Cracking start for Star Sports: IPL 2023 mini-auction delivers 35% growth in TV viewership
Star Sports’ auction coverage was viewed by more than 50 million, with overall consumption 10% higher than the 2021 mini-auction
The TATA IPL Auction that took place in Kochi on 23rd December kicked off in style as television broadcaster Star Sports recorded a 35% growth in cumulative reach for its coverage. The auction coverage was viewed by 50 million viewers on Star Sports and the total consumption stood at 1.59 billion minutes, 10% higher compared to the previous mini-auction in 2021.
As per the broadcaster, the auction delivered high viewership on TV in metros and key markets like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Gujarat. Affluent segments including male and female audiences in urban, and megacities too delivered high viewership in the auction.
To put the viewership into perspective, the TATA IPL mini-auction coverage on Star Sports superseded that of the FIFA World Cup Finals, which delivered a reach of 32 million on TV.
The auction witnessed record-breaking buys exceeding the previous highest of 16 crores as three players – Sam Curran (18.50 Cr to Punjab Kings), Cameron Green (17.5 Cr to Mumbai Indians) and Ben Stokes (16.25 Cr to Chennai Super Kings) compelled franchises to break the bank in order to land the top talents.
Star Sports handpicked the best experts from around the globe to provide valuable insights to viewers during the auction. The illustrious list includes Ian Bishop, Tom Moody, Aaron Finch, Simon Katich, David Hussey, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Subramaniam Badrinath, Irfan Pathan, MSK Prasad and Amol Mazumdar. The broadcaster also invited passionate fans and fan clubs from across the country to the studio to delve into a larger-than-life experience during the auction.
As pioneers of regional language broadcast, Star Sports brought the auction to viewers in five different languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. The social campaign #AuctionStar which was run by Star Sports on Twitter trended as high as #3 and stayed in the top 10 trends throughout the auction.
As the countdown for TATA IPL 2023 begins, TV goes into the season with strong momentum owing to its dominating scale in the country.
