iWorld
Women’s World Cup hits record viewership highs
MUMBAI: Cricket fever has turned into a full-blown phenomenon as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup India 2025 smashes viewership records faster than a boundary off a power hitter’s bat.
Over 60 million viewers have already tuned in to the first 13 matches across Jiohotstar and Star Sports Network, a staggering five times more than the previous edition. Watch-time has also soared 12-fold to a jaw-dropping 7 billion minutes, proving that women’s cricket isn’t just winning hearts, it’s ruling screens.
The India vs Pakistan showdown on 5 October bowled the world over, becoming the most-watched women’s international cricket match in history with a reach of 28.4 million and 1.87 billion minutes watched. The India vs Australia clash wasn’t far behind, hitting a record 4.8 million peak concurrent viewers on Jiohotstar, the highest ever for women’s cricket.
Television audiences have been equally captivated. The India–Pakistan league game has become the highest-rated in Women’s ODI World Cup history, while the first 11 matches together reached 72 million viewers, marking a 166 per cent leap from the last tournament. Viewing minutes jumped 327 per cent to 6.3 billion, underscoring the growing passion for the women’s game.
“The incredible viewership for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup India 2025 is a true testament to the growing interest in women’s sports in India,” said Jiostar head of viewership and monetisation initiatives – sports Siddharth Sharma. “Fans are embracing women’s sports like never before, and at Jiostar, we’re proud to be the platform powering this movement.”
Much of the success stems from a unified marketing push by the ICC and Jiostar, supported by the BCCI. The ICC’s global ‘Will to Win’ campaign and Jiostar’s emotionally charged ‘Jersey wahi toh jazbaa wahi’ have together sparked a national conversation and brought fans closer to the women in blue.
The matches are being broadcast in five languages: English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada, across Jiohotstar and Star Sports channels, with an Indian sign language feed introduced for the first time to make the game more inclusive.
iWorld
Airtel names Aritra Mukherjee head of marketing
Former Vodafone executive to lead Airtel’s marketing push
PUNE: Bharti Airtel has elevated Aritra Mukherjee to head of marketing, promoting an internal leader who has played a key role in expanding the company’s prepaid business over the past four years.
Mukherjee, based in Pune, most recently served as general manager – prepaid growth, where he was instrumental in driving portfolio expansion, sharpening consumer strategy and supporting revenue growth. He joined Airtel as senior manager – business planning and consumer insights and rose through the ranks as the company strengthened its data-led approach to customer acquisition and retention.
Before joining Airtel, Mukherjee held marketing roles at Vodafone Idea and Vodafone, and earlier worked with Idea Cellular. His career also includes stints at Capgemini and Tata Consultancy Services.
With experience spanning telecom marketing, prepaid growth strategy, enterprise accounts and business planning, Mukherjee brings a blend of analytics-driven insight and commercial leadership to Airtel’s top marketing role, as competition intensifies across India’s telecom market.
