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What started as a trend in 2014, continues to thrive in this year’s Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL), as e-commerce brands took a lion’s share (by volume) of advertising during the live telecast of the annual 20-20 cricket tournament. According to data provided by TAM Media Research, e-commerce firms took up as much as 29 per cent of the total volume of advertising on the IPL 8 across four Multi Screen Media (MSM) channels – Sony Max (Hindi), Sony Aath (Bengali), Sony Kix (Tamil/Telugu), and Sony Six (English).
The data reveal that the top five categories, which include e-commerce (29 per cent), cellular phone services (11 per cent), smartphones (10 per cent), two-wheelers (eight per cent), and aerated soft drinks (six per cent), account for 63 per cent of the total volume of advertising during the live telecast of the tournament. A total of 57 brands have advertised on IPL 8 in the first 14 matches played from April 8 to 18.
Among brands, the on-air co-presenters and on-ground sponsors Vodafone India and Amazon.in led the charts with eight per cent share by volume each. Tata Sky, a first-time advertiser in the IPL, came in at number three, with five per cent share. Paytm.com and Snapdeal also commanded a five per cent share by volume in the IPL in the first 11 days.
Sony Max has beaten STAR Plus, the flagship general entertainment channel from STAR India, to the number one spot on the ratings chart on IPL wings.
With a steep gain of 88 gross rating points (GRPs), Sony Max ended week 16 of 2015 (April 12 to April 18) at 306 GRP as compared to STAR Plus’s 254 GRP (loss of 26 rating points).
The tournament’s viewership continues to grow as compared to last year. For the 14 matches held between April 8 and April 18, the tournament registered a 30 per cent increase in average television ratings (TVR) from 3.2 in IPL 7 to 4.1 in IPL 8.
