IPL 2020: Vivo pullout may not hit revenues of Star Disney much

Will Chinese firms holding back from advertising in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) have an impact on the revenues of Star Disney, IPL’s official TV and digital broadcaster? The concern comes a day after Vivo pulled out as the title sponsor of this year’s T20 cricket tournament. Vivo’s move could also mean that it will not put in the big bucks in television advertising.

So what is the exposure of Chinese brands in the IPL? Based on BARC data for IPL 2019, only two Chinese companies, Vivo and Oppo, were amongst the top 10 TV advertisers, and they constituted 24 per cent of the total advertising volumes. The other companies in the top 10 list were Coca-Cola, Maruti Suzuki, Tatas, Vini, Samsung, Sporta Technologies, among others.

In 2018, Vivo, with a 12 per cent volume share of IPL advertising, was almost neck-and-neck with its rival, Oppo. But the Number One in the pecking order was Coca-Cola, which is also IPL’s soft drinks partner. Coke had a 13 per cent share of advertising volumes. The second spot went to FX Mart, a financial services company, followed by Vivo and Oppo.

Last year, Star Disney had raked in Rs 3,000 crore in ad revenues, and the question is, can they do the same this year? The broadcaster has ruled out any cut in the premium it charges for IPL advertising. This ranges from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 12 lakh for a 10-second spot for top games. “If you want to buy a Rolls-Royce, you cannot ask us to give it to you at the price of a Maruti,” said a source who is aware of the broadcaster’s strategy.

Star Disney’s confidence is based on the fact that it is only the IPL which gives any company such a massive viewership. Last year, the tournament garnered over 424 million viewers, or 51 per cent of the TV-viewing population in the country. And this year, with fans who see the T20 matches on the ground having no choice but to watch them on TV, the viewership is expected to shoot up even more.     

Sources point out that the Chinese exposure in IPL advertising is limited to only mobile phone companies and will be easily covered by the new title sponsor replacing Vivo. Besides, there are numerous other advertisers who would like to cash in on the timing of the IPL this year. The tournament is to be held over September to November this time, which coincides with the peak festival sale season. (The tournament used to be held from March earlier.)

But some experts say that Star Disney may have to bring down its ad rates, as this is also the season when other big-ticket programmes like Bigg Boss and Kaun Banega Crorepati are aired, which have much lower ad rates.