The Hindu Business Line : IPL’s credit roll starts with Shah Rukh Khan

New Delhi, May 14 Shah Rukh Khan’s time in the limelight as owner of Kolkata Knight Riders has grabbed the biggest share of print coverage during the Indian Premier League. That star factor would help the tournament, pitched as the cricket and Bollywood masala mix, was evident, but King Khan, untiringly cheering for his team, has stolen the show. English publications across metros have dedicated 45 per cent of their celebrity coverage to the actor.

Fellow actor and co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab, Preity Zinta, managed a second position with 15 per cent. Even if we excuse liquor baron Mr Vijay Mallya’s team’s disappointing performance, ‘the king of good times’ manages to get just 6 per cent of the celebrity coverage, ahead of Mukesh Ambani’s 5 per cent.

However, Mr Mallya’s team’s brand ambassador Katrina Kaif has done her bit bringing in the glam quotient for the Bangalore Royal Challengers, while Akshay Kumar added some punch with his daredevilry to the buzz around the Delhi team. But that comes nowhere close to the intense interest Ms Priyanka Gandhi’s one time visit generated.

If the Mumbai team decides to whip up more hysteria with the help of brand ambassador Hrithik Roshan, it would very easily double the buzz Sachin Tendulkar has managed to maintain without gearing up. He has the second largest share of voice, according to the survey of editorial content in leading English publications across the six metros conducted by TAM’s unit, Eikona.

The only one to grab more print space, almost double that of Tendulkar, during April 16-May 4 has been Harbhajan Singh. Rajasthan Royals, the team that decided to do without star cheerleaders, has kept its flag flying high, but captain Shane Warne nonetheless is still getting less column space compared to Virendra Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The team with a 9 per cent share of English media print coverage is the least talked about.

For sponsors such as Aircel, whose logo rides on the Chennai Super Kings uniform, team coverage has helped. According to Eikona the brand has managed to equal visibility with league sponsor, DLF. Brands such as the Jaypee Group (16 per cent) for Deccan Chargers and Nokia (13 per cent) for Kolkata Knight Riders have also enjoyed a good run.

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