Four days into the show, the fifth season of the country’s most-hyped sporting extravaganza, the Indian Premier League (IPL), has failed to grab as many eyeballs as its earlier editions.
According to data from TAM Sports, a unit of TAM Media Research Pvt Ltd, the opening ceremony rating for IPL-5 has been the lowest ever among the editions of the tournament held in India, falling sharply to 1.11 television viewer rating (TVR). In season 4, the opening ceremony had a rating of 3.33. These ratings are for six metro cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
TVRs reflect the percentage of viewers watching a programme at a particular time.
SET Max, however, continues to put up a brave face. Rohit Gupta, president (network sales and revenue management), Multi-Screen Media, which runs Max, the official broadcaster for IPL, said: “It’s too early to comment. The ratings are just for the six metros. We have to wait till Wednesday for all-India ratings. Those numbers will dramatically change.”
According to media buyers, advertisers and organisers are worried about diminishing viewer interest. Last year, the average viewership for IPL as a whole was rated at 3.91 — the lowest for the league since its start in 2008. The first season of the tournament had a rating of 5.39, the second 4.66 and the third 5.51.
A slump in cricket-related advertising had set in last year after an overdose of the sport — with the World Cup and IPL in quick succession — and India’s poor performance in England and Australia. Media buyers say 30 per cent of the inventory is yet to be sold, compared with 10-15 per cent usually set aside for last-minute sale. Advertising rates were at least 15 per cent lower than last year due to falling ratings and reduced demand from advertisers, said people negotiating with the channel.
More From This Section
This year, the channel has managed to rope in just five sponsors — Vodafone, Pepsi, Hyundai, Idea and Tata Photon — compared with 10 on-air ones last year. However, most advertisers hope the broadcaster could monetise the leftover inventory better as the tournament progresses.
Last year, SET Max had raked in revenue in excess of Rs 1,000 crore, thanks to almost 70 advertisers it had on air. But, given hard bargains, revenue this year could be much less.