MxMIndia

Tag: IPL

  • With Sony Pictures Television announcing its decision to buy 32 per cent stake from minority shareholders in a phased manner, its equity in Multi Screen Media (or MSM which runs the channels Sony, Sab, Max etc) will go up to 94 percent. This, says CEO Man Jit Singh, reflects Sony commitment in MSM and will allow the Indian enterprise to grow faster

    Sony’s stake hike allows MSM flexibility: Man Jit Singh. Regional/niche channels on anvil

    This is one soap that Sony Entertainment Television bosses are happy to see the end of. Over two decades ago, a group of seven entertainment industry biggies (including then superstar Jackie Shroff) and Sony Pictures got together to launch Sony Entertainment Television.  There were also rumours of senior minister Sharad Pawar’s brother-in-law Sadanand Sule having a stake. Multi Screen Media, as the company was called, had a complex shareholding, as is the case with many Indian corporations.

     

    Four years back, the minority shareholders were in a legal tangle which was finally resolved, but it was evident that they wanted to cash out soonest.

     

    So when the communique reaches media inboxes on Sony Pictures’s announcement of an agreement to acquired around 32 per cent of MSM’s shares currently held by Grandway Global Holdings Limited and Atlas Equifin Private Limited. The transaction, which will bring Sony’s stake in MSM to a little over 94 per cent, will close by end-December 2012.

     

    Under the terms of the agreement for this acquisition, aggregate cash consideration of $271 million will be paid by SPT to Grandway and Atlas, subject necessary government approvals, with $145 mn to be paid by December 2012 when the transaction ends and the balance $126 million will be paid in in three equal annual installments starting from the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014.

     

    “SPT has enjoyed great success with our channels in India and this acquisition further demonstrates our commitment to entertaining Indian audiences,” said Andy Kaplan, president, worldwide networks, SPT in a statement. “We’d especially like to thank Grandway and Atlas for their entrepreneurial spirit that helped to get this venture off the ground 17 years ago.”

     

    MSM chief executive Man Jit Singh (who as a Sony representative was chairman of the Board even when Kunal Dasgupta was CEO) spoke to MxMIndia’s Pradyuman Maheshwari from London on phone. Excerpts from the interview:

     

    This thing has been going back and forth for a while between Grandway, Atlas and Atlas.

    Yes, it’s been some time.

     

    So, is it only a cash transaction or with there be a non-cash consideration as well?

    As stated in the press release that it is $271 mn transaction of which there is a upfront payment of $145 mn and then three equal installments.

     

    And the balance 6-odd per cent?

    The balance 6 per cent  is held by a fund called the Capital Group which is not part of this transaction.

     

    Capital has had some stake for a while…

    Yes, they’ve held the stake from 2001. The Indian stakeholders are exiting. Capital Group is another transaction.

     

    Are you happy with the 1 bn-odd valuation of the company?

    We are delighted with the valuation which happened at the end of an extensive private equity process which determine the market value and then Sony stepped in and decided to acquire the stake, which for us is great news. Because now: a) it show Sony’s commitment towards India and to the channel operation and b) it will give us a lot of flexibility in running our business. And we’ll be able to make investments as we go forward. So, we are delighted with this news.

     

    In the year around 1999, I think the evaluation was something around 2.5 bn. And that was of course the first high that Sony had reached. And now it’s come down quite a bit.

    As you know, perhaps it was a little later. But as you know during the dotcom period the valuations which were thrown around were extraordinarily high. I think that it was a moment in time, the markets have settled and businesses have fairly matured and I think the valuations are where they are and they are correct.

     

    You mentioned that this will allow some more freedom for doing various things so anything on the anvil. You’ve spoken about regional channels in the past and you did buy this Bengali channel. Anything more…

    As you know, we are in the process of acquiring a stake in Maa TV which we have announced already and that will continue. We’ll take opportunities as they come and we now have the flexibility to move quickly and consummate those opportunities. And we look forward to doing that.

     

    Is there any particular direction that you are looking at?

    We are certainly looking at regional channels as we are interested in regional channel space. And as you know we have made a major investment in our sports channels. And we expect that sport is an area where you have to continue to buy rights when they become available because you have to bid for them. And we’ll be in a position to make those investments when they come to us.

