The first-ever day-night Test in India, played between India and Bangladesh in November, 2019, was viewed by 43 million people, according to the Broadcast Audience Research Council.
The contest clocked two billion viewing minutes. It had the highest viewership for a first day of any Test match played over 2018-19, BARC said.
After Sourav Ganguly became the BCCI president, he ensured India took up the pink-ball challenge after initial resistance when the team refused to play a day-night Test in Australia. The second Test of the two-match series was played under lights at Eden Gardens amid a lot of hype and a huge crowd. The match, part of the ICC World Test Championship, got over early on Day Three, the host winning by an innings and 46 runs to wrap the series 2-0.
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It was a no-contest but the thrill of watching cricketers play under lights in white flannels with a pink SG ball saw many glued to their TV sets.
Besides cricket, the most watched sports in 2019 were kabaddi, wrestling and football. Together, they consumed 85 percent of viewing minutes of non-cricket events.
Sports channels saw a growth of 17 percent (viewing minutes) over 2018.
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