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What's the story?
In a massive shot in the arm to the meteoric rise of Kabaddi's popularity, the Senior Men's National Kabaddi Championships emerged as the second most watched live sport in the previous week and gave stiff competition to the viewership of the first test that was played out between India and South Africa as part of the Freedom Series in Cape Town.
In case you didn't know
In a first for the sport's wide history, the Senior National Kabaddi Championships, which were played out at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad between 31st December 2017 and 5th January 2018 was telecasted live on Star Sports First and was also streamed live on Hotstar.
The heart of the matter
Following a thrilling set of round-robin encounters, the quarterfinals, the semifinals and the finals of the 65th edition of the inter-state competition were telecasted live on TV with Hindi commentators giving in their expert views right throughout the crunch encounters.
An analysis was undertaken by Broadcast Audience Research Council from the time period of 30th December, 2017 to 5th January, 2018 that put the total viewership for the telecast of the Nationals slightly behind the viewership of the India-South Africa test match on Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3.
While Sony Ten 1 gathered a total of 2,469,000 impressions to top the list of the most viewed programmes, Sony Ten 3, on which Hindi commentary was being given for the test match collected a total of 1,946,000 impressions. The Kabaddi Nationals came in on third place with 1,374,000 impressions having garnered more viewership than the WWE Raw broadcast which came on Sony Ten 2.
The achievement comes after a lot of recognition for the sport which was highlighted through VIVO's ?300 crore five-year contract in order to promote the Pro Kabaddi League and most recently, Star Sport's agreement with the AIKF to telecast the Nationals on live television.
What's next?
With the conclusion of the Kabaddi Nationals, the players will be enjoying a well-earned break before the Pro Kabaddi League takes centre stage in the upcoming few months.
Author's take
Kabaddi's rise has not only given the ancient sport, that was once in the doldrums, a new life, but it has also proved as a platform for youngsters to stamp their authority and represent the nation through the sport.
While the inter-state rivalry's telecast attracted many viewers across the country, the viewership also stressed on the game's increasing popularity in the country which can only do more good for the sport and the players.
