IPL 2025 Sets New Viewership Records with Blockbuster Opening Weekend

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 had its biggest opening weekend on television since the strong Covid-19 years, with new viewership records set for the first three games.

According to Broadcast Audience Research Council data for Male 15+ AB Urban, IPL 2025 achieved a record 7.5 Television Rating (TVR), up 39% from the previous year. The T20 tournament's audience expanded by 14% to 253 million, while watch-time minutes increased by 22% to 2,770 crore.

The match between the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians became the most-watched IPL match on television, with a 9.2 TVR and 163 million live viewers. TVR is a combination of reach and viewer time spent.

"The opening weekend of the IPL was the biggest in its history. It is motivated by a deep desire to provide immersive engagement and intuitive experiences on an unprecedented scale. Sports fan experiences are rapidly evolving towards a hyper-personalised future, with the playbook being written in India," said Sanjog Gupta, CEO-Sports, JioStar, at a US-India Business Council event.

Experts attributed the high viewership in this year's IPL to JioHotstar's transition from a fully-free to a hybrid model, JioStar's extensive network, the recent increase in pay-TV households, and growing sports channel penetration.

Sports viewers have increasingly adopted a hybrid model as a result of the rapid rise of digital streaming, which is still growing steadily, they said.

JioStar, which broadcasts and streams IPL matches on television and digital platforms, aims to reach 1 billion viewers this year. This represents a significant increase from IPL 2024's 541 million TV viewers.

LV Krishnan, CEO of TAM Media, stated that the hybrid model for live sports has significantly increased TV viewership. "The viewership growth can also be attributed to the network power of JioStar, as IPL matches are airing across 26 channels spanning sports and entertainment," said Mr. Singh.

Krishnan observed that the shift to a paid streaming model has had a cascading effect on pay-TV net additions. In 2023 and 2024, JioCinema provided free IPL streaming to all internet users.

Beyond record-breaking viewership, the tournament has helped pay-TV growth by reducing subscriber churn and increasing net additions. According to industry sources, the IPL resulted in a net gain of 800,000 to 1 million pay-TV subscribers, demonstrating the importance of major sporting events in expanding the pay-TV universe.

"With cricket moving behind a paywall, churn in the pay-TV industry has slowed significantly. The IPL is expected to increase the pay-TV base because it is a two-month event," said Manoj Dobhal, CEO of Dish TV India. "Broadcasters should put premium content behind a paywall. While this move will benefit the industry overall, broadcasters will benefit the most."

IPL 2025 marks the first edition since Disney's Star India and Reliance's Viacom18 merged to form JioStar. The consolidation of IPL media rights under JioStar has increased revenue opportunities.

JioStar aims to generate Rs 4,500 crore in ad revenue from both TV and digital, with over 30 sponsors and 1,100 advertisers on board. It also expects IPL to increase pay-TV subscriptions by 1.5 million to 2 million across the industry, as well as JioHotstar's subscriber base from 62 million to 100 million during the tournament through direct subscriptions and telco bundled deals.

According to a media buyer, there is positive momentum surrounding the IPL, which was not visible during the ICC Champions Trophy. "IPL CTV inventory is sold out while some linear TV inventory is still left," according to him.