In an era of endless content choices, one format continues to command mass attention like few others: live sports.
With IPL 2026 reaching a combined audience of 1.1 billion across digital and television platforms—and digital viewership growing 15% year-on-year—industry experts say cricket is widening its lead over entertainment properties that are grappling with audience fragmentation and content fatigue. Sports, led by cricket, benefits from a perfect storm of widespread smartphone penetration, democratised access and its event-driven, seasonal nature.
Earlier this month, Zee Entertainment Enterprises announced that it had bought the broadcast and streaming rights to the FIFA World Cup along with a bouquet of other FIFA football events.
Non-sports or general entertainment properties, meanwhile, are often constrained by content clutter, long gaps between seasons of franchise shows, and the absence of the unifying identity that sports commands naturally.
The trend is visible in weekly viewership data for fiction OTT originals compiled by media consulting firm Ormax, where most shows now attract 1-2 million viewers, with few breaking out in recent months. Just a year-and-a-half ago, multiple web series routinely crossed four million viewers.
Even established franchises are seeing a decline. The third season of Panchayat, the village-set comedy-drama released in 2024, clocked overall viewership of 28.2 million. That fell more than 15% to 23.8 million for season four, released in 2025.
The IPL advantage
“Sports viewership is increasing due to its live, time-bound nature and strong community appeal. It is also easier to access now, with multiple language feeds and wider digital reach. Events like IPL benefit from appointment viewing and real-time social engagement, driving scale across platforms,” said Rajesh Sethi, partner and leader-media, entertainment and sports, PwC India.
Sports, especially cricket, naturally drives strong viewership because it is live and action-driven content, agreed Sandeep Bansal, director of OTT platform Chaupal. Live events generally attract high engagement, particularly in India, where cricket enjoys a deep emotional connection with audiences, he said.
IPL has spent years selling shared urgency—the anxiety of not knowing what happens next, experienced simultaneously by millions of viewers. It remains one of the last truly communal emotional experiences in a fragmented, algorithm-driven world, according to Saurabh Sankpal, an independent creative and strategic brand consultant.
“Entertainment mostly stopped offering that kind of uninhibited collective emotion. Sports wins because it makes loneliness temporarily impossible. Also, the sheer volume of good-enough content has made excellence feel ordinary. When everything is available, nothing feels special,” Sankpal said.
Entertainment hurdles
Entertainment content faces structural limitations. Most major films still follow a theatrical-first release window. By the time they arrive on OTT platforms, much of the initial cultural buzz has faded.
While the pandemic briefly popularized direct-to-OTT releases, the inconsistent quality of many digital-only films failed to build long-term viewer loyalty.
“Scripted entertainment suffers from long gestation periods. This unpredictability leads to ‘subscription cycling’, where viewers only pay for a service when a specific show debuts and then drop off, preventing steady viewership growth,” said Dr Rashmi Jain, associate professor, marketing and international business, K J Somaiya Institute of Management.
Audiences increasingly seek fresh and authentic storytelling, but the industry's dependence on formulaic narratives and remakes is proving a deterrent.
“Viewers, especially Gen Z, have been prioritizing emotional authenticity, psychological depth, and real-world relevance in their entertainment quotient. Also, illegal streaming and inefficient distribution networks are hurting revenue and discouraging investment in quality content,” said Rajat Agrawal, chief operating officer, Ultra Media & Entertainment Group.
Not a decline
That said, many industry observers argue that entertainment is not necessarily losing audiences but becoming more fragmented across platforms.
Unlike sports, which peaks around live events, entertainment generates steady, on-demand viewership over longer periods.
Chandrashekhar Mantha, partner and media and entertainment sector leader at Deloitte India, said sports viewership in India remains overwhelmingly driven by marquee cricket events such as the ICC World Cup and IPL.
During the IPL season, OTT consumption is dominated by JioHotstar because of its exclusive streaming rights. As a result, competing platforms often witness a temporary decline in engagement between late March and the end of May, when audience attention and advertising spending become heavily concentrated around live cricket, Mantha added.
Changing strategies
The Indian entertainment industry is adapting to evolving viewing habits and technological shifts. Creators are reworking content strategies, while streaming platforms continue to invest heavily in local content.
There is also a growing emphasis on vernacular and hyper-local storytelling to serve increasingly diverse audience segments.
“Entertainment can catch up, but not by only making more content. It has to become more event-led, community-led and conversation-led. Creators are already trying this through franchise storytelling, sharper regional originals, creator-led promotions, social-first hooks, interactive marketing, shorter formats and stronger fandom building,” said Amit Dhawan, co-founder at Crack'd & VibeTheory.ai.
“The real catch-up will happen when entertainment stops thinking like a library and starts behaving like a live cultural moment. Sports has mastered that. Entertainment now needs to build the same sense of ‘you had to be there,’” Dhawan said.