KKR, Rajasthan Royals encounter creates TV history

The cliff-hanger Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals on Thursday night attracted 8.3 million viewers, the highest so far among the 10 matches played in IPL2 versus the first 10 matches in IPL1 (played in 2008).

The match also recorded the highest average time spent of 54 minutes by the viewers on SET MAX, the host broadcaster for IPL.

This analysis is based on the viewership data provided by overnight ratings agency Audience Measurement & Analytics (aMap).

This IPL match also had several other “firsts” in the IPL2 tournament currently underway in South Africa. It was the first IPL match to have been decided in “Super Overs”, the extra two overs given to teams if scores are tied during the normal of course of the match (20 overs per side).

Because of this, it turned out to be the longest Twenty20 format cricket match, lasting four hours and 35 minutes, nearly 60 minutes more than a normal Twenty20 cricket match, the aMap data said.

This match also had the highest on-air advertising time on SET MAX with over 25 brands consuming about 45 minutes of on-air advertising, more than double a regular Twenty20 cricket match.

The match delivered a TVR (television ratings) of 4.5, the second highest in IPL2 so far.

Overall, advertisers said they are happy with the response to the 10 IPL2 matches played so far.

“There has been a lot of positives for us as a brand. IPL is the only event at which we are advertising and so far, the cumulative reach of IPL on television has gone up compared to last year,” said Vijay Narayan, vice president, marketing and communications, Havell's India, adding, “The only bit that is worrying us is the rain interruptions and the strategy breaks in-between the matches.”

For IPL2, Havell's India, an electrical engineering firm, is spending over Rs 25 crore on advertising on SET MAX.