Even the Champions Trophy league match between India and Pakistan on June 4, 2017 at Birmingham had garnered 47.4 million impressions.
MUMBAI: The tepid viewer response to the ongoing Asia Cup was on display when the first match between arch rivals India and Pakistan became the lowest rated broadcast cricket match between the two in the last three years.
As per viewership monitoring agency BARC India, the one-day international between the two nations on September 19 garnered just 29.4 million impressions in the all-India market, making it the lowest rated match between the two nations since 2016. This is 2.5 times lower than the last clash between the two teams, which met at the Oval in the ICC Champions Trophy final on June 18 last year. That single match notched 72.3 million impressions.
Even the Champions Trophy league match between India and Pakistan on June 4, 2017 at Birmingham had garnered 47.4 million impressions. The ubiquitous jingoism during the matches between the arch rivals is now missing, feels Indranil Das Blah, co-CEO at KWAN Entertainment and CEO of Indian Super League club Mumbai City FC.
“Youngsters today don’t have the same level of interest in the India–Pakistan rivalry. They have moved to EPL and La-Liga of the world.” The two T20 matches that the two countries played on March 19, 2016 (World T20) and on February 27, 2016 in the last Asia Cup had raked in 81.8 million and 60.5 million impressions, respectively, as per BARC India data.
Media experts point out that low interest in the tournament also due to the little familiarity of the new Pakistan team and absence of Virat Kohli.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Also, the fact that it was a low scoring match, which added more to the low interest as there was no contest and it got over quickly,” said Vineet Sodhani, CEO at media audit firm Spatial Access.
Non-availability of Kohli, overall low buzz around the tournament and lower quality of matches have resulted in poor ratings for the entire series. But it is important to note that an India-Pakistan match still rate better than any other matches of the tournament. India versus Bangladesh match on September 21 was the second highest rated match with 17.8 million impressions, followed by India versus Hong Kong on September 18, which clocked 11.2 million impressions.
