Television ratings may be low, but advertisers aren’t writing off pyjama cricket just yet
THE recent corporate intervention in Indian cricket has
changed for good the perception of the common man towards the game.
Even though businesses are trying to drive home the point that their
objective is to find cricketing talent from small towns and villages,
it is clear that the initiative is backed by a distinct business
strategy.
After the much-hyped BCCI-led Indian Premier
League (IPL) auctions, advertisers are now rushing to buy airtime slots
on Set Max, which is the exclusive telecast partner of IPL.
But privatised overs-specific pyjama league
cricket is new to India and the Essel Group-led Indian Cricket League
(ICL), the first to make the move, has failed to prove the format’s
merit in terms of television ratings. Despite that, in 2008, both the
ICL and IPL have managed to attract big brands that include Airtel,
Vodafone, Reebok, Adidas, DLF, Edelweiss, Dabur Glucose and Intel. More
of their ilk are coming onboard as we go to print. So what determines
the returns on investments of on-air sponsors?
According to aMap, a television ratings agency,
the online ratings of the first three ICL matches in the inaugural
season held in November 2007 and even the combined ratings of all the
25-odd Zee channels for the first hour of the ICL tournament failed to
attract significant viewership. The average time spent on the channels
being just eight minutes. The first three T-20 matches played on
November 30 and December 1 generated peak ratings of only 0.5 on Zee
Sports despite aggressive promotions and appearances by film
personalities. The maximum combined ratings for the first 30 minutes of
the third match between Mumbai Champs and Hyderabad Heroes was 1.0. But
this was because of the match being available across all the 28 Zee
network channels. The stand-alone rating on Zee Sports for this match
was 0.2.
The second season of the ICL has begun and the
ratings of the first three matches have failed to impress. Unlike the
last ICL season, this year Zee roped in Ten Sports as additional
telecast partners for an undisclosed amount. According to aMap, the
combined rating of Zee Sports and Ten Sports (in percentages) amongst
C&S 4+ of the first three matches held on March 9, 10 and 11 and
played between Ahmedabad Rockets and Chandigarh Lions, Delhi Giants and
Mumbai Champs, and Chennai Superstars and Lahore Badshahs, was 3.62,
3.21 and 3.91, respectively.
The combined peak rating of the first match was
0.9, of which Zee Sports garnered 0.2 and Ten Sports 0.7. The combined
peak rating of the second match was 0.5. Of this, Zee Sports
contributed 0.2 and Ten Sports 0.4. In the third match, the combined
peak rating was 0.7, of which Zee Sports acquired 0.2 and Ten Sports
0.4. In terms of GRPs, too, all the three matches failed to draw
inspiring figures. The GRP of the first three matches on Zee Sports was
1.16, 1.04 and 1.40, while on Ten Sports it was 2.47, 2.1 and 2.5.
So, in a situation like this, what inspires on-air sponsors to stick to league cricket and not a soap opera?
Ashish Kaul, executive vice-president, Essel Group,
says, “In a tournament that spans across 34 matches, on-air sponsors
build a significant reach and audiences spend a considerable time.
These past few days have been a fair start for us, considering the last
tournament where we started at 0.2 and the finals delivering 0.8. This
time, our current ratings are equal to a non-India ODI and it’s highly
encouraging. With ground sponsors like Edelweiss, JVC, Bharatstudent,
Dabur Glucose and on-air sponsors like Airtel and Intel, it only shows
that the property has taken-off extremely well and is on its way up. We
are in the process of signing more associates and team sponsors.”
He adds “We have just started off and the response
is getting better and encouraging. With global broadcast partners, Ten
Sports delivering us the required reach, lock-in on-ground sponsors,
team sponsors, on-air sponsors and audiences increasing up after each
match, our clients are only going to benefit as the tournament
progresses.”
The question is: with competitor IPL around and low TV ratings, are sponsors likely to walk out on the ICL?
Says Pratap Bose, CEO, Ogilvy & Mather, “As far
as the ICL is concerned, it is a new format in India and there are two
kinds of advertisers riding it. Some look at it as a long-term
investment and, therefore, even if the tournament fails to deliver the
numbers—those sponsors will stick to it. That’s because once the
property is established, it will start fetching everybody returns.
Secondly, those riding ICL with short-term objectives will most likely
pull out if it fails on TV ratings. Also, with the IPL just a month
away, it will be interesting to see what kind of television rating it
harvests.”
But analysts also say it’s going to be tough for
the ICL if the IPL is successful in generating television ratings.
Since the tournament involves so many established Indian cricket stars
and Bollywood actors, one can bet on the fact that all the brands that
these celebrities endorse will get associated with the IPL in some way
or the other. Of the Indian cricket team, those with maximum number of
endorsements are: Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly,
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Sreesanth, Virendra Sehwag and now
Ishaant Sharma. Brands ranging from Pepsi, Parachute, Canon and Puma to
Adidas, VISA, LG, Videocon, Samsung, Orient and Britannia have these
cricketers as brand endorsers.
Franchise owners like Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla
and Preity Zinta are most likely to attract brands including, Hyundai
Santro, Compaq, Kurkure and VSNL. Besides, owing to franchisees Mukesh
Ambani and Vijay Mallya—two corporate goliaths—Reliance Industries and
UB Group will be backing the IPL.
R Gowthaman, managing director, MindShare, South
Asia, which is a media buying agency, says, “For on-air sponsors, TRPs
definitely matter and it is the only way to evaluate the product.
However, as far as the IPL is concerned, we have certain benchmarks for
the sponsors. Once the tournament begins, any rating between 3 and 4
should be good. A 4 will be very good. As the tournament moves towards
the finals, TRPs 7-8 can’t be ruled out. However, for cricket,
advertisers do not depend on just TRPs. Most advertisers also consider
whether a tournament is giving them the incremental reach or not.”
The battle for control of the 22 yards has begun in the earnest, both on and off the pitch.
