BARC Ratings: ICC World Cup final sole bright spot for Sports

Keenly-contested ICC World Cup final is the sole dominating and determining factor for Indian television sports genre rating for week between July 13 and 19. The match that didn’t see a clear winner even after the tie-breaker super over and was eventually decided on a weird rule in favour of the team that had hit more boundaries – in this case England – turned out the be the most-watched sports genre show for Week 29 (July 13 to 19) on Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India television ratings charts.

All the top 5 most-watched sports genre show positions have gone to the ICC World Cup 2019 final with live broadcast on Star Sports 1 Hindi being the number one programme for the week, followed by the post-match analysis and mid-innings shows in the second and the third position respectively. The other two slots go to the simulcast of the live action on Star Sports 2 and DD Sports.

Among most-watched sports channels, Star Sport 1 Hindi holds its leadership position. However, with only one day of LIVE cricket action to account for during the week the channel has lost more than 66% eyeballs. Same applies to the overall sports genre top five channels list.

But for the impressions, there is no change in the top three positions. Free to air Star Sports First moves up one rung to the fourth while Sony Ten 1 enters the list at the No. 5 slot.

With no significant LIVE cricket in the offing, Pro Kabaddi League on Star Sports can become the differentiator for sports broadcasters. However, the week is also going to be a litmus test for “India’s second most-watched sports league” and the broadcaster.

Also Read: 22 crore Indians watched India-NZ World Cup semi-final: BARC