     

    But those investments you have made. Sony is already investing a fair bit for this acquisition and you’ll have to make a lot more investments for all of this.

    Correct.

     

    That mandate you have received…

    Yes. By investing in MSM, Sony has shown its willingness and enthusiasm for the Indian market. And they are very very open to continue….

     

    Is there anything else you are looking at other than channels because digitalization will allow all that to happen?

    Absolutely. We believe that digitalization is going to make us able to deliver different kind of content to smaller segments of viewership. So we believe that there will be opportunity to create niche channel. This will certainly help us by allowing us to look at all those opportunities. We believe there is a good amount of things that can be done over the next two-three years.

     

    The last two years have been tremendous for MSM because we have Sony doing so well, SAB is doing so well and IPL hasn’t been too bad. So would you credit that for the way things are right now and at Sony’s commitment?

    I think you have to look at Sony’s commitment which was committed in the good times as well as in the bad times to MSM. It is only that its bigger commitment is to the Indian market. Sony has always believed that India is one of the most important of the BRIC countries and it’s a place where Sony must invest and grow the market. So there has been a commitment to India. So we should give them credit for being consistent in their beliefs that India should be one of the key markets in which certain focus is on. And not only that but on the channel business, our electronic business side, it is a growth market for us on both sides.

     

    And will we see some synergies with all of that all, in the near future?

    Absolutely. This will give us much more flexibility to be able to create synergies between our electronic groups and our channel business. And we see opportunities to bring things together.

     

    Is there a possibility of a change of the company name now that Sony’s ownership is near-total? Perhaps Sony Entertainment Television…

    Why you don’t like MSM?

     

    No, I love it. One has got used to it. But still the fact is that now since it’s a Sony it could well be called that. Is it on the cards?

    I’ll be honest; we don’t have any plans to do that. But thank you, I’ll think about it (laughs). I’m quite happy with MSM, maybe because we all came up with it. There is no such plan. We are quite satisfied with it. Also, the channel is Sony Entertainment Television. So, I’m not sure if we’ll need to change the company name. Let’s put it this way, there has been no talk on this.

     

    With inputs from Meghna Sharma

     

  • In comparison with 72 million page views in 2011, 113 million page views were generated during this year

    IPL 5 online traffic rises by 55%

    By A Correspondent

     

    Season 2012 of IPL concluded on May 27 with the Kolkata Knight Riders beating Chennai Super Kings to clinch the title for the first time in IPL history. The matches were streamed online by IPL official partner, Times Internet Limited (TIL) in partnership with YouTube. During this season, there was a 55 per cent increase in online viewership. In comparison with 72 million page views in 2011, 113 million page views were generated during this year’s action packed season.

     

    Showing a strong growth of over 87 per cent from the previous year, the page views for Indiastood at 80 million as compared to 43 million last year. The final match of the tournament generated 7.5 million page views, making it the highest single day viewership during the entire season.

    This year the IPL website offered a slew of features including interactive scorecards, high-definition streaming of IPL matches, DVR features (to rewind during a match), video-on-demand facility, and a ‘Battleground’ section.

     

    Rishi Khiani, CEO, Times Internet Limited, added, “Premium video content is a key focus area for us at Indiatimes and IPL is the key property as part of this vision. We promised IPL 2012 viewers a highly interactive and engaging cricket viewing experience. The record breaking online viewership numbers and advertiser traction across the season validate our delivery of this promise”.

     

    Gautam Anand, Director Content Partnership, Google APAC, said: “It’s heartening to see the continuous growth in the viewership of this exciting tournament online from across the globe. This season was extra special with lots of close matches and last ball finishes and we are really glad that we were able to bring all the action live to our audience on YouTube for the third consecutive year.”

     

  • What has shown improvement is the cumulative reach for the 73 matches in IPL 5 that stands at 161 million

    73 matches on IPL5 get an average TVR of 3.36

    By A Correspondent

     

    Despite delivering the lowest television ratings in the history of the tournament, the weekly data released by TAM sports has shown some consistency in its overall IPL 5 viewership. According to the latest numbers released by TAM Sports for the first 73 matches (CS 4+ All India), IPL 5 recorded a TVR of 3.36 per cent, which is slightly lower than the first 73 matches of season four which received a TVR of 3.51 per cent.

