Dream11 IPL 2020 has set a viewership record with overall viewership increasing by a massive 23* percent versus 2019 while the television viewership reached an outstanding 31.57 million** average impressions delivering the biggest IPL ever in the history of the tournament. The network’s five independent language channel offerings – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bangla, and Kannada contributed immensely to the viewership of Dream11 IPL 2020 with the regional offering across languages receiving thumbs up from the viewers and seeing a viewership increase by 28# percent over the previous year.
“It’s the biggest IPL the nation has seen and the response from fans and advertisers has been stupendous. The record-breaking opening week gave us the ideal start and laid the foundation for a record breaking season. We are extremely delighted that this season has been the biggest ever in terms of viewership, engagement and ad sales. Enhanced story-telling, localisation, contextually relevant marketing and technology innovations formed the pillars of our offering. We are encouraged by the growth we have seen in southern markets driven by our regional feeds and higher consumption across demographics especially in rural markets and amongst kids. Season 13 witnessed some explosive matches which were aptly supplemented by innovative programming, world-class production – both remote and on-ground. This wouldn’t have been possible without the fantastic work done by the team at BCCI in staging the tournament under extenuating circumstances and seamless functioning from our teams inside the bio-secure bubbles in India and UAE.”
Sanjog Gupta, Head – Sports, Star India.
The start to Dream11 IPL 2020 started with the campaign ‘Ek Saath Waali Baat’ aimed at uplifting the mood of the nation by brining people together for the tournament of the year pulling out steps to ensure that the viewers and fans are offered an unparalleled experience of the Dream11 IPL 2020 from their homes.
Star began the season with a sold-out inventory, with 18 sponsors and 114 advertisers onboard setting an optimistic tone. Star Sports pulled off the telecast of one of the biggest sporting spectacles in 2020 in just six weeks during an ongoing pandemic and a lot of uncertanities.
| Year | Edition | Viewing Min (Bn) |
| 2016 | VIVO IPL-9 | 206 |
| 2017 | VIVO IPL-10 | 251 |
| 2018 | VIVO IPL-11 | 300 |
| 2019 | VIVO IPL-12 | 326 |
| 2020 | DREAM11 IPL-13 | 400 |
| G/D% vs Previous Year | 23% |
India 2+/Live Matches Only (Source: BARC India)
Data shared by BARC India indicated that the entire tournament was viewed by 405 Mn viewers for a total of 400 billion viewing minutes making it the first sports tournament to cross the 40Bn milestone while surpassing the previous record of last year’s cricket (ODI) World Cup which garnered 356Bn VM with TV+OOH (344Bn TV Only).
Star took it upon itself to make sure fans of all ages and demographics were hooked to the 2020 edition resulting in women and kids registering impressive viewership growth of 24%* and 20%* respectively. The network brought in state-of-the-art product innovations such as surround-in-stadia fan cheer, specialized broadcast feeds, and fan walls with a great response which got fans closer to the game than ever before.
* Viewership defined in terms of Billion Minutes at All India 2+ (U+R) on like-like comparison basis i.e. ‘TV Only’ (Live matches only)
** Average Impressions for the entire tournament at All India 2+ (U+R) level on like-like comparison basis i.e. ‘TV Only’ (Live matches only)
***Coverage (i.e. Reach) at All India 2+ (U+R) on like-like comparison basis i.e. ‘TV Only’ (Live matches only)
# Viewership growth (Billion Minutes) in South at 2+ (U+R) on like-like comparison basis i.e. ‘TV Only’ (Live matches only)
Source: BARC
