Image Courtesy- ICC
The India-New Zealand final in Southampton last month was the most watched on average across all series that were part of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC), recording a total cumulative global dedicated audience of 177 million, with live viewership touching 130.6 million across 89 territories.
India contributed most of the audience with Star Sports and national broadcaster Doordarshan accounting for a whopping 94.6% consumption of the intensely contested match that saw New Zealand complete an eight-wicket win on the Reserve Day. In addition to the English-language world feed, Star had produced local language feeds in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
ICC Chief Commercial Officer Anurag Dahiya said, as quoted on release by ICC; “The viewership data for broadcast and digital coverage of the ICC World Test Championship Final presents a really heartening picture, showing strong consumption across territories and languages as well as formats.
“The ICC always strives to give the best possible viewership experience and will continue to invest in resources that enhance the viewing pleasure and engagement of our fans. We thank all our partners for contributing to this success and their support in continuing to elevate our standards in the coming years.”
The viewership was also impressive in New Zealand. considering its small population and the inconvenient time of broadcast, over 200,000 people staying up all night or waking up very early in the mornings to watch their team win the battle of attrition and lift the coveted Test Mace on Sky Sport.