Over 47 million viewers tuned in for first 4 FIFA World Cup matches says Sony

MUMBAI: The world’s biggest and greatest sporting event, the FIFA World Cup, has delivered big viewership in India too.

As per BARC India, total impressions for the first four matches stood at 16.1 million. For the closest context, the viewership for first four Euro Cup matches was just 1.3 million impressions.

As per media rights holder Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), 47.3 million Indian viewers tuned in for the first four matches.

On Thursday the company said that while the telecast on TV channels - Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 3 and Sony ESPN channels - was watched by over 41 million viewers, the live feed on SonyLIV was consumed by over 6 million viewers.

SPN said 19.3 million people tuned in for the opening match between host country Russia and Saudi Arabia. Quoting BARC data for the live matches (All India market for age group over 2 years), SPN said the tournament saw extremely high engagement with an average time spent of 39 minutes per viewer.

Also, 45% of viewership was contributed by women.

“This is a significant moment for football fans in the country as we see a tournament with no Indian representation break viewership records. It is truly exciting to be a part of the transformation that this beautiful game is going through in India. Our efforts into ensuring expansive reach through the regional language feeds have yielded excellent results. We are going to keep the momentum going as the tournament picks up pace,” said Rajesh Kaul, president, distribution and sports business, SPN.

SPN said the viewership of FIFA World Cup has surpassed all other football properties, both domestic and international in India.

As per BARC India, football contributed to 66% of total sports viewership during the week (June 9-15). Kerala, Assam/ North-East and West Bengal were the top contributing markets to FIFA World Cup viewership. A whopping 30% viewership came from Kerala, while 28% and 20% came from Assam/ NE and WB, respectively.