Hotstar claims record with 18.6M concurrent streams

India streaming service Hotstar, which is now owned by Disney, claimed a new concurrent streaming record when 18.6 million tuned in for a cricket match.

The service set the new record during the Indian Premier League (IPL) final match between the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.

In contrast, CBS said this year’s Super Bowl drew an average streaming viewership of 2.6 million.

RELATED: Netflix tests cheaper, mobile-only plans in India

Hotstar has been busy breaking streaming records throughout the IPL season. The company said pulled in 267 million viewers in the first three weeks of VIVO IPL 2019. The company previously set a global live streaming record with a concurrency of 12.7 million viewers during the Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Mumbai Indians in late March. The service has seen doubled growth in watch time during the tournament over the same period last year.

“The remarkable rate at which the viewership has grown over the years is testament to the audience pull that VIVO IPL enjoys. On the back of this, Hotstar continues to break records by raising the bar in reinventing the sporting experience for millions of Indians. These staggering numbers in just three weeks signify the platform’s immense reach and scale, as well as our technological ability to deliver an uninterrupted, immersive cricket watching experience for consumers,” said Varun Narang, chief product officer at Hotstar, in a statement.

Hotstar added a social cricket-watching experience this season that lets users watch together remotely and also participate in interactive games.

U.S.-based SVODs Amazon Prime Video and Netflix have attempted to break into the Indian market, but Hotstar is still the dominant player. According to research from Jana released last summer, Hotstar holds 69.7% of the market in India, while Amazon holds 5% and Netflix holds just 1.4%.

Netflix has begun testing less expensive mobile-only plans in India in hopes of attracting more customers in the region.