How the Internet is changing the way we watch IPL
Look how far we have come from the days of listening to live cricket commentary on the radio to now watching every ball no matter where we are. It took us a while to make the leap from listening to sports commentary during our commutes or in office, to now streaming everything on our mobile devices, but since the arrival of Jio, our sports viewing habits have changed forever. While a vast majority of Indians are watching matches on linear TV and enjoying the benefits of bigger screens and surround sound, a growing number is harnessing the power of the internet to stream while on the go.
As India looks beyond cricket to become a multi-sport viewing nation, a large part of the credit is due to the ability to watch sports individually irrespective of what the rest of the household wants to watch. Now, football, hockey, tennis, badminton, kabaddi, etc. are gaining viewership extensively. Multi-platform visibility is one of the rising trends in the television industry, now all the shows are available to stream anytime and anywhere we want. To an extent, we don’t have to stick to the TV schedule and can stream as and when we please.
Cricket viewership has gone up from 65% in 2016 to 72% in 2018, according to a report by insidesport.co. It is a tremendous jump in two years, and the credit is due largely to the internet revolution started by Jio in 2016. RIL’s Jio made high-speed internet available to all at very affordable rates and opened a whole new world of possibilities. As people seek more and more avenues to quench their data thirst, sports is the ultimate holy grail. High quality, always accessible internet has given fans the power to watch games unfold in real time, or jump in and out of live streams to watch the fall of a wicket or catch the closing moments of a tightly fought game.
With an increase in the number of people using smartphones and a decrease in data tariffs, online consumption of sports is on the rise. Star India, which has the digital rights of the IPL, has witnessed significant viewership and engagement on its Hotstar mobile streaming app. Last year, the Indian Premier League (IPL) final was the most watched live event anywhere in the world streamed on the internet with 10.7 million simultaneous views on Hotstar. Cricbuzz, a platform owned by Times Internet, a part of the Times Group, also recorded a 40% jump in viewership of its website during the IPL in 2016, and users contributed to approximately 30 billion page views, spending more than 24 billion minutes.
The Internet has enabled us to focus on our individual needs and watch anything on the go; be it news, sports, or our favourite webisodes. Companies are focussing on making their relationship with consumers more engaging, holding viewers’ attention for longer, helping boost their advertising revenues. Interactive games like Play Along on Jio and Watch ’n’ Play on Hotstar are converting sports viewing into active experiences from passive ones.
Even though all the streaming services are fairly affordable; some people are still hesitant to pay for the OTT platforms. Let’s talk about sports, Hotstar has a special sports package for Rs 299 a year where it offers unlimited sports streaming and other offers which includes sports and access to additional content starts from Rs 365/ year and an all-inclusive package of Rs. 999/year. Sony Liv doesn’t have something specific to sports but it can offer you a package of Rs 499/year and you can get access to sports, Live TV, movies, channels and more. However, in the battle of content, Jio wins by providing access to almost all the channels for free on JioTV. It comes bundled with your subscription to Jio Prime, which also lets you use a number of services like JioCinema, JioSaavn, JioMags, etc.
The rise of the internet is directly related to more people streaming and consuming more data. For instance, compare your own viewing habits and data consumption from 2015 to 2019, and you will see a huge shift in your viewing habits. As big as that shift was, expect live sport to become far more interactive in the years to come. Game predictions are just the start. In the future, expect many more languages in sports commentary as well as the ability to watch the matches from multiple different angles. All of this will be powered by interactivity enabled by quality high-speed internet.
