consumption across ICC’s digital assets also grew, recording a total of 2.55 billion minutes. ICC’s social media channels also saw significant growth in engagement at 618 million across those platforms, which is a 28 per cent jump since the 2019 edition of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
“We are pleased with these outstanding global viewership numbers, that demonstrate the power of T20I cricket to attract a huge audience across the globe on linear and digital platforms,” said ICC chief executive officer Geoff Allardice. “It reinforces our belief that there is a significant opportunity and appetite to grow the game in our strategic growth markets including the USA.”
