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| It's a cricket tournament, it's a TV extravaganza ...it's IPL! |
| Ashish Sinha / New Delhi Apr 18, 2009, 00:58 IST |
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With Rs 400 crore-plus worth of television advertising revenue expected from over 80 brands advertising on host broadcaster SET MAX channel (Sony TV), the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament is expected to become one of the biggest television extravaganzas of 2009.
The 36-day IPL tournament will kick off in Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday, exactly 365 days after the inaugural match was played at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on April 18, 2008.
SET MAX, again the host broadcaster of IPL, has already sold over 80 per cent of the 12,000 ten-second advertising spots to various brands and sponsors. Most of the spots have been sold at a 35 per cent premium over the ad rates of the earlier tournament, sources say.
“Most of the big advertising spenders from categories like FMCG, automobiles, telecom services have bought the on-air ad spots at a premium in anticipation of projected average TV viewership ratings crossing 10 per cent for the weekend matches, and around 8 per cent for the weekdays matches,” said a senior media planner working in a leading media agency requesting anonymity.
Last year, IPL delivered average ratings of 4 per cent in cable homes while peak ratings crossed 10 per cent. This is a high viewership number when compared to the general entertainment channels that tend to get a rating of 4 to 5 per cent for their best shows.
Meanwhile, for the eight team owners, the second edition of IPL may have already made money due to more than doubling of the telecast rights fees this year. According to the new agreement, Multi Screen Media (Sony TV) and World Sport Group (WSG), an international sports marketing agency, will pay Rs 8,200 crore to BCCI over next nine years, more than double the initial agreement signed by the three parties last year. This, according to IPL sources, will be able to take care of any additional expenses of the team owners, who get 80 per cent of this money.
For viewers, all matches will be available at 4 pm and 8 pm India time. The domestic league cricket tournament organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had to be shifted to South Africa last month over security concerns as its schedule overlapped with that of the general elections.
The 59 matches scheduled this year will be played at eight venues in South Africa between April 18 and May 24 between the eight participating teams.
On Saturday, two back-to-back matches are scheduled, tickets for which were sold out at the beginning of this month.
The first match will be between the 2008 IPL winners, Rajasthan Royals, and Vijay Mallya's Royal Challenger Bangalore, and the second match will be between Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai Indians versus Chennai Super Kings, also in Cape Town.
Also read:
May 6: Padding up for profit
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