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CHENNAI, Feb. 15

SHANE and Jonty's exit from the World Cup may have come as a surprise, but there were just as many surprises off the field, as well. The first four days of the World Cup yielded Rs 45.4 crore in ad revenues for Sony, SET-Max and DD, and boosted the channel share of SET-Max significantly, according to TAM Media Research.

The top brands on SET-Max during the first four matches were Reliance India Mobile, Pepsi, Fair & Lovely Fairness cream, Mountain Dew, Close-Up Lemon Mint toothpaste, Coca-Cola and Bajaj Pulsar. The top 10 brands alone consumed 41 per cent of the total ad duration on SET-Max, according to TAM Media Research. The India match saw some new brands break into the top 10 list: LG CDMA mobile phone, Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate, and Bharat Petroleum.

During the India vs Holland match, about 10 per cent more ad inventory was used on SET-Max and on DD: 5,150 seconds of ad time on SET-Max and 5,670 seconds on DD1. By contrast, during the Sri Lanka vs New Zealand match 4,880 seconds were used on SET-Max, and during the South Africa vs West Indies match 4,650 seconds were used on SET-Max and 4,820 seconds on DD1. The least ad time was consumed during the Pakistan vs Australia match - 4,640 seconds on SET-Max.

Of the top three brand categories, Pepsi was by far the biggest advertiser, accounting for 4,460 seconds of all ad time. By contrast, Coca-Cola only used 2,545 seconds. LG and Samsung consumed 2,035 seconds and 2,210 seconds of ad time respectively, and Bajaj and Hero Honda consumed 1,580 seconds and 2,625 seconds respectively.

"In an event that is usually known for male-oriented brands, consumer durables and soft drinks, the dominance of FMCGs - and especially of Fair & Lovely and Close-Up - is quite surprising," said Mr Atul Phadnis, Director, S-Group, TAM Media Research.

Among non-TVCs and in-stadia promotions, pop-ups, scrollers and ground painting got the maximum exposure in terms of duration, and the top three brands on the Sony and SET-Max telecasts were BSNL, Pepsi and LG; BSNL exposures were more than twice that of LG and Pepsi.

During Brian Lara's smashing century in the opening match against South Africa, the red MRF logo on his bat was exposed 17 times for a total duration of 45 seconds. Of these, 15 exposures appeared at the centre of the screen, considered as "very visible" and "very prominent," according to TAM Media Research.

"There were some interesting new formats - like scrollers that appeared higher on the screen," Mr Phadnis said. "After a point even non-TVC elements come in the viewer's blind spot, so shifting the position is a good strategy."

An analysis of the impact of Extraaa Innings on SET-Max points to a significant boost in ratings for the show in cable & satellite homes (4+ years). The trend is most apparent in Kolkata, where the ratings for the first episode were as high as 6.9, compared to a four-week average before the show of 0.49. The rating was even higher than that of the four-week average for the popular soap Kkusum on Sony, according to TAM Media Research.

Naturally, the higher viewership for Extraaa Innings has also meant higher channel shares for SET-Max: again, the difference is most apparent in Kolkata, where the channel share went up to almost 30 per cent from a four-week average of five per cent before the show.

"As expected, there is a big difference in viewership and ad durations for India matches," Mr Phadnis said. "The outcome of the India-Australia match (Saturday) will determine viewership going forward." And, don't we know that already!

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