Indian Premier League 6 has managed to sell its complete ad inventory this season by dropping ad rates between 8 and 10 per cent. The tournament has sold 10-minute ad spots between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 4.5 lakh (lowering it from Rs 5 lakh last season).
Rohit Gupta, President, MSM (the owners of SET Max, the official IPL broadcaster), said, “We are getting ad growth due to the 25 to 30 per cent unsold inventory of last season. Today, we are back to what we were 3-4 seasons ago, with a complete sell out of the inventory, with 11 key sponsors this season. IPL has now matured to a great tournament and is growing between 5 and 10 per cent every year. With 180 million viewers, it gives enough reason for advertisers wanting to come back.” Previous advertisers such as Samsung and Godrej are back this season, while new ones such as Panasonic, Honda cars, Asian Paints and Usha have jumped on board. Spot buys made by brands such as Coca Cola India, Airtel and Parle Agro (Frooti and Appy) have also helped in picking up significant inventory for the upcoming IPL season.
But media planners do not expect a great swing in ad revenues this season.
A senior media planner, who did not wish to be named, said, “MSM India is unlikely to grow its revenues by a huge margin, and is expected to have revenues at the same level as last year.” Last year, MSM is expected to have raked in ad revenues to the tune of Rs 700 crore.
While there are IPL loyalists such as Vodafone and PepsiCo (the presenting sponsors), other big spenders such as Hyundai have decided to stay away from the tournament despite associating with cricketing properties such as the ICC (International Cricket Council), the woman’s world cup recently.
Nalin Kapoor, Senior General Manager and Group Head Marketing, Hyundai Motor said, “We did buy airtime during IPL 4, but have not associated with the property since the fifth year. Today, we have a deal with the ICC on a global level and this includes the World Cup.”
Navin Khemka, Managing Partner, Zenith Optimedia, said, “Television viewership is not just about IPL. There are advertisers who can live without IPL as there are alternatives. Unlike ground sponsorship deals which have doubled rates, airtime rates are coming down for the tournament.”
Meanwhile, the outlook for the advertising industry which witnessed a challenging year last season is still cautious as ad rates have not exactly been buoyant of late.
Shripad Kulkarni, CEO, Percept Media, said, “Rationalising of rates by IPL will help get more advertising but, since the first quarter of this year ad spends have not been very encouraging, IPL revenues can increase only if TV advertising spends pick up.”
But there could be other revenue streams for the tournament. SET Max is set to see more revenues because of an increase in the subscription revenues.
Basabdutta Chowdhury, CEO, Platinum Media, (part of Madison Media Group) said, “Last year, the channel had unsold inventory and they had given bonus spots to brands. This year, they may sell their entire inventory and may also see higher subscription revenues.”