Asia Cup 2018: India-Pak Super Four game got more impressions than thrilling final

Though in terms of cricket, the couple of India-Pakistan encounters that were witnessed in Asia Cup held last month did not satisfy many, the business side said another story. According to one finding, the second game between the two arch-rivals registered more impressions than even the final. And guess what, the India-Bangladesh final was a far more thrilling one than the India-Pakistan game which was completely lop-sided.

India hammered Pakistan by 9 wickets with more than 10 overs to spare in the second match they played in the Super Four stage of the tournament. Both India’s openers – captain Rohit Sharma and his deputy Shikhar Dhawan- belted hundreds to make the given target of 237 look a small one. In the final, however, India had to toil hard to defeat a spirited Bangladesh by 3 wickets in the final delivery of the game to lift their seventh Asia Cup title.

India-Pak game got 9% more impressions

According to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) TV ratings for week 39 (September 22-28), the arch-rivals’ game registered nine percent more impressions than the final which an injured Kedar Jadhav won for India, an InsideSport.com report said.

The Hindi broadcast of the Super Four game on Star Sports 1 Hindi was the most-watched sports show of the week with 641,482,000 impressions. The final, on the other hand, had 12,360,000 impressions. The two matches, simulcast on free to air DD Sports, hold the third and fourth positions, respectively, and is followed by the tied match between India and Afghanistan in the Super Four stage (7,660,000 impressions) on Star Sports 1 Hindi.

The Asia Cup broadcast also consolidated Star Sports’ position in the top five sports genre channels for the week. Star Sports 1 Hindi at the top position registered almost 30 percent more impressions over the previous week’s ratings. ‘Cricket broadcast in the national interest’ helped DD Sports to hold on to its second position while Star Sports 1, which broadcasted the Asia Cup world feed with English commentary, ranked third. Sony Ten 1 though lost out some viewers and is in the fourth position.

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