India-Aus World Cup final match creates record peak viewership of 5.9 cr on Disney+Hotstar

New Delhi: The India-Australia cricket World Cup final match on Sunday created a record peak viewership of nearly 5.9 crore, according to Disney+Hotstar, despite the host nation ending on the losing side.

With this, it has surpassed the peak concurrency of 5.3 crore viewership recorded in the India-New Zealand semifinal match.

Peak concurrency, which is the highest number of viewers during a live stream, for the final match on Disney+Hotstar was nearly 5.9 crore, according to a statement from the the OTT platform.

The India versus Pakistan league match of the World Cup tournament last month had recorded a peak concurrency of 3.5 crore.

Sunday's final match was also telecast live by Disney Star on the Star Sports network but viewership numbers will be released only a week later by television audience measurement body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).

Disney+ Hotstar India Head Sajith Sivanandan said, "With a staggering 5.9 crore concurrent viewers tuning in on Disney+ Hotstar for the final ... higher than any peak concurrency record set before the tournament -- the unwavering support of Indian cricket fans has consistently propelled us to new heights in live sports streaming." Disney Star has exclusive broadcast and media rights for both linear and digital platforms.

The India-Australia final match was also screened by leading multiplex operator PVR INOX at 150 cinemas in over 60 cities comprising major metros, Tier-1, 2 and 3 cities with over 70,000 cricket fans watching the match when it started translating to over 70 per cent occupancy, PVR INOX Ltd Executive Director Sanjeev Kumar Bijli said.