IPL advertisers drag their feet

The spectre of lower advertiser interest is looming large over the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). India's largest consumer durables company, LG Electronics, will not be an on-air sponsor this year during the tournament, which begins from April 4 in Chennai. The official broadcaster of the event is SET Max.

L K Gupta, chief marketing officer, LG Electronics, while confirming the news said the decision to keep away from IPL was taken keeping in mind falling viewership. "You have to look at all aspects, the costs vis-a-vis the returns," he said, adding, “While doing our annual budgets for 2012, we decided that we would not advertise on IPL this year. The decision was taken almost two or three months ago.”

 

But LG is not the only one. IPL regulars such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Micromax and Samsung are all saying they are yet to take a call on whether to advertise on the property.

The only companies speaking in the affirmative are Vodafone, which is both the on-ground and on-air presenting sponsor this year, and Karbonn Mobiles, the official mobile phone partner for IPL. Shashin Devasare, executive director, Karbonn Mobiles, says he sees no reason why his company should not be advertising on IPL this year. "It is an important property and one that still gives good reach," he says.

But advertisers as well as organisers are worried about diminishing viewer interest. Last year, the average viewership for IPL as a whole was 3.91, the lowest for the league since its start in the summer of 2008. The first season of the tournament had a rating of 5.39, the second had 4.66, and the third had 5.51.

This year, media planners again do not expect average ratings to be over 4, given the general fatigue with cricket and India's poor performance on foreign soil.

According to TAM Sports, a unit of TAM Media Research, the tests series between India and Australia this year registered an average rating of 0.74 only, while the India-West Indies series had an average rating of 0.87.

Rohit Gupta, president, Multi Screen Media, the owner of SET Max, says deals with advertisers will be closed in the next few weeks.

"We are in the process of signing up new brands," he says.