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Purvita Chatterjee

Mumbai, April 21 Like a much-hyped Bollywod flick on its first day first show on a Friday, IPL’s first match played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers of Bangalore bagged the maximum audiences (10.56) at the latter’s home city Bangalore.

The TAM Media Research data, on the first three IPL matches, recorded an average rating of 8.21 across the six metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai on that day. However, after the first match, the subsequent ones played at Mohali and Delhi showed average viewership dipping to 4.97 (Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings of Punjab) and 5.58 (Rajasthan Royals Vs Delhi Daredevils).

Among the six metros, Chennai viewers did not seem to enjoy the IPL matches as much as the others as its average viewership for the first three matches was the lowest. Besides, the Bangalore viewers’ interest in the IPL matches nosedived from the initial match at 10.56 to 3.83 and 3.65 for the next two matches played in Mohali and Delhi.

While there is a possibility of interest waning in the future matches, advertisers are not unduly perturbed as they expect the owners of the teams to sustain the entertainment value in the game. Claims Mr Harit Nagpal, Marketing and New Business Director, Vodafone Essar, “We got the returns that we had anticipated. It has got the format of a reality show and is backed by the world of entertainment and not just the world of cricket. And even if there is a slowdown in viewership, the people who own the teams will make sure there is enough entertainment to draw in people.”

The two main presentation sponsors — Vodafone and Hyundai — have bagged the maximum airtime during the matches and are claiming to have got their bang for the buck. As Mr Arvind Saxena, Senior Vie-President (Marketing & Sales), Hyundai Motors, said, “The kind of response for the matches, both on and off the stadium, has ensured good value for us as advertisers. The ratings also indicate a big jump in viewership. We are quite content so far. The format and the matches are exciting and we have got value for the money we have invested. Interest in the matches will not die out as there will be more competitiveness between the teams making the matches more interesting.”

In fact, the decision to air the matches during prime time and over weekends unlike the T-20 World Cup matches would also ensure that TV audiences do not wither away. Mr Kamal Nandi, Vice-President (Sales & Marketing), Godrej & Boyce, said, “The high frequency of the matches combined with its prime time viewing has given us value for money. I would say that capturing prime time has helped in bringing in viewers especially over the weekends.”

In fact, the viewership data released by TAM is similar to the data released during the T-20 World Cup matches held last year. Mr L.V. Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer, TAM India, said, “The data released for the three IPL matches shows the amount of viewing is equivalent to the T-20 World Cup matches.”

Meanwhile, Sony Entertainment Television’s MAX channel, IPL’s official broadcaster, is getting ready to hike the rates of its remaining inventory. Mr Rohit Gupta, President, Sony Entertainment Television, said, “The ad spots have already been sold out at Rs 2 lakh for 10 seconds. However, there are 150 seconds left as ad inventory and we expect to take up the rates to Rs 4 lakh for the rest of the matches.”

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