The India-New Zealand semi-final clash was so close that Hotstar's viewership rose by millions every minute

• Hotstar at its peak saw a concurrent viewership of 25.3 million users.
• As MS Dhoni got out, the numbers dropped immediately.
• During the Indian Premier League, Hotstar had registered a record highest concurrent viewership of 18.6 million users.

India might have lost the semi-finals against New Zealand in the ICC Cricket World Cup, but there was one winner – Hotstar.

The OTT platform that was live streaming the match saw its viewers increase by millions by the minute and as former skipper MS Dhoni got run out, it saw its concurrent viewership peak at 25.3 million users. And right after MS Dhoni got out the numbers dropped.

We started mapping the numbers as the match got interesting with Ravindra Jadeja coming back in form at a much needed time. In a span of 43 minutes, Hotstar’s live viewership numbers went from 14.8 million to 25.3 million.


During the IPL, Hotstar had hit a new record with 18.6 million concurrent users watching the IPL final on Sunday night. With the semi-finals, it definitely broke that record.

Hotstar, during IPL alone, had garnered an excess of 300 million unique users and also witnessed a 74% increase in watch-time as compared to last year.

And, it is hoping for more from the World Cup. “We aim to continue delivering an uninterrupted and immersive cricket watching experience not just to the domestic consumers, but to global audiences in the US and Canada as well,” Varun Narang, Chief Product Officer, Hotstar had then, said in a statement.