Streaming showdown: Films and series stand strong against Jio's free IPL run
NEW DELHI : The fervour for Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches is undeniable, but the love for movies and shows remains strong too. Thus, it comes as no surprise that despite the T20 matches being streamed free on Jio Cinema, entertainment-focussed platforms haven't experienced a significant fall in viewership and engagement.
Halfway through the Tata Indian Premier League 2024, after the 29 matches, official streaming partner JioCinema has recorded over 12 billion views and 148 billion minutes of watch time, up 42% from the same period last season, as per data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). While a few streaming platforms have seen a 25-30% decline in engagement due to the allure of the IPL, several recent movie releases have successfully held their own against this wildly popular annual event, industry experts said.
For instance, recent launches like SonyLIV’s original Family Aaj Kal and Amar Singh Chamkila on Netflix have both had positive starts. According to estimates by media consulting firm Ormax, Amar Singh Chamkila clocked in 4.9 million views in the first week of release, while Adrishyam managed 1.9 million views over the same period.
“While one cannot disregard the fact that prime-time television viewing takes a beating (due to the IPL) since it is based on the appointment model, overall SVoD (subscription video-on-demand) watching hasn’t done too badly for us, even though we haven’t seen too many big launches lately," Saugata Mukherjee, head of content at SonyLIV, told Mint. The platform launched a thriller titled Adrishyam and another original called Family Aaj Kal, this month, both of which have garnered attention despite minimal marketing, Mukherjee said.
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