IPL slugfest fuels TV versus digital debate

Disney Star, on the other hand, has been more circumspect and privately admits to touching 500 million viewers given that in the last IPL season it managed a viewership of 360 million. The 2022 edition was not one of its best owing to IPL fatigue that was split into two. The addition of two new teams and shuffling of players didn’t help either

There’s a serious toe-to-toe battle going on out there between Disney Star that owns the TV rights for IPL and Viacom18 that holds the digital media rights. The battle is for eyeballs, and to prove the relevance, size, scale and ability of the distinct two mediums to draw viewership and advertising. There are others still who smirk and maintain that it’s just a battle of wits between Uday Shankar, now an investor in Viacom18, and Disney Star, the broadcasting company that he once headed.

IPL slugfest fuels TV versus digital debate

Whatever it may be, Viacom18 has announced plans to stream the IPL free on its JioCinema app, and it has been very vocal about its ambitious plans to reach 550 million viewers and garner ₹3,500 crore plus in advertising revenue. Disney Star, on the other hand, has been more circumspect and privately admits to touching 500 million viewers given that in the last IPL season it managed a viewership of 360 million. The 2022 edition was not one of its best owing to IPL fatigue that was split into two. The addition of two new teams and shuffling of players didn’t help either.

“IPL fatigue has worn off. The tournament is coming after a full year and the new teams too have settled. Disney Star is expecting a viewership of 450 million if not more,” says a person aware of the broadcaster’s plans.

As the two media firms battle it out in the market place, advertisers and media agencies may be playing one against the other to extract better ad rates for commercials. It’s a first for IPL that its digital and TV media rights are with two different companies being pitted against one another. “So far, most of the money for IPL has come from TV since digital was still in investment mode,” says a media analyst.

However, Viacom18 seems to be upsetting that playbook with its aggression strategy. Though queries sent to Viacom18 Sports remained unanswered, in its media release the company has said that content consumption in India is seeing a tectonic shift towards digital platforms…It is not just a shift in consumer behaviour. For brands, digital is fast becoming a key channel for customer acquisition, engagement, conversion, and retention. “The digital growth narrative is further fortified by the ever-increasing adoption of Connected TV (CTV),” it further said.

The number of Connected TVs (Internet-enabled through external sources like Fire Stick) or smart TVs in the country was estimated at 10 million by EY-FICCI report released last year. However, more recent reports claim India has 22 million CTV homes which Viacom18 has been quoting to its advantage.

The CTV homes do offer an advantage to IPL on JioCinema as it means that these homes can live stream the tournament on the big TV screen. “The moment you talk of 22 million connected TVs, the advertiser takes note. So, if, say, Disney Star sells a 10 second spot for ₹18 lakh…the rival’s offer of, say, ₹6 lakh spot for a connected TV home becomes very cheap and very exciting,” says media industry veteran Anuj Gandhi.

Disney Star does not lose out on account of this as it still has humongous TV reach, but this time it will have to fight another player for the big screen, he adds.

Dheeraj Sinha, CEO, Leo Burnett (South Asia), doesn’t see ad rates being drummed down for TV as the return on investment from IPL is proven. “If you’re a brand wanting mass reach and building relevance, IPL on TV still makes huge sense,” he says. Ramsai Panchapakesan, senior vice president and national head of integrated media buying at Zenith, explains that a 30-minute episode of a TV show may have a 0.5 to 2.5 TV rating, whereas an IPL match even on a weekday brings a TV rating of 3 to 4.5. “It’s a one-time opportunity in a year hence advertisers won’t mind paying higher entry cost as it serves the audience…Most importantly IPL helps to give stature to the brand with its mammoth numbers.”

That’s not to say that IPL on digital will be left behind as there will be brands that will choose digital plans, says Sinha. “The bottom line is IPL runs over nearly three months, and few advertisers would want to lose out on peak media presence. That’s really the logic that upholds IPL, its rates and its frenzy.”