Indian Premier League viewership grows by 20% over the 2014 edition

The reach of the tournament also increased by 2% with first 45 matches having reached 182 mn unique viewers this year

Cricket tournament Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) viewership continued to grow in its fifth week over the last year. Television rating (TVR) has seen a 20 per cent jump in IPL 2015, over its predecessor in 2014. While the last year’s edition saw an average rating of three TVR for the 45 matches played so far, this year’s rating stands at 3.6 TVR. These ratings are for the cumulative viewership on all the channels that IPL matches were broadcast live on the Multi Screen Media network.

According to data provided by TAM, a significant amount of the increase in the viewership has come from the average time spent per viewer per match which has grown by nine per cent from 41:22 minutes to 45:04 minutes. The reach of the tournament also increased by two per cent, with the first 45 matches having reached 182 million unique viewers this year. All the data are for cable and satellite viewers above four years of age in the all-India market.

The matches are being aired on the Multi Screen Media network in five language feeds. While the pre- and post-match shows and coverage continues to be in Hinglish, the commentary is available in English (Sony Six and Sony Six HD), Hindi (Sony Max), Bangla (Sony Aath) and Tamil and Telugu (Sony Kix). Sony Max gained ratings points in week 19 (May 3 to May 9, 2015), from 617 GRP (gross rating point) to 691 GRP.

However, when compared to week 18 (April 26 to May 2, 2015), the tournament has seen a dip in ratings from 3.5 TVR to 3.2 TVR. As the league proceeds into its final stages, the viewership is expected to go up. The broadcaster has very little inventory left for the final four matches (after the league matches), inform sources. The average ad-spot rate for this year’s IPL is between Rs 5.2 lakh and Rs 5.75 lakh for 10 seconds. In the final stages, this rate may go up to Rs 12 lakh to 15 lakh for 10 seconds for last-minute buyers.