India’s leading streaming platform Hotstar and cloud delivery platform Akamai Technologies broke global streaming records on the 22nd of May 2018 during the first qualifier match of VIVO IPL 2018.
The match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings attracted 8.26 million peak concurrent viewers tuning in simultaneously to witness the conclusion of the match, breaking all previous records in online video streaming worldwide.
Over four hours, more than 26 million viewers tuned into Hotstar to watch the match.
The previous record is believed to have been set by YouTube when Felix Baumgartner’s space jump in 2012 received just over eight million concurrent viewers.
Hotstar previously recorded a peak concurrency of 4.8 million simultaneous viewers during the India-Pakistan ICC Champions’ Trophy final match in 2017. The opening week of Vivo IPL 2018 smashed this record with 5.5 million concurrency recorded on April 10th, followed by the next peak of 7.1 million on April 25th.
“Four years ago, when we started streaming IPL, eight million viewers would have been a big deal for the whole tournament,” said Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan. “Crossing eight million simultaneous users is a testimony to the power of VIVO IPL and evidence of the abiding passion of cricket fans. It is not just about the scale, however. It is about reinventing the sports experience online and constantly raising the bar. Our objective is to create the future of social TV. And we are proud that the tech that we are building is expanding the frontiers of online video.”
VIVO IPL 2018, now in its final week, will conclude on Sunday 27th May 2018 and is the fifth year that Hotstar is streaming the tournament. The current edition marks a sharp upgrade in viewing experience, with additions like VR, Watch’NPlay – a skill based game that tests cricket fans’ knowledge as they watch – and feeds available in eight languages.
