FIFA World Cup 2026 Captivates 15 Million Viewers on Zee5 in India
WHO:
NDTV Profit - Bavesh Janavlekar, Chief Business Officer, Unite8 Sports, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.
WION - Bavesh Janavlekar, Chief Business Officer, Unite8 Sports, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.
WHAT:
NDTV Profit - The FIFA World Cup 2026 was reported as the most-watched OTT property in India during the week of July 13-19, attracting an estimated 15 million viewers.
WION - The tournament drove a 79% increase in total watch time on Zee5 and a 55% increase in daily app installations and new subscriptions between June 1 and July 19.
Adgully.com - Tier-2 markets contributed over 45% of total tournament watch time, indicating a growing regional demand for international football.
Adgully.com - Over two-thirds of subscribers who watched the FIFA World Cup on Zee5 subsequently consumed film content on the platform, while 50% engaged with original series.
Sports Video Group - Telemundo and Peacock averaged 6.3 million viewers in Total Audience Delivery across all 104 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026, up 143% from the 2022 tournament.
Sports Video Group - The final match between Spain and Argentina attracted 22.6 million viewers, marking the largest total audience in Spanish-language media history.
Sports Video Group - Fox Sports generated more than 17.2 billion content views on digital and social platforms during the 2026 FIFA Men’s Cup, making it the most digitally viewed event in network history.
Sports Video Group - On a single day, Fox Sports had 542 million social video views, its largest number ever for one day.
Sports Video Group - The "Always On" live stream on the FOX Sports YouTube channel was available for 974 consecutive hours, generating 1.2 billion total minutes of watch time across platforms.
Sports Video Group - Fans watching on the FOX Sports YouTube channel generated more than two million comments, with half of all live stream viewers choosing to watch with live chat enabled.
NDTV Profit - The FIFA World Cup 2026 attracted an estimated 15 million viewers on Zee5 during the week of July 13-19.
WION - The tournament was the most-watched OTT property in India, with nearly 40% of peak concurrent viewership from matches played between midnight and 4 a.m.
NDTV Profit - Zee5 recorded a 79% rise in watch time and a 55% increase in daily app installs and new subscriptions between June 1 and July 19.
WION - Tier 2 cities accounted for over 45% of total watch time during the tournament.
NDTV Profit - Connected devices contributed 53% of match viewing on Zee5.
WHERE:
NDTV Profit - India, with West Bengal identified as Zee5's largest football market, followed by Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi.
WHEN:
NDTV Profit - The FIFA World Cup 2026 was co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico.
WION - The partnership between Zee and FIFA extends until 2034.
WHY:
NDTV Profit - The tournament's success challenged the belief that Indian fans would not stay up late for football due to time differences.
WION - Zee's partnership with FIFA aimed to make the tournament more accessible through television and digital platforms, supported by multilingual coverage.
HOW:
Sports Video Group - Chyron’s PRIME 5 graphics platform supported live graphics workflows for NBCUniversal Telemundo’s FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage, integrating live data from SPORTSAPP, SMT, and FIFA.
NDTV Profit - The multilingual broadcast strategy included strong viewership in Hindi, Malayalam, and Bengali, alongside English.
WION - More than two-thirds of users who subscribed to watch the FIFA World Cup went on to stream movies on Zee5, while nearly half explored its original series.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 has become the most-watched OTT property in India, drawing in an impressive 15 million viewers during the week of July 13-19. The tournament also spurred a remarkable 79% increase in total watch time on Zee5, along with a 55% rise in daily app installations and new subscriptions from June 1 to July 19. Notably, over two-thirds of subscribers who tuned in for the World Cup on Zee5 went on to watch films, while half explored original series on the platform, highlighting a significant engagement with diverse content.