London: The Indian Premier League (IPL) has taken the British market by storm on ITV. Backed by effervescent programming anchored by Mandira Bedi, ITV seems to have broken viewership records for sports programming in England, according to a press release. It is projected that ITV's IPL ratings will be 10 times as much as last year, showing that the IPL has emerged as a top sporting extravaganza on British television.
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Speaking about the overwhelming response from viewers, James MacLeod from ITV said, "We're delighted with the viewing figures for the IPL so far. The ratings for ITV4's coverage have been around seven or eight times those achieved by Setanta last year, and we're delighted to be bringing the competition to a wider audience."
Mandira could not hide her excitement and said, "To be accepted and to be a part of something which is so overwhelming is like a dream come true. I hope we continue to entertain and bring all the excitement of the IPL as it happens."
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Lalit Modi has also expressed immense satisfaction at the way the IPL has been accepted by the British audience. Modi said "ITV beat Sky Sports over the weekend in terms of the number of viewers. This is great going. The ITV numbers are double that of rugby league. This is huge by all imagination."
ITV has officially stated on its website that "the Indian Premier League's decision to go free view in the UK on ITV's digital terrestrial channel ITV4 has paid off handsomely. The IPL's debut on ITV4 has been declared a hit, according to ratings figures released Monday. Mandira is already a household name in England."
