DD National has gained the maximum ratings among the five channels airing the Paytm India vs South Africa series. Over week 41 and week 42 DD National gained average ratings of 8.7 million over the 9 matches played in the tournament according to BARC data. These ratings from the series could be seen reflected in the week 42 ratings as the channels climbed to No.5 spot with ratings of 522 million from No.7 spot with ratings of 381 million in week 41.
DD National, being under the national broadcaster Doordarshan, is a FTA (free-to-air) channel, unlike the Star Sports channels which are subscription channels. Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 3 got similar viewership ratings of 5.1 million for the tournament over week 41 and 42. While Star Sports 3 has the Hindi feed, Star Sports 1 airs the English feed.
The HD feeds had brought in ratings of 43 (‘000s) and 63 (‘000s) over 8 matches on Star Sports 1 HD and Star Sports 3 HD over the two weeks.
The ratings are much higher than a week earlier (week 40) where the highest rating was 2.1 million on Star Sports 3. The 2nd T20 match on October 5 scored the high ratings of 2 million (2,142,000) on Star Sports 3 which has the Hindi feed. The same match on Star Sports 1 with the English feed got in ratings of 1.6 million (1,680,000). The Paytm T20 Trophy 2015 Live – Mid Show on Star Sports 1 on the other hand brought in ratings of 1.3 million (1,357,000) and the same show on Star Sports 3 brought in ratings of 763,000. The 3rd T20 match between the two countries which was to be scheduled on October 8 was cancelled with South Africa winning the first two T20 matches.
It has to be noted that from week 41 onwards BARC had introduced rural data into the ratings which had seen an overall spike in the ratings of channels. However, despite that the ratings of the tournament can be seen to have grown with the ODIs being down to the last match as the decider. DD National has been a key been a key benefactor from the series.
