The Indian Premier League (IPL) is not just any other cricketing event but an emotion for a cricket-loving nation like India. The joy of watching your favourite players from across the world play together under various franchises is matched only by the raw patriotism during the ICC World Cup tournament. And quite obviously, millions of fans tune in to watch the tournament.
Therefore, it’s no wonder that we earlier saw big streaming giants slug it out for the streaming right. In the past, the matches have been streamed on Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema. While Hotstar had been streaming the event for years, Mukesh Ambani-backed Viacom18 won digital streaming rights from 2023 to 2027. Keep in mind that Disney+Hotstar has now merged with JioCinema this year the matches will be streamed on JioHotstar.
Let’s examine the IPL viewership on JioCinema and Hotstar over the years and consider what to expect in IPL 2025.
Highest IPL Viewership Records on JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar
The popularity of the IPL can be gauged from the fact that a massive 45 crore viewers watched the 2023 edition of the sporting event last year. This included the world record-breaking most concurrent views to a live-streamed event, with over 3.3 crore viewers for the final match between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans. The close second was 2.57 crore concurrent viewers during the Qualifier 2 match between Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians.
The biggest cricket spectacle on planet Earth kicks off tonight.
Catch #CSKvRCB, streaming free on #IPLonJioCinema from 6 PM tonight.#TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/SOsB7sUIn7
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) March 22, 2024
The second-highest viewership recorded by JioCinema in qualifier 2 of IPL 2023 was coincidentally similar to the previous world record held by Disney+ Hotstar for an IPL match in July 2019.
In 2022, Disney+ Hotstar observed a peak viewership of 8.3 million during a Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians match and 8.2 million in a match between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. In 2021, Hotstar witnessed a peak viewership of 10 million.
TATA IPL 2025 JioHotstar Viewership: What to Expect?
Following the unprecedented success of IPL 2024, where JioCinema reached a record-breaking 620 million viewers, the expectations for IPL 2025 on JioHotstar are even higher. With the shift in streaming platforms and the introduction of paid subscriptions, industry analysts are keen to see how viewership patterns will evolve.
While JioCinema had the advantage of free streaming, driving its massive audience growth, JioHotstar is banking on its premium features, extensive reach, and strategic partnerships to maintain high engagement levels. The addition of 4K streaming, multiple language feeds, and immersive AR/VR viewing experiences could enhance user retention and attract a loyal paying audience.
Early projections suggest that IPL 2025 could still surpass the 650 million viewer mark, despite the transition to a paid model. Factors such as India’s increasing internet penetration, affordable data plans, and the continued popularity of IPL as a marquee sporting event are expected to contribute to strong viewership figures. Additionally, the return of MS Dhoni to the Chennai Super Kings squad and India’s recent Champions Trophy victory have further heightened excitement for the tournament.
With over 18 sponsors and more than 250 advertisers backing the IPL streaming experience, JioHotstar is set to capitalize on its new positioning. The coming season will be a key test to see whether the paid model can sustain the same, if not greater, engagement than its free predecessor.
IPL 2025 will be watched closely—not just by fans, but also by advertisers and industry insiders eager to analyze how the dynamics of digital sports consumption shift with this new streaming strategy.The OTT platform has announced several new features to lure in more viewers. For the first time, the platform offers IPL streaming in 4K and 12 languages, including Haryanvi. Other languages include English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada.
Thanks to the multi-cam support, viewers can choose from various angles, including the spider camera view, batsman view, bird’s eye view, wicketkeeper view, and the newly added Hero Cam. Other notable additions include Hype Mode, pinch-to-zoom, key moments, fan feed, The Insiders, and The Hangout.
JioCinema, Hotstar IPL Streaming Rights War
IPL started in 2008, and Sony India owned the live TV telecast of the mega cricket event from 2008 until 2017. The tournament remained TV-exclusive during this period.
Star India bagged both broadcast and streaming rights to the tournament until 2022. The company telecasted the event on its Star Sports channel and its Disney+ Hotstar from 2015 to 2022. Its reign ended in 2023 when Viacom18 bagged the digital streaming rights for a whopping Rs 23,758 crore for 2023-2027.
