The final match of the Indian Premier League Season 4 (IPL-4) between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore yesterday threw up a surprise.
The match clocked a television viewership rating (TVR) of 5.8, higher than the IPL-3 final’s 5.6, according to overnight rating agency aMap. This is a surprise because the average TVR of IPL-4 matches is 2.6, much lower than the IPL-3’s 3.1.
Eliminator and qualifier matches have also done better than last year. This year, the TVR of eliminator matches varied between 3.8 (Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers) and 4.1 (Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders). Last year, the TVR of the semi-final matches was between 2.4 and 3.9.
Despite record TVR of the final match, most advertisers and media buyers say IPL is losing sheen.
| HAPPY SURPRISE | ||
| Match | IPL-3 (2010) | IPL-4 (2011) |
| Final | 5.6 (CSK vs MI) | 5.8 (CSK vs RCB) |
| Average rating | 3.1 | 2.6 |
| Eliminator/ Semi-final | 3.9 (MI vs RCB) | 3.8 (CSK vs RCB) |
| Qualifier/ Semi-final | 3.3 (DC vs CSK) | 4.1 (MI vs KKR) |
| Eliminator/ third play-off | 2.4 (DC Vs RCB) | 3.8 (MI vs RCB) |
|
MI: Mumbai Indians, csk: Chennai Super Kings, RCb: Royal Challengers Bangalore, KKR: Kolkata Knight Riders, DC: Deccan Chargers. (In IPL-4,
the format was changed to eliminators and qualifiers, against semi-finals and third play-off in IPL-3) Source: aMap | ||
According data from TAM sports last week, the viewership of the first 68 matches was 155 million compared to 143 million for the entire event last year. Most media buyers said this was because IPL-3 had 60 matches while IPL-4 had 72 matches due to an increase in the number of teams.
The country's largest media agency, Group M, which has some of the biggest clients like Vodafone and L’Oreal, will become cautious the next season. “IPL ratings have been below expectations. The average ratings have fallen 15-20 per cent and the CPRP (cost per rating point) was higher than last year. We have to be a little cautious and will evaluate the 2012 IPL keeping in mind the lack of eyeballs this season,” said R Gowthaman, managing director, Mindshare, which is part of Group M.
This could prompt big advertisers such as LG, Havells and Vodafone to call for a cut in ad rates, said senior media buyers.
The broadcaster, Multi-Screen Media (MSM), had pre-sold 80-85 per cent inventory at Rs 5-5.5 lakh per 10-second spot. It was planning to increase rates to Rs 10-12 lakh for the final.
“But due to lower ratings, the broadcaster was forced to sell inventory at Rs 7-8 lakh. The knockout matches had some unsold inventory,” said a senior media buyer.
MSM President Rohit Gupta said they sold the final inventory for Rs 15 lakh per 10-second spot.
When IPL-4 kicked off in April, MSM, riding the March World Cup wave, increased rates by 20-25 per cent. The rates were raised 25-30 per cent to Rs 6.25-6.75 lakh when the tournament began.
“With back-to-back tournaments, there could have been an overdose of cricket. Also, more matches and swap of players between franchises may have diluted some loyalty built up over the previous seasons,” said Shripad Kulkarni, COO, Allied Media, the media planning and buying arm of Percept Group.
