Five matches on, HBLPSL Season 4 livestream hits 10 million views

The matches can be streamed online via the Cricket Gateway PK channel on Youtube.
Published February 20, 2019

There is no doubt that HBLPSL has emerged as Pakistan’s favorite cricket event. While some cricket fans turn to their nearest screen to keep up with the action, most turn to the one in their pocket—their smartphone.

This year, with matches being live-streamed on YouTube on the new official Cricket Gateway PK channel, it’s even easier to stay up to speed on every wicket.

With over 10 million views (all platforms combined) in just five matches, HBLPSL season 4 has been setting a new livestream record, with Pakistan’s favourite rivalry (Karachi Kings vs Lahore Qalandars) grossing 1.48 million views in one match alone, peaking at over 200,000 concurrent viewers on YouTube alone.

All this engaged viewership represents a great opportunity for brands to share relevant messages and, like last year, Pepsi, ABL, UL, RB, and more than 20 other brands ran ads during the matches.

First-time brands for this year include Jazz, Telenor, P&G, Telenor Bank, and the DWP group. Other livestream partners include Tapmad.com, Goonj.pk, Crick Wick, Jazz TV and JazzTube.

Farhan Qureshi, Head of South Asia Markets, Google Asia Pacific
Farhan Qureshi, Head of South Asia Markets, Google Asia Pacific

“With millions of cricket fans tuning in on their mobile devices and Smart TVs, the live stream on YouTube is an ideal opportunity for brands to reach a highly engaged audience," says Farhan Qureshi, Head of South Asia Markets, Google Asia Pacific. "The future of spectator sports and online advertising in Pakistan are very closely intertwined and brands should not miss out.”

With ad insertions unified at the country level, ads are delivered simultaneously at each authorised location, with streams being scanned for copyrighted content and over 4500 pirated beams banned within the first 5 matches.

Ahsen Idris, CEO Blitz Advertising
Ahsen Idris, CEO Blitz Advertising

“HBLPSL is Pakistan’s crown Jewel of Sports Entertainment, said Mr Ahsen Idris, CEO Blitz Advertising.

"Combining it with the engaged audience of YouTube and our valued beam partners, we are committed towards ensuring that there isn’t a single internet household in Pakistan that will not have access to this content. When you put Pakistan’s best content and its biggest viewership platform together on one plate, our valued advertisers get nothing less than the best. I wouldn’t be surprised if this product matures into a 100 million viewership product within consecutive seasons,” he said.

On the nationwide success of HBLPSL Season 4 Internet livestream, he commented:

"We would once again like to thank the PCB, our JV partners TransGroup, ITW and Techfront, YouTube, our stream partners, and most importantly - our valued clients, whose faith in brand Pakistan has helped make this success possible, four years in a row. Our strategy, as always, is to make Pakistan’s crown jewel an ‘all-inclusive’ event, where all the premium brands of Pakistan come together and make their presence felt on the local and international sports entertainment landscape.”


This content is a paid advertisement by Blitz Advertising and is not associated with or necessarily reflective of the views of Dawn.com and its editorial staff.