Fifa World Cup Final Between Argentina And France Sets Viewership Record In India

Mumbai, December 20 - The final of the Fifa World Cup 2022 between Argentina and France was watched all over the world in record numbers. Lionel Messi's Argentina defeated France in one of the greatest World Cup matches ever in penalties after thrilling and epic 120 minutes of play.

In India, Jio Cinema streamed the match and witnessed the biggest viewing peak for a sporting event on a digital platform ever with 32 million people tuned in to watch it at once. This, when India wasn't even part of the tournament, shows the incredible fan following, especially of Argentina because of Messi.



Jio Cinema, an over-the-top streaming service, owned by Viacom18, a subsidiary of TV18, said digital viewership crossed television numbers for the first time for a global marquee sports event. The company said about 40 billion minutes of watch time was clocked across its channel Sports18 and the OTT platform. "The tournament became the most-watched global sports event on digital where India has not participated. This demonstrates the power of digital and the preference viewers and fans have shown to consume their favorite events, which will now see Paris Saint-Germain teammates and Fifa World Cup Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappe and Fifa World Cup and Golden Ball winner Lionel Messi join forces in the Ligue1", said Viacom18 Sports' CEO Anil Jayaraj.

Apart from India, the final of the Fifa event witnessed the biggest-ever viewership in the U.S. on Fox channel with 16.8 million viewership. That tally easily topped its previous record holder, Italy vs. Brazil final in 1994 with 14.5 million viewers, per Variety.

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