iWorld
Cloud TV tunes into India’s Cultural Waves
MUMBAI: Looks like Cloud TV just found its frequency for nostalgia. In a landmark partnership, India’s first homegrown Smart TV operating system has teamed up with Prasar Bharati’s OTT platform, Waves, to bring the nation’s cultural heartbeat and entertainment heritage straight to connected TVs across the country.
The collaboration ensures that Cloud TV’s 12 plus million users, spanning popular TV brands like Lloyd, Micromax, and Croma, can now tune into Waves’ vast digital library. From Doordarshan and Akashvani’s iconic archives to new-age shows, music, and live events, the platform offers content in over 20 languages, uniting India’s timeless stories with today’s digital rhythm.
Cloud TV COO & co-founder Abhijeet Rajpurohit called the alliance “a digital bridge connecting nostalgia with innovation, heritage with technology.” The goal, he said, is to let viewers experience India’s cultural narrative in a modern, accessible way.
Echoing this sentiment, Prasar Bharati CEO Gaurav Dwivedi noted that Waves embodies India’s self-reliant digital vision, giving audiences a seamless way to engage with the nation’s rich cultural and creative ecosystem.
With Cloud TV OS already powering millions of Smart TVs across brands, the move amplifies Waves’ reach into homes nationwide. Viewers can simply spot the Waves logo on their Cloud TV-powered sets and dive into a treasure trove of shows, radio, podcasts, and archives, where the old meets the new in perfect harmony.
After all, with desh ka apna OTT meeting desh ka apna OS, India’s story just found its clearest signal yet.
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.
