IPL 2025 scores viewership record with 840 bn mts watch time: JioStar

A billion viewers across TV and digital platforms watched the tournament; RCB -PBKS final most-watched match in IPL history

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The 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) clocked a billion viewers across television (TV) and digital platforms, garnering a record viewership of 840 billion minutes of total watch time.

 

The final match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) recorded 31.7 billion minutes of watch time across JioStar’s platforms- Star Sports and JioHotstar- making it the most-watched match in the history of T20 cricket, according to a press release by JioStar.

 

These numbers show that the one-week suspension of the IPL due to the sensitive geopolitical situation between India and Pakistan hardly affected the league’s viewership, it said.

 

“Across linear and digital platforms, the final (match) set new benchmarks in the history of T20 Cricket. On TV, powered by Star Sports, it registered the highest-ever reach for a T20 match at 169 million viewers and watch time at 15 billion minutes. On JioHotstar, the match rewrote digital history, emerging as the biggest T20 match ever with 892 million video views, 55 million peak concurrency, and 16.74 billion minutes of watch time,” the release stated.

 

 

The league’s official streaming platform saw over 23.1 billion views and 384.6 billion minutes of watch time, up by 29 per cent on a year-on-year basis. The company further stated that this momentum in digital viewership was driven by a sharp rise in connected TV (CTV) consumption, which grew by 49 per cent.

 

On similar lines, through linear TV, Star Sports noted 456 billion minutes of watch-time and recorded the highest average TVR (rating) across the viewing universe and key demographics on the network, JioStar said in its release. It also registered the highest-ever levels in both TV ratings and digital concurrency.

 

“We had a two-pronged approach this season. We wanted to widen the consideration for the tournament experience by focusing on key viewer cohorts which had a light-touch relationship with IPL while also offering a deep, navigable consumer journey to grow engagement with committed fans,” said Sanjog Gupta, chief executive officer (CEO), sports and live experiences, JioStar in a statement.

 

 

“From non-viewers and fringe viewers co-viewing the IPL to deeply immersed fanatics, JioStar offered customised offerings for a wide spectrum of distinct cohorts defined by age, consumption profile and region,” Gupta said.

 

On the other hand, the first weekend or the first three matches of IPL 2025 clocked 49.56 billion minutes of watch time across its platforms. JioStar added that this was an all-time IPL record.

 

“JioStar delivered an unmatched presentation of the world’s biggest T20 league, with over 25 feeds in 12 languages across TV and digital,” the release added.