The opening match of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 saw viewership almost double, both on television and online streaming platform Hotstar, compared to the previous season. According to the latest data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), around 34 million* viewers tuned in for the opening match of the season between Kerala Blasters FC and ATK played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on October 20.

According to report, the Hero ISL 2019-20 season opener registered 1.2 TVR and 96%** growth in TV ratings among M15+AB Urban and an impressive 97% viewership growth on Hotstar over last season.

Kerala and ATK have a long-standing history, having met previously in two finals - 2014 and 2016 - both of which were won by ATK. In a match which recorded a capacity crowd at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi, Kerala came out as 2-1 winners after a thrilling encounter. ATK took the lead through Carl McHugh early one but a Bartholomew Ogbeche brace handed the home team the victory.

Leading up to the match, the fans were also treated to a high-octane Opening Ceremony, highlighted by performances by Tiger Shroff, Disha Patani and award-winning dance group Kings United.

There has been a consistent rise in the fan following for Indian football in the country and the Hero ISL, the premier football league of India, has been right at the heart of this revolution getting bigger and better with each passing year.

October 20 marked the end of a seven-month-long wait for the highly-anticipated season opener and had fans glued to their TV & mobile screens for the match, which was broadcast in seven languages on 20 channels. This season, with the inclusion of the two new teams -Hyderabad FC and Odisha FC, the Hero ISL will see more diverse fan cultures and an increase in the footprint of Indian football in new frontiers.

Opening with a flying start, the Hero ISL 2019-20, promises to be bigger and better than ever before, with more fans expected to tune in to catch their favourite teams battle for the title and the coveted AFC Champions League play-offs spot.

Fans can catch all the Hero ISL 2019-20 action on the Star Sports Network, Hotstar and Jio TV

* Source: BARC, Fig. are TV + OOH, Only Match Telecast Hours considered

** Source: BARC preView, Fig. are TV + OOH, Only Match Telecast Hours considered

** For the growth vs last year, comparison has been done with Star Channels on TV versus TV+OOH of this year

HISL Channel Bouquet in 2019-20 - SS1 Hindi (SD,HD), SS1 (SD, HD), SS2 (SD, HD), Star Gold (SD,HD), SS1 Tamil, SS1 Telugu, SS1 Kannada, SS1 Bangla, Suvarna Plus, Vijay Super, Maa Gold, Jalsha Movies (SD,HD), Asianet Plus, Asianet Movies) + North East Live