     

    These ratings do not include the final match played between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders on May 27. A total of 76 matches were played in season five, the highest so far in the entire tournament, and out of the 76 matches played, two matches were abandoned due to rain.

     

    The inaugural IPL season (IPL1) however continues to remain the most watched tournament till date with a TVR of 4.81 per cent for the 58 matches whereas IPL3, which celebrated the home coming season, witnessed the second highest viewership for the first 60 matches with a TVR of 4.65 per cent; IPL season two which was played in South Africa received a TVR of 4.17 per cent for the first 57 matches.

     

    What has shown improvement is the cumulative reach for the 73 matches in IPL 5 that stands at 161 million. This is nearly the same for IPL 4 where the reach was 162 million and far better than IPL 3, 2, and 1 where the reach measured was 143 million, 122 million and 102 million respectively.

     

    It may be recalled that for the first 59 matches IPL 5 delivered a TVR of 3.33 per cent and during the first 48 matches, IPL 5 delivered a TVR of 3.40 per cent whereas for the first 36 matches IPL 5 delivered a TVR of 3.41 per cent, for the first 27 matches, it delivered a TVR of 3.53 per cent and the first 16 matches, a TVR of 3.65 per cent.

     

    Mr Janardhan Pandey, Associate Vice-President, DDB Mudra Max said that he was not disappointed with the ratings as season five was expected to deliver lower ratings than last year, although he did expect the ratings to be closer to season four. On the factors that might have affected the viewership, Mr Pandey said: “I feel that on the face of very high expectations, too much confusion before the start of this season along with poor Indian team’s performance in last one year and overdose of cricket did impact the IPL season five viewership. I am also of the view that certain IPL teams are weak with few relevant star players as compared to many other teams, so the matches involving them delivered low ratings, thus impacting the overall score.”

     

    “I believe that the game is extremely popular and audiences are still around. Only the crowd needs to swell further. The weaker teams must get boost up with inclusion of adequate star players” he added.

     

    Source : TAM Sports, TG : CS 4+ yrs, Market : All India, Channel : MAX, No. of Matches analysed : As mentioned in the table

    * In IPL 1 one match (47th) was abandoned due to rain
    * In IPL 2 two matches (7th & 13th)were abandoned due to rain
    * In IPL 4 one match (20th) was abandoned due to rain
    * In IPL 5 two matches (32th & 34th) were abandoned due to rain

     

  • Since the overall television ratings were on the lower side this year, it indicates a strong possibility of audience fatigue having set in

    Anil Thakraney: The IPL diary

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The two month long drama is done and dusted. (I use the word ‘dusted’ hesitatingly… goodness knows if there are more skeletons waiting to tumble out.) It’s a good time to take stock of the IPL and make some suggestions for the next season.

     

    Since the overall television ratings were on the lower side this year, it indicates a strong possibility of audience fatigue having set in. My hunch is there are just too many matches in the tournament… the numbers must be scaled down. I think the IPL should be a one-month event, this would make sure audience attention doesn’t flag. And the tournament doesn’t lose its appeal.

     

    There have to be very powerful and effective mechanisms put in place to rid the tournament of all the scandals it’s associated with. Match/spot fixing, black money transactions with players, rowdy behaviour of some franchise owners, drunk players going berserk at the IPL parties, cheerleaders being hit on, crowd mismanagement at the venues, etc, etc. I don’t know if the BCCI is aware of this, but the IPL carries very little respect and credibility across the world. I was stunned by the constant allegations of match fixing on the social media right through the two months. Clearly that’s not good for the IPL brand.

     

    The auctioning process needs to be made transparent. And the fee paid to all players made public. (We still don’t know how much Sachin and Dhoni get paid.) Since the IPL is not a private party, its financial records must be made public. This will only help the tournament gain some much needed brownie points.

     

    There have to be clear guidelines laid out for all members who get free passes at the venues. On how they must conduct themselves, and the exact benefits allowed to them. The reason Shah Rukh Khan got into a skirmish at the Wankhede stadium is because no one told him he’s not allowed to take children onto the cricket ground.

     

    Navjot Sidhu, Ravi Shastri, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Danny Morrison and a few others should be given a break from commentary duty for a few seasons. And instead, some old boys and T20 misfits like Ganguly and Dravid must be removed from the field and brought into the commentary box.

