iWorld
MX Player bags laurels at Asian Academy Creative Awards 2020
New Delhi: After its impressive wins in the national level at the 2020 Asian Academy Creative Awards, MX Player has now gone on to win 2 record-setting honors at the Grand Finals of the awards, being the only homegrown Indian OTT platform to win at an Asia level. Competing with some of the biggest shows pan Asia, the brand stood out in two categories – the Best Original Programme by a Streamer/OTT was bagged by its Ramya Krishnan starrer Queen and the Best Music/Dance Programme was won by its larger-than-life music reality chat show – Times of Music.
MX Player chief content officer Gautam Talwar said, “Both these web series have been extremely special projects for us, and they’ve been an industry first – be it Queen that was mounted at a never seen before scale for a regional series or Times of Music that was genuinely a first of its kind concept. One of the top priorities for us was to offer differentiated content that would resonate with audiences and we're very pleased to receive such an honour for our efforts, not only on an India level but Pan-Asia as well.”
“Elated that Queen has won the best original programme by a streamer/OTT at Singapore’s Asian Academy Creative Awards, and more so because we won on the very same day that we started filming for season 1 of the series! It’s great to be recognised alongside some of the biggest shows across all Asian countries. A big shout-out to the entire team and I am looking forward to filming season 2 soon”, added Ramya Krishnan as she speaks about the win for Queen.
Times Music host Vishal Dadlani said, “The concept of Times of Music is fresh, unique, and something the audiences haven’t seen before. MX Player has done a great job of constructing the show and detailing out each aspect – be it artiste pairing, the fantastic stage or finding hidden stories that have been lost over time, which made for such great conversations. This has been one of the biggest musical stages in the digital space and this award is a win well deserved for the entire team.”
The Asian Academy Creative Awards are Asia-Pac’s most prestigious awards for creative excellence, honoring the excellence in craft and technical discipline across multiple platforms including television, digital, mobile, streaming and any other emerging technologies.
MUMBAI: If cricket were a binge-worthy series, this one just dropped its most explosive pilot yet. The opening weekend of the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League has come out swinging, smashing records across both television and digital platforms and reaffirming the tournament’s unmatched pull in India’s sporting and media landscape.
Backed by two high-octane matches featuring 200-plus run chases, the tournament delivered a combined reach of over 515 million viewers across linear TV and digital platforms via JioStar’s broadcast ecosystem, including Star Sports and JioHotstar. More tellingly, engagement surged alongside reach, with total watch-time hitting 32.6 billion minutes, a sharp 26 per cent jump over the opening weekend of the previous season.
The numbers reveal a deeper shift in how India watches cricket. Connected TV (CTV) consumption rose by 30 per cent, while peak concurrency on digital platforms jumped 61 per cent, signalling a growing appetite for shared, big-screen streaming experiences. On traditional television, the momentum held strong, with TV ratings (TVR) climbing 24 per cent compared to earlier seasons’ opening matches.
A key driver of this spike has been the evolution of the viewing experience itself. This season introduced differentiated feeds, most notably a Hindi CTV broadcast featuring cricketing voices such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan. Blending expert analysis with a watch-along format, the feed has added a conversational, almost second-screen feel without requiring viewers to leave their screens.
According to JioStar CEO for Sports Ishan Chatterjee, at the opening weekend underscores not just scale but also the depth of engagement that live cricket continues to command. He noted that the combination of large-screen viewing and digital interactivity is creating a more immersive and personalised experience, while also delivering tangible outcomes for brand partners.
From the league’s perspective, the early numbers point to a tournament that continues to reinvent itself. Arun Singh Dhumal, Chairman of the IPL, said the strong start reflects how high-quality cricket paired with enhanced viewing formats is resonating with audiences nationwide, while Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Devajit Saikia highlighted the “quality of engagement” as a key takeaway, not just the scale.
Commercially too, the opening weekend signals robust advertiser confidence. The broadcast is led by co-presenting sponsors including Google (Search AI Mode), Campa Energy, and Havells & Lloyd, alongside co-powered partners such as Birla Opus, Hero Motocorp and Amazon. A long tail of associate sponsors from OpenAI and Asian Paints to Flipkart and Amul further reflects the league’s unmatched ability to aggregate advertiser interest at scale.
Taken together, the opening weekend numbers are less a spike and more a statement. With 515 million viewers, 32.6 billion minutes of watch-time, and double-digit growth across formats, IPL 2026 has not just started strong, it has set the tone for a season that looks poised to push the boundaries of both sport and spectacle.
