Hockey Gives Cricket a “Run for its Money” in India

The historic India v Pakistan match on Sunday’s opening day of the Hero Honda FIH World Cup attracted record audiences for hockey in India, generating viewing figures akin to that of India’s one day cricket internationals.

The match, in which India beat Pakistan by 4-1 during primetime, gained an audience share of 8.9 on Doordarshan (TVR = 1.8) and 1.3 on Ten Sports (source: Eurodata TV/AMAP). By way of a benchmark, cricket’s TVR on Doordarshan for the four, one-day internationals India v Sri Lanka, in December 2009, ranged from 1.1 to 2.3, averaging 1.85.

Respected Indian sports industry website Sportspower, described the viewing figures as, “huge shot in the arm for the event’s title sponsor Hero Honda and presenting sponsor Sail… giving national obsession cricket a good run for its money in terms of the TV ratings the match delivered.”