Overall reach for ‘The Toughest Rivalry’ (2024-25) stood at 192.5M. Growth of 74% in viewership compared to the previous edition in Australia. Total Watch-time across Television & Digital surpassed 52B minutes.
Mumbai: The Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 has delivered unprecedented viewing figures on the JioStar network with TV viewership growing by 74% compared to the previous edition of the series in Australia. The India-Australia rivalry, branded The Toughest Rivalry by the JioStar network, has hit a new high with the series in 2024-25 becoming the second most watched Away test series for the Indian team on Television. The series was watched by 192.5M viewers on TV, recording 52 billion minutes of total Watch-time across television and digital platforms. Despite the sub-optimal match timings due to the time-difference, this series also became the second most watched test series on Indian Television (including India’s home and away test series) with the No.1 spot also belonging to this rivalry with the BGT trophy in 2017.
The five-language live broadcast of the series which produced cinematic moments of cricket, dramatic performances by cricketers from both nations, intense competition throughout and culture-defining events, captivated the attention of fans and registered an impressive 49% increase in Television watch-time compared to the 2020 edition. The viewing experience was enhanced with a meticulously selected line-up of Indian experts including Cheteshwar Pujara, Irfan Pathan, Sunil Gavaskar, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Vijay and Ravi Shastri, combined with key Australian voices such as Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer, and Matthew Hayden. The carefully crafted story-telling approach was elevated by engaging world-class neutral voices such as Mark Nicholas and Wasim Akram who joined Star Sports’ exceptional presenters Jatin Sapru and Mayanti Langer and creators Sahiba Bali and Aakash Gupta.
“We are proud to have institutionalised ‘The Toughest Rivalry’ as a unique descriptor of India-Australia matches. After the success of establishing ‘The Greatest Rivalry’ as the universally accepted nomenclature for India-Pakistan clashes, this was the next step in ‘eventification’ of another key rivalry. The coverage of BGT 2024-25 also demonstrated our commitment to delivering a world class on-screen sporting experiences to millions of fans. From a brand-new design package to the advent of new cameras, we strived to provide a deeply immersive experience to sports fans. We are proud that our Hindi coverage garnered appreciation from the Indian diaspora across the world and are grateful to Cricket Australia for their trust and collaboration, which has been instrumental in bringing ‘The Toughest Rivalry’ alive in such a spectacular manner” – said Sanjog Gupta, CEO Sports, Jio Star
“We’re extremely grateful to our broadcast partners who provided world class coverage by producing iconic images and insightful analysis throughout the summer. That 192.5 million viewers watched the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series on Jio Star in India again demonstrates cricket’s ability to reach vast international audiences and the enduring global interest in Test cricket.” – said Nick Hockley, CEO, Cricket Australia
The network’s well-rounded marketing campaign, ‘The Toughest Rivalry’, promoted the Australian summer and high-quality broadcasts beginning September 2024 that fuelled the surge in viewership. These efforts were further enhanced through exclusive interviews with Australian stars Steve Smith, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, and Usman Khawaja, among others. Star Sports Network also produced ‘Boiling Point’, a critically acclaimed multi-episode docuseries, chronicling the storied 2008 tour which elevated the India-Australia rivalry.
Star Sports Network also brought viewers closer to the action with immersive storytelling through expert commentary in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, with compelling narratives that celebrated this historic rivalry across decades. Flagship shows like ‘Follow The Blues’ took viewers up-close to the Indian contingent and provided real-time updates from warm-up fixtures, press conferences, and net sessions. In addition, the JioStar network also launched fan-engagement initiatives across Disney+ Hotstar and ESPN Cricinfo including a vote to decide the greatest performance by an Indian in Australia, which witnessed participation from over 1.5M fans. JioStar network also leveraged the power of community and conversations via engaging social media initiatives across Star Sports’ handles.