If you thought chess was not a spectator sport, think again. If the numbers generated during the ongoing World Championship final are anything to go by, the game has caught the imagination of people. As many as 80 million viewers watched the highlights of the third round of the final between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen on Doordarshan TV, informs The New Indian Express.
As many, if not more, are hooked to the game through Twitter and other social networking sites. Never has chess been so keenly followed in the country since a young Anand took on Garry Kasparov on top of the World Trade Centre in 1995. And if chess fans depended on radio bulletins and TV news flashes back then, they have Twitter and mobile applications now.
The official website of the championship is breaking all records for a chess event internet coverage, while the printed media is flooded with full pages about the match. In the largest fashion magazine GQ the match Anand – Carlsen eclipsed the Victoria’s Secret 2013-2014 show
The tournament’s official hashtag #FWCM2013 was one of the top trending terms on the social networking site during the first three games. But during the grueling fourth game, interest spiked with #AnandCarlsen the top trending term in India and #FWCM2013 the third most trending. Locked in between was #thankyousachin, something that was expected to comfortably eclipse any other topic of discussion on the eve of Sachin Tendulkar’s final test.
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The organizers, producers, and many media sources said that this match will reach out to well more than 1 billion people. Here are just some of the sources they use to get the numbers:
– Daily LIVE broadcast on Indian TV
– Daily highlights (twice a day) on Indian TV (up to 80 million per show & it’s expected to go up drastically)
– Daily broadcast on Norwegian TV
– TV video feed is sent to 48 different countries
– Countless daily articles and updates from thousands of newspapers, websites, blogs, etc.
– Social media (facebook, twitter, instagram, etc.)
– YouTube and other Internet TV/Video channels
The 1 billion mark may be reached by the half way point. There is absolutely no doubt that the numbers will be by far the biggest ever in chess.
I predicted this number before most are even aware of it. This is why I am putting in 16-18 hours everyday in Chennai to do my part to continuously promote this World Championship (twitter, blog, and giving countless interviews to the media right here and worldwide, and prepping for the LIVE broadcast, in addition to actually doing the show).
This match is very important for chess. As I said before, the organizers and FIDE have hit a homerun this time.
Susan Polgar
The 1 billion mark may be reached by the half way point
What’s the actual statistical evidence for this extraordinary claim?
Susan, from the times of your tweets and posts, I was starting to wonder if you were getting any sleep at all.