With the TATA IPL 2023, Disney Star is expected to break all HD viewing records.

Disney Star, the TATA IPL's official broadcaster, is aiming to reach 90 million HD viewers with the introduction of Star Sports Tamil HD and Star Sports Telugu HD, two new HD channels that will provide high-definition feeds to southern markets with significant TATA IPL viewership. Due to the lack of regional HD channels, HD viewership during the TATA IPL in the South was under-indexed by roughly one-third. This will improve with the debut of additional channels prior to the TATA IPL 2023.

Brands aiming to reach premium consumers have constantly displayed a commanding scale on HD TV in India, and the numbers are only increasing exponentially. According to BARC, there are currently 70 million HD households in India, up 100% in only the last two years and 32% in the last nine months. The number of HD viewers in India has now increased to around 200 million, a size that is unrivaled for businesses aiming to market to affluent consumers. If HD homes continue to expand at this rate, the number of HD viewers in India could rise even higher by the time the TATA IPL season starts.

Star Sports will gain greatly from this expansion, and the introduction of the southern HD channels will be a key role in bringing the TATA IPL's near to 90 million HD viewers. In terms of TATA IPL TV viewership, the south has been a sizable market, and the region has the strongest affinity for regional language content in the nation. The availability of top-notch live sports content in the local languages will significantly increase India's overall HD viewership, providing advertisers with a huge audience to target during the 2023 IPL.

IPL on HD networks is highly popular with premium viewers. According to BARC, NCCS AB accounts for 81% of HD viewers, with a 3x higher affinity for NCCS A in megacities. A number of premium brands took advantage of TATA IPL on HD broadcast and saw outstanding benefits in terms of brand and business KPIs. Given the sheer volume of HD viewers in India, it is an unmissable opportunity for brands, and the rise in HD homes will make it much more so during the TATA IPL.