Women’s World Cup a big hit, India lead the way with 180m TV views

An estimated 180 million people watched the recentlyconcluded ICC Women’s World Cup in which the Indian team, led by Mithali Raj, ended runners-up after losing to England.

A whopping 156 million people viewed the event in India, of which 80 million was rural and 126 million were for the final alone. India’s performance contributed to a 500 percent increase in viewing hours. According to an ICC media release, there was an almost 300 percent increase in viewing hours compared to the 2013 edition.

“There was significant growth in audiences in all territories, but particularly impressive was an eight-fold increase in viewing hours in South Africa and a huge increase in viewers in India, particularly in rural areas, since 2013,” the release stated.

In the United Kingdom, the final attracted most viewers for any televised cricket this summer. Similarly, there has been a 131 percent increase in viewing hours in Australia while it was a staggering 861 percent in South Africa after its team reached the semi-finals for the first time.

ICC chief executive David Richardson said: “We are absolutely delighted with the impact the Women’s World Cup has had. Instinctively, we felt that the time was right to invest in women’s cricket and take it to the widest possible audience to accelerate the growth of the game and these numbers have confirmed that.”