ESPN Reveal High Ratings for Opening CWC Match
February 23, 2011
ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) official broadcaster of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup have revealed that the opening match between India and Bangladesh delivered a peak rating of 12.48 TVR across 6 metros according to data issued by research agency TAM for CS 4+ TG on ESPN, Star Sports, Star Cricket, and DD1.
Overall, the opening match delivered an average cumulative TVR of 7.8 across ESPN, Star Sports, Star Cricket & DD1 channels. The match reached out to 27.4 million consumers across 6 metros. The city of Bangalore leads the pack with average TVR of 9.17 for the first match followed by Mumbai (9.14 TVR), Kolkata (7.7 TVR), Delhi (7.65 TVR), Hyderabad (6.43 TVR) & Chennai (4.94 TVR).
The opening match was also well-received in online with espnstar.com delivering over 8.5 million page views on the first match day. The live streaming of ICC Cricket World Cup on the website has delivered over 3 million video requests so far claims ESS, while the web streaming has already attracted over 1 million unique video viewers so far.
ESPN Software India EVP-Advertising Sales & New Media Sanjay Kailash stated: “We are indeed delighted with the ratings. There have been lots of discussions and comparisons with rival properties over the past few months but the opening match of the tournament has clearly proved the fact that ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is indeed the ‘The Cup That Counts’.
“In fact, the ratings of the opening match of the ICC Cricket World Cup are substantially higher than the corresponding opening match of IPL 3 for starters. And here we are talking of a larger time duration vis-à-vis a T20 match in IPL. Our partners are also getting the benefit of better deliveries as the superb online performance is adding on to the existing on air offering. We expect the ratings to go up even further as the Indian Cricket team marches on in its quest for victory and we wish them all the best.”
