Usually, Sony hits a six with IPL telecast. But not this year. In the first full week of the Indian Premier League, Star scored over Sony.

According to data from TAM research, which tracks television channels and assigns television rating points to serials as well as the ongoing IPL, Star Plus remained ahead of Sony Max in the first full week of the IPL, ended April 7.

According to TAM data, sourced independently from subscribers for the week, Star Plus recorded 284 Gross rating points (GRP, a measure of audience reached by a media vehicle, like TV, radio, or outdoor hoarding), while Set Max scored 218 GRPs.

This is despite being the first week for IPL-6, which started on April 3, and included a two-day run up to the cricket extravaganza. Star Plus’ lead is attributed to its telecasting the Salman Khan starrer Dabaang 2 on March 31. The movie managed a television rating point of 4.9, which buoyed Star Plus’ rating.

The next week, April 7-13, according to data sourced from TAM subscribers and corroborated by TAM, Star Plus slid to 252 GRPs, while Set Max hit it up to 234 GRPs. Interestingly, the only IPL game to match Dabaang 2 ’s 4.9 TRP was the Mumbai Indians versus Royal Challengers Bangalore clash, played on April 4.

Rohit Gupta, president of network sales, Multi Screen Media (MSM), told Business Line that this was an aberration, and that the channel managed to overtake rival channels the following week. MSM, Indian arm of Sony, is the official broadcaster of IPL.

For the week ended April 13, besides Star Plus Hindi General Entertainment Channels (GECs) also reported a dip in viewership. After losing nearly 110 GRPs in the IPL-6 launch week, Hindi GECs lost another 56 GRPs in the week ended April 13.

AD sales Boost

Cricket scored, after all. Market estimates are that MSM will generate a 30 per cent jump in advertising revenues thanks to its pricing strategy for IPL-6. Confirming, Gupta said that by correcting the ad rates, the channel has managed to gain in terms of ad volume that is up almost 30 per cent this year.

“In the 90 days before IPL-6 started, we struck 10-15 deals. These were mostly spot buys, while the last week before the IPL, we got on board Coca-Cola, Parle Agro and Micromax (as advertisers),” Gupta said.

With Samsung and Vodafone back to the game as sponsors, Gupta said IPL-6 has a mix of new and old brands. “Parle Agro is a new category, while Usha Electrical is an old sponsor. Any advertiser that gets associated with IPL stays with IPL,” he said.

With advertisers of all genres represented on IPL this year, Gupta said selling ad spots “has now matured to a certain level. There is not too much of fluctuation. There is a good return on investment (ROI) for advertisers, and ratings are moving up.”

He added that with corporates investing around Rs 30-40 crore in the sixth edition, each advertiser wants more bang for the buck. “In the India-Pakistan match, corporates wanted 8 TRPs (television rating points). We did 4 TRPs. The risk factors are low, there is a very positive response which has driven our closure in the ad spots.”.

>amritanair.ghaswalla@thehindu.co.in

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