World Cup gets 269 mn viewers for Star in opening week

The ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup had 269 million viewers tuning in to watch the matches in its opening week, broadcaster Star said Thursday. The inaugural week of the 10-nation tournament registered 107.2 million average impressions, setting a viewership record in the history of any ICC tournament, it said in a statement.

It noted that 180 million viewers tuned in to watch India's first match against South Africa on June 5. The opening game between the hosts England against South Africa had a viewership of 114 million with average impression recorded being 101 million.

According to Broadcast Audience Research Council, impressions are the number of individuals of a target audience, averaged across minutes, while reach is total number of individuals who viewed the event for at least one minute. The matches were broadcast on Star's bouquet of channels and recorded strong viewership from the regional markets..