iWorld
Hotstar most popular video streaming platform, finds study
MUMBAI: It’s a tough game for international OTT players to beat Hotstar in India. A study conducted by SEMrush found Hotstar crossed the mark of 35 million searches during April 2018 having a difference of over 30 million searches with Netflix. It revealed the dominance of Hotstar on all other online TV and entertainment platforms.
Hotstar with its range of content in every domain including cinema, sports, English TV series, regional shows, serials has number of options to lure viewers. The OTT platform has outrun its global peers and domestic competitors in the Indian market including Netflix, Eros Now, YuppTV, BoxTV, and others. The search volume trends for Hotstar showed that the platform gained maximum popularity in the months of June and September 2017, and broke records in April 2018.
The study also revealed Game of Thrones(GoT) as the TV series with the highest search volume in India marking over 600,000 searches during the year 2017-18. Hotstar having the rights of this over popular show could have acquired high number of viewers. GoT became the TV series with most searches in India since the telecast of its 7th series in August 2017.
iWorld
T20 World Cup ’26: India–England semi-final sets global streaming record of 619 million views on JioHotstar
India–England semi-final records 65.2 million peak streams
MUMBAI: The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 set a new milestone in global sports streaming, as the India–England semi-final drew record digital audiences on JioHotstar.
The match on 5 March registered 65.2 million peak concurrent viewers, the highest ever recorded for a live event on any streaming platform worldwide. The semi-final also generated 619 million views, making it the most streamed T20 international match in history.
The landmark audience numbers were driven largely by viewers in India, setting a record achieved within a single market, rather than through aggregated viewership across multiple countries.
The high-scoring encounter between India national cricket team and England cricket team produced 499 runs across both innings, fuelling widespread fan engagement across platforms.
According to the International Cricket Council, the digital record surpassed the previous global benchmark of 65 million concurrent viewers, set in November 2024 by another international streaming platform.
Across television and digital platforms combined, the semi-final reached more than 320 million viewers, while total watch time exceeded 23 billion minutes, making it the most watched T20 international match ever.
“This World Cup demonstrates the immense passion of cricket fans and the progress made in bringing the game closer to audiences worldwide,” said ICC chairman Jay Shah.
“This moment reflects the scale of cricket fandom in India and the technological capability required to serve hundreds of millions of viewers simultaneously.”
JioStar vice-chairman Uday Shankar, said the audience surge underscored the future of large-scale digital entertainment.
“One in every three Indians tuned in to watch the second semi-final. Delivering such an experience at scale requires the very best of technology,” he said.
The 619 million views during the match also eclipsed the 533 million views recorded during the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
With the final yet to be played, the 2026 tournament has already set multiple benchmarks in audience reach and digital engagement.
India will face the New Zealand national cricket team in the final on 8 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The match will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and streamed on JioHotstar.
