Cash-rich Indian Premier League is shattering records on viewership in this season and this time Disney Star, the official television broadcaster of the cricket tournament, has garnered highest viewership in the history of IPL in the so-called Hindi Speaking Markets, or HSM.

A total of 20.4 crore viewers tuned in for the first 10 matches on TV, reflecting a 29.5% increase in comparison to the last edition, the company said in a statement. HSM also clocked a massive 4,380 crore minutes of watch time, 25% increase in comparison to last year, it said.

The significant centers for growth in HSM markets included UP, Bihar, MP, Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Haryana. Moreover, the South markets also witnessed a growth of 21% on year, with AP/Telangana witnessing a 33% consumption growth and Karnataka recording a 30% growth, clocking 680 crore minutes for the first 10 matches, highest ever consumption (other than Covid years) in IPL history.

This comes even as Disney Star is up against business tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s OTT JioCinema that is the official digital streaming platform of the multi-franchise cricket league that is almost celebrated as a festival in the cricket-crazy nation of 1.4 billion people. While JioCinema is streaming the tournament on d

India has been seeing a spike in demand for regional content as South Indian movies keep beating the otherwise dominant Bollywood movies. Now, local language commentary for cricket is certainly what viewers are going for as well.

While Bhojpuri commentary became a trending talking point on Twitter, Star Sports launched new HD South Indian language channels for broadcasting IPL and also played up the region-specific themes. It roped in vast range of in-house experts like Gundappa Vishwanath, MSK Prasad, K Srikkanth, L Balaji, S Badrinath, Murali Vijay and S Sreesanth among others bringing fans closer to the game.

As for the HSM markets too, Star Sports roped Bollywood superstar Ranveer Singh as its brand ambassador, while the Hindi feed includes former cricketers as experts such as Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Kaif, and more.Exclusive association with Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings for their new shows ‘Halla Bol’ and ‘Chak De’ has increased consumption by 53% in Rajasthan, and 37% in Punjab & Haryana, the company said. Star Sports has witnessed a growth of 58% in consumption in UP by delivering engaging surround programming with exclusive association with KL Rahul for ‘Stars on Star’ and Lucknow Super Giants for a new show ‘LSG Junction’ along with LIVE telecast of select IPL 2023 matches on Star Utsav Movies (FTA) channel to drive sampling and conversions to Star Sports.

“Our feeds have been designed to bring fans closer to the game and provide an engaging experience. We have created surround programming for each language, keeping their unique culture in mind and this has helped us connect with fans in different parts of the country and provide them with an experience that is tailored to their needs,” a Star Sports spokesperson said.