     

    Lastly and most importantly, a separate contract needs to be signed between the BCCI and the Royal Challengers team owner, Dr Vijay Mallya. This contract should make it clear that throughout the duration of the tournament, his very bigda hua beta, Sid, shall be barred from tweeting.

     

    * * *

     

    PS: Speaking of the IPL, in case you missed it, here’s SRK’s fantastic speech at Yale. Full of beans and full of humour. This is not the SRK who landed up at Wankhede that night, and indulged in deeply vulgar behaviour. I guess basically he’s a cool guy. But is unable to exorcise theDelhimawaali who still lurks inside of him.

     

  • In Freaking News, which appears every Tuesday and Friday, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare in the morning papers and the nightly news. And sometimes the afternooners, the newsmags and all that's on the Web

    [MJR] TV gets boring after IPL

    Ranjona Banerji

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The end of the IPL has seen a flurry of articles, analyses and edits – as well as some television breast-beating. Tuesday’s must-read is Ayaz Memon in The Times of India as he dissects the IPL and people’s reaction to it. TOI also carries an edit on the IPL – a day after everyone else.

     

    On TV, Rahul Kanwal of Headlines Today, wearing far too much make-up – almost like those pictures of stars like Rajendra Kumar and Biswajit with orange lipstick that movie halls used to carry – was in “hot pursuit” with BCCI chief TV spokesperson (if that’s not a designation it should be) Rajiv Shukla trying to solve all the problems with the IPL.

     

    The upheaval in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly also bothered our TVwallahs and led to one more verbal fisticuffs on Times Now. This followed another one on the Andhra High Court striking down a quota for minorities. One feels that TV channels need to stop inviting people like Ravi Shankar Prasad and Mohammed Owaisi on the same show as it only leads to acrimonious yelling rather than informed debate. Arnab Goswami did not even bother to control them. TV debates appear to have run through their usefulness. They provide little information or food for thought and now that the actors are the same on every channel night after night, there is no variety or novelty either.

     

    * * *

     

    The big news for newspapers in Mumbai was the horrific road accident on the Mumbai-Pune expressway where 27 members of a marriage party were crushed to death by a speeding truck. Several heart-wrenching details about the accident were in all the newspapers and were in fact almost too much to bear.

     

    The problems of no proper ambulance or paramedical services or the dangers of Indian roads and our lack of disaster preparedness were all covered. None of this makes the spectacle of accidental death any easier of course.

     

    The drought in Maharashtra is also now making almost a daily appearance in newspapers but I haven’t noticed it on TV yet. That is hardly surprising because unless there is mass-scale devastation, even 24 hour TV news channels struggling to fill in the gaps will not be interested. There is limited scope for engineered outrage and explosive TV debates when it comes to drought or even malnutrition.

     

    * * *

     

    The biggest media-related news was former British prime minister Tony Blair telling the Leveson inquiry into media ethics that politicians have to hobnob with the media in today’s world. He admitted to flying to Australia to convince Rupert Murdoch to support the Labour Party in the general elections. Interesting… Now how many Indian politicians would be so courteous to the Indian media?

     

    * * *

     

    On a personal note, was quite pleased to see the French Open get so much coverage in the newspapers. Of course, the IPL is over so there’s plenty of space… Hindustan Times gets top marks – but it has increasingly established itself as a newspaper which covers all sports not just cricket. Even the Times of India deigned to provide a little space to tennis and the Grand Slam which has just started in Paris. That is high honour indeed.

     

  • Kolkata Knight Riders dethroned Chennai Super Kings led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni

    IPL’s new champions- Kolkata Knight Riders

    By Sudarshan S

     

    April 18, 2008 to May 27, 2012 is a long wait, but as the owner and the mercurial Shahrukh Khan said: “This is something youngsters should believe in – resilience, patience, perseverance.  If you believe, you can win.”  Manoj Tiwary swings a delivery of Dwayne Bravo to the boundary on the 19.4 over, and the fireworks lit up the sky to usher in a new champion. Kolkata Knight Riders dethroned Chennai Super Kings led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni with a record of having qualified for semi-final of all the editions, and the fourth final.

