IPL 2021 : Covid-19 badly strikes IPL viewership, ratings for 1st 17 matches down by almost 35% in the comparison to IPL 2020
As the entire country is grappling with Covid-19 menace, the viewership figures of 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) also are badly hit. Be it the reach or viewing minutes for IPL 2021 on Star Sports Network, both are almost down by almost 30-35% as compared to the last edition of the league.
Viewing Minutes – BARC India data for India 2+/ TV Only/ Live Matches Only
IPL 2021 – 6.62 Billion for first 17 matches
IPL 2020 – 8.34 Billion for first 14 matches
IPL 2019 – 6.07 Billion for first 17 matches
The viewing minutes for the 17 matches stood at 6.62 billion compared to eight .34 billion for the primary 14 matches in IPL 2020 and 6.07 billion in IPL 2019.
Cumulative Reach – BARC India data for India 2+/ TV Only/ Live Matches Only
IPL 2021 – 105 Million viewers for first 17 matches
IPL 2020 – 116 Million Viewers for first 14 matches
IPL 2019 – 101 Million Viewers for first 17 matches
The first 17 matches of the continued Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 have attained a cumulative reach of 105 million viewers, as per the BARC India data. Comparatively, the primary 14 matches of IPL 2020 had a cumulative reach of 116 million viewers. IPL 2019 had a cumulative reach of 101 million viewers for the primary 17 matches.
As reported earlier, even the opening game numbers between Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore were down by almost 25-30%. Though the official broadcaster Star Sports had claimed that numbers were 42% higher as compared to IPL 2019 opening match – but at an equivalent admitted that as compared to IPL 2020 numbers were considerably down for the first match.
IPL 2021 Ratings: Despite the considerable fall within the viewership for IPL 2021, its position as No. 1 property on television stayed intact. consistent with the TV ratings of week three of IPL 2021 the Live Matches are the foremost viewed programs of the week by an enormous margin. Such is the domination that Star Sports 1 Hindi is that the No. 1 channel and garnering the very best viewership across all genres. Furthermore, Mumbai Indians topped the weekly viewership charts as three of top five most-watched programs on the tv were of the matches featuring Rohit Sharma-led side.
According to data released by Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC), MI vs Punjab Kings, match 17 of IPL 2021 was the most-watched between April 16 to 23.
An average of 22047 (Weekly AMA 000’) people watched the match live per minute. MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Eoin Morgan’s Kolkata Knight Riders on April 21 was the second-highest watched match.
The match between Rajasthan Royals & Royal Challengers Bangalore was rated as No. 3 show on Indian television. The remaining two in top five were Mumbai against Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively.
