India-Pakistan epic surpasses IPL final on HotStar

The India-Pakistan match of the ICC Cricket World Cup played on Saturday created a new viewership record with the peak touching the 3.5 crore mark, according to Disney HotStar.

The peak concurrency, which is the highest number of viewers during a live stream, for the Indo-Pak match on its OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar was nearly 3.5 crore.

With this, it has surpassed the peak concurrency of 3.2 crore viewers of the IPL final between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans, played earlier this year.

The match was also live telecast by Disney Star on Star Sports network but viewership numbers will be released only a week later by the television audience measurement body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).

Disney Star has exclusive broadcast and media rights for both linear and digital platforms.

The India-Pak match was also screened by the leading multiplex operator PVR INOX at its selected cinema halls, where it reported a large number of visitors coming to watch the match.

Several of PVR INOX screens were completely sold out, it said.

Disney+ Hotstar India Head Sajith Sivanandan told PTI: "We would like to thank all the fans who tuned in to watch the India-Pakistan match on Disney+ Hotstar. Your love for the game is what made it possible for Disney+ Hotstar to break all the previous records across all cricket formats and hit a peak concurrency number of 3.5 crore viewers."

As the cricketing rivalries continue, It will continue to honour our commitment towards delivering an unmatched viewing experience to all our users, he said.

"We look forward to many more such experiences as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup unfolds," said Sivanandan.

PVR INOX, which is showing all India league matches, and the knock-out games, semi-finals, and finals, in 116 cinemas in more than 40 cities, on Saturday, witnessed phenomenal responses from the viewers for the India-Pakistan match, said its Co-CEO Gautam Dutta.

"The excitement of the World Cup is at its peak today, with the clash between two of the greatest rivals," he said adding "While some of the screens are fully sold out, we are witnessing occupancy of over 60 per cent for this epic clash today." 

• World Cup 2023