Rural viewership boosts reach of IPL 2016

Tournament's reach on Sony Pictures Network India channels grew 93 per cent in the first week, compared with last year

For all those wondering just how popular the Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL) is beyond the metros, the answer, according to reach numbers for the first week of telecast is - very. The cash-rich Twenty-20 tournament, which is telecast on channels from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN), grabbed 93 per cent more eyeballs across the nation in its first week, compared with last year.

In 2015, the first week reach (number of people who have seen the tournament for at least one minute) was 113 million (viewers) while this year the tournament has already garnered a reach of 218 million in the first week. The primary reason for this huge jump is the inclusion of rural households in the reach and viewership measurement system under the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India.

"The reach has seen a massive increase and this proves that rural India is also watching the IPL. Last year's cumulative reach was just shy of 200 million, so you can see the growth. The ratings (viewership) continue to be steady and strong, though we can't compare it to last year (because the measurement universe was different). At an all-India level and in the urban territories too, the tournament is holding strong," said Rohit Gupta, president - network sales, SPN.

He added the tournament's first week viewership at an all-India level (males and females above four years of age consuming cable and satellite TV) is around 4.8 TV Ratings (TVR) while in case of males above 15 years of age (cable and satellite viewers across India) it is even higher at 5.1 TVR. The urban slice of viewership (males and females above four years of age) is at around 3.8 TVR according to Gupta.

According to data available on BARC India website, both Sony Six and Sony Max are leaders in their respective genres (sports and Hindi movie entertainment) because of the response that IPL has got on-air. In both cases, the top five programmes are IPL matches.