IPL 6 average TV Rating to be 3.9: study

MEC-Meritus report predicts a 2.6 % increase over 2012 season

The sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is schedule to begin on April 3, will rate better on TV this time compared to the 2012 edition, predicts a IPL TV Rating Estimation Study. The study is done by MEC, a media buying and planning agency and a founding partner of GroupM, and Meritus, WPP’s analytics company.

As per the study, average TV rating for the league stage is expected to go up from 3.8 TVR last year to 3.9 TVR – an increase of 2.6% (15+ years, Male/Female, SEC ABC)

It also forecast that Mumbai Indians (4.5), Kolkata Knight Riders (4.2) and Chennai Super Kings (4.1) games will have the highest ratings.

Also, home team (84%), favourite team (79%) and Indian stars (64%) continue to be deciding factors to watch a match, it notes.

Predictably, time of the match (49%) is also gaining importance.

MI (23%), CSK (19%) and KKR (14%) are the most popular teams as per the report. Meanwhile, support for Hyderabad has gone up by 200% (2% to 6%), Bangalore has dropped by 50% (12% to 8%)

Sachin Tendulkar (80), MS Dhoni (79), Yuvraj Singh (76), Virat Kohli (74) and Virender Sehwag (73) are the most popular Indian players in the League; Chris Gayle (60), Ricky Ponting (55), Brett Lee (51) and Kevin Pietersen (50) are most popular foreign players

T Gangadhar, Managing Director, MEC India said, “Our study suggests that IPL seems to have matured as a property. The study clearly establishes that ratings in the first phase (first 18 games) impact the fate of the entire league. With Pepsi activating their title sponsorship in a big way, the BCCI launching the IPL Fantasy League and India’s strong performance against Australia, the first stage of the league could get further momentum.

“We expect the IPL Fantasy League to become a key part of the live broadcast experience and as a result, social chatter around IPL could grow significantly”, Gangadhar added.

Sunder Muthuraman, Managing Partner, Meritus Analytics, also believes that the IPL brand is reflecting the behaviour of a typical mature consumer product.  

“Our proprietary survey, that is integral to the forecast, shows that there is a segment of audience who will watch more than last year (say, the loyalists) and another segment who will watch lesser (say, the rejecters). Given that the former segment is larger than the latter, the ratings are likely to be marginally higher than in 2012.  Given our past successes, we hope our pioneering rating forecast methodology will be adopted by all broadcasters and advertisers”, Sunder concluded.

Now in its fifth edition, the study is a combination of primary research and high-end analytics. The research was conducted in Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Pune, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad.