India could not have had a better start to its T20 World Cup campaign. Beating arch rivals, Pakistan in a match that went down to the last ball was stuff dreams are made of. A scintillating innings by Virat Kohli was incredible to watch and the tournament now is expected to garner viewer interest, which hopefully will translate to greater revenue from the broadcaster, Disney Star.
The thumb rule is at least 70 per cent of the total advertising time is booked in advance and the other 25-30 per cent goes as what is called a “spot buy.” In most situations, the breakeven for a broadcaster is expected to be achieved in the pre-sale. A top official at an FMCG major says the asking price for a 10 second spot at the India-Pakistan match was Rs 15-16 lakh. Typically, the broadcaster closes all deals a day or two before the game. The spike for a spot for a game like this could even be 1.5-2x compared to about 1.2-1.3x for India playing someone else. “There was not a huge level of interest before the tournament for a few reasons. It was felt that the tariffs were on the higher side plus India’s performance has been indifferent for a while,” says the official quoted earlier. The absence of fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah too was a dampener.
Understandably, the victory has thrilled cricket fans, with the real possibility of India now reaching the semi-finals. The next big game is against South Africa, though interest levels will not be anywhere close to the one involving Pakistan. “Advertising rates follow a simple path and that is dictated by India’s performance. We could see a small spike for India’s games against Netherlands and South Africa but the semi-final and final will be the ones to watch if we make it,” says Madan Mohapatra, independent marketing and media consultant.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is also a 20-over format but it has a more assured return when it comes to viewership, simply because it does not involve India. The story of the T20 World Cup is a far cry from that.
Also read: Virat Kohli hits a six for Hotstar, multiplexes as T20 World Cup viewership soars