IPL 7 beats year-ago edition by 8% in ratings

Cricket tournament Indian Premier League (IPL)'s seventh edition registered an eight per cent increase in television ratings from the previous edition. The twenty-twenty tournament averaged 8,481 television viewership in thousands (TVT) this year compared to 7,835 TVT last year on all-India basis. This was an increase of eight per cent.

The cumulative reach saw a jump from 155 million last year to 190 million this.

The IPL was aired on Multi Screen Media's (MSM) Hindi movie and special events channel Max and its sports channels Sony Six and Sony Six HD.

The final match between Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders saw a 22,477 TVT compared to last year's final between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, 17,920 TVT (all-India basis). This is one of the best-rated matches in the IPL over two to three years, said the broadcaster.

Rohit Gupta, president, MSM, said, "This goes to prove the tournament has matured, like in the case of many global tournaments such as the English Premier League."

He added revenues from this edition were in line with those of last, despite the number of matches reducing from 76 to 60, with the expulsion of the Sahara-owned franchise Pune Warriors. Last year, the tournament earned MSM Rs 800 to 850 crore in advertising revenues. This year, the average ad rates were increased 15 per cent to make up for the drop in the number of matches to Rs 4.5 to Rs 4.75 lakh for a 10-second spot.

This year the tournament was in two legs. The first 20 matches were in the United Arab Emirates and the second in India. The reason for the shift to the UAE was the general assembly elections from April 7 to May 12.

Neeraj Vyas, senior executive vice-president and business head, Max, said, "Everyone was apprehensive about the shift to the UAE, but the tournament maintained decent ratings in the first leg. Once it came to India, the ratings kept getting better." The India leg coincided with the last leg of the elections when the audience interest in the latter was waning.

Gupta added the format had been a great success. That helped in getting the eyeballs. "As long as there are good international players participating and the matches are entertaining, the audiences are going to tune in. It does not matter what the peripheral issues are."