The Hindu Business Line : ICC T20 final garners lower ratings than IPL finals

Mumbai, June 22 The first India-specific match may have garnered higher ratings than the inaugural IPL-2 match but the final match of ICC World Twenty 20 delivered relatively lower ratings at 3.7 (Star Cricket) and 3.8 (DD1 National) compared with the IPL-2 final (8.3), as reported by the rating agency aMap.

According to Mr Amit Varma, CEO, aMap, “The ratings for the finals was comparable to any India-specific match played during the course of the tournament. While the ratings for the ICC finals may have been lower than the recent IPL finals, it would not be fair to compare the two as they are different formats.

“A club format versus a nation format is different as in the former there are no winners or losers unlike a nation format where the country stops watching once its team is no longer playing the series.”

However, two years ago, when India won the T20 World Cup, viewership ratings had surged to 5.5 and this year with the country bowing out early in the tournament, it was natural for ratings to crash along with the exit of the Indian team.

In fact, the first India-specific match between India and Bangladesh registered a rating of 3.9 which was higher than the IPL-2 inaugural match at 3.6. Other India-specific matches also garnered healthy ratings with the India vsWest Indies match registering the highest at 5.3 followed by the India-England match at 4.8.

Meanwhile, sponsors and advertisers are not exactly rushing to get compensated for the fall in ratings, subsequent to India’s exit from the tournament. Big ticket advertisers such as Reliance Mobile, Reebok and Max New York Life are still waiting to get a full overview of their investments.

“We already have a deal in place with the tournament. Our assumption is that T20 has delivered and that only two matches of the semi-finals and finals have been affected where ratings could have been higher if India had been playing. This comprises a mere 10 per cent of the tournament,” said Mr Sanjay Behl, Head of marketing & Branding, Reliance Communications.

Other advertisers like Max New York Life are still evaluating the final outcome of the series. “No we are not seeking any compensation from the broadcaster as yet. In fact, we are still waiting to see if the series has delivered and my guess is that if the average ratings for the matches is at 3.5 then it is in line with our expectations,” claims Ms Anisha Motwani, Executive Vice-President, Marketing, Max New York Life.

Hardcore cricket advertisers such as Reebok too, are in the process of figuring out whether the T20 has delivered this year. “We are still not sure whether the T20 series has delivered, and are still evaluating it internally with ESS (ESPN Star Sports) to figure it out,” stated Mr Sajid Shamim, Executive Director, Marketing, Reebok.

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ICC T20 final garners lower ratings than IPL finals