“This is a huge number of new viewers we have recorded, and they come from across top metros, tier 1 and 2 towns, and rural India, which alludes to the fact that the IPL is a real national phenomenon,” said Jayaraj.
As per data provided by Viacom18, JioCinema has recorded the highest-ever opening weekend for the tournament on digital, clocking over 1. 47 billion video views. JioCinema saw 50 million new app downloads during the weekend.
The average time spent per viewer per match has grown by 60% to touch 57 minutes compared with the previous IPL’s first weekend when the matches were live-streamed by Disney+ Hotstar.
The company, which is offering IPL streaming free of cost to its users, is hoping to attract 550 million viewers for the tournament, which kicked off on March 31.
“What we witnessed through the opening weekend is a testimony to the faith viewers have shown in JioCinema’s offerings,” Jayaraj said. “If we continue receiving the same support and love from our viewers and fans, we can achieve our targets.”
He added JioCinema will release new features every week to elevate the fans viewing experiences.While mobile continues to be the primary screen for watching the IPL digitally, Jayaraj said that a significant number of CTV viewers have tuned in to watch the tournament.
“The average daily CTV reach over the first weekend was four times what we were clocking during the FIFA World Cup 2022,” he said, noting that JioCinema has customised device integration partnerships with over 500 original equipment manufacturers and CTV platforms, including Jio STB, Apple TV, Amazon Firestick, OnePlus TV, Sony, Samsung, LG, and Xiaomi.
These partnerships have resulted in a robust share of CTV viewers, he said, adding the advertisers who have invested in digital are confident they will get the desired return on investments. “One of the reasons why our partners are confident is because measurement on digital is based on the exact number of people who come in to watch and not based on subjective extrapolation from a small sample set like on legacy services,” he said.
