New Delhi, March 28 -- The 18th season of Indian Premier League (IPL) has gotten off to an explosive start with respect to viewership numbers. JioHotstar, the streaming platform for this year's IPL, notched up 137 crore views on its digital platform in the first weekend of the competition, its highest ever number.

This is an increase of 35% year-on-year (YoY). The opening three matches also had a peak concurrency of 3.4 crore, and 2,186 crore minutes of watch time. The increase in viewership on the streaming platform is thanks to a 54% uptick in CTV (Connected Television) consumption, according to multiple reports.

This growth was not restricted to only streaming as its partner channel, Star Sports, reached 25.3 crore viewers - also the...