Argentina may have won the FIFA World Cup after 36 years, but the football extravaganza has thrown up other winners, too. Digital platforms, for example.
Experts say the World Cup has signalled the deepening of cord cutting — cancelling TV DTH or cable connection and opting for over-the-top service providers.
According to data from JioCinema, over 110 million viewers watched the FIFA tournaments on digital platforms (OTT), which was higher than those who watched on TV channels. It said that 32 million viewers tuned in to JioCinema on the final day (Sunday).
The strong digital viewership was seen through multiple platforms like Jio STB, Apple TV, Amazon Firestick, Sony, Samsung, LG and Xiaomi.
Even Google CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted about the amount of interest the tournament generated. “Search recorded its highest ever traffic in 25 years during the final of #FIFAWORLDCUP, it was like the entire world was searching about one thing!”, Pichai tweeted.
JioCinema said that it was the most downloaded free app on iOS and Android throughout the tournament. “We promised to give consumers easy access to the world-class presentation of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and on the back of that, the tournament became the most-watched global sports event on digital where India has not participated,” said Viacom18 Sports CEO Anil Jayaraj.
“This demonstrates the power of digital and the preference viewers and fans have shown to consume their favourite events, which will now see Paris Saint-Germain teammates Kylian Mbappe (FIFA World Cup Golden Boot winner) and Lionel Messi (FIFA World Cup and Golden Ball winner) join forces in the Ligue1,” he added.
Cord-cutting is something which analysts have been predicting since data rates started falling in India along with the rise of smartphones. With data rates, which were as high as Rs 250 per GB prior to 2017, coming down gradually to Rs 5-10 per GB, and the telcos partnering with various OTT platforms to offer subscribers a bundled package as well as coming out with their own digital platforms, DTH and cable operators have been feeling the heat.
TV’s reach, however, continues to remain strong, according to a report jointly published by KPMG, CII and the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF), which said the TV segment in India was “still a Goliath”.
The report further added that there are about 900 million TV users, which is roughly double of the 450-500 million monthly active users (MAUs) that digital platforms have. It, however, acknowledged that digital streams were fast growing.