     

    The match was not over, at 19.4th over, as the next KKR player walked in without helmets, pads, and no guards and took off from where Brendon Mcullum had left off on April 18, 2008 – the first game of IPL versus Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he scored 155, while KKR, then favourites even before the tournament started, posted 258 – the highest total in all IPLs.  Shahrukh Khan, the next player, walked in and seized the moment like a true showman.

     

    Every opportunity provided by the media was like a free hit that Shahrukh Khan lapped up, and displayed his candor by playing to the gallery. He wore his mask of modesty in the celebrations, and was humble enough in first congratulating his team, captain, coach and support staff, and in the same breath, he also thanked the hosts, their captain, crowds for the wonderful hospitality.  He hugged each and every player to now openly display his glee over the patient wait of the prophetic words on April 18, 2008 that had come true after ‘Four years One month and Nine Days’.  Jiving to ‘Will You be My Chhammak Chhallo’ along with the close knit family of cheer girls, and asking Navjot Singh Sidhu to comment something about the performance.

     

    This was KKR’s 75th game in IPL – a major milestone for a movie if it ran that many weeks, but Shahrukh would have spent 40 weeks over five years with the team by just his presence to achieve a brand valuation of about 50 odd million dollars (say about Rs250 crores), behind Chennai Super Kings ($75 million) and Mumbai Indians ($60 odd million).

     

    Just trying to imagine the glamour quotient of other teams, be it Shilpa Shetty for Rajasthan Royals, Preity Zinta, for Kings XI Punjab, Deepika Padukone for Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Akshay Kumar for Delhi Dare Devils.

    KKR was the only team to have a dream combination with John Buchanan as the coach, Sourav Ganguly as the captain, and a cheer BOY in Shahrukh Khan.  What changed were the coach and the captain, and this was akin to a brain and heart transplant, but the soul remained intact, and resurrected the team.  Fourth in the fourth edition, sixth in the first and third edition, eighth in the second edition – that also witnessed the Fake IPL player controversy.

     

    Now who remembers all that – for this was all a PR stunt – not Public Relations, but Performance and Response.  “This is something youngsters should believe in – resilience, patience, perseverance.  If you believe, you can win.”  You did.  Congratulations, Kolkata Knight Riders, Congrats Shahrukh — the Showman!

     

    Sudarshan S teaches public relations at various business and media schools. He also head the Mumbai-based Prognosys Marcom Services

  • In Freaking News, which appears every Tuesday and Friday, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare in the morning papers and the nightly news. And sometimes the afternooners, the newsmags and all that's on the Web

    [MJR] Media has to protect freedom of expression and thought

    Ranjona Banerji

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The knee-jerk government response to the Ambedkar cartoon controversy – banning cartoons from text books – got a very strong response from Sunday’s newspapers. The need to protect freedom of speech, why cartoons frighten those in power, the personal attacks faced by cartoonists were covered by The Times of India, Indian Express and Hindustan Times in special features and detailed stories.

     

    Many also carried cartoons which have caused trouble in the past and tried to examine just why cartoons are seen as dangerous.

     

    Indian Express had a comprehensive interview with historian Mushir-ul-Hasan who has just written a book on Parsee Punch, a cartoon magazine brought out by Parsis in colonial India. The British in India at the time either had a good sense of humour or the good sense to realise that going after cartoons was hardly likely to end subversive thinking.

     

    The media has to come out and protect freedom of expression and thought – because in any battle against it, it will be the first casualty. The threat does not come just from those in power but also from pressure groups in civil society. Unfortunately in India, the first response by the government is to cave in to the demands of those whose “sentiments are hurt” rather than stand up for the Constitution.

     

    * * *

     

    After running through the IPL as the scourge of human civilisation, TV channels found something else to amuse themselves. Not, of course, the Indian economy, which seems perilously close to bad times ahead – there is after all little scope for a melodramatic studio-based jatra based on a falling rupee and rising inflation. Much better instead to concentrate on parties (not political ones, but the others where people gather to eat, drink and make merry and thus promote unconscionable evils), why the BCCI has insulted Kapil Dev by not giving him lots of money (and then providing the answer – because Dev hooked off to the rebel league ICL) and for all I know whether the sun will rise tomorrow or not.

     

    * * *

     

    It is always interesting to see journalists take the moral high ground when it comes to other people eating and drinking. Everyone knows that there are journalists who will do anything for a free meal and many attend press conferences only for the free drinks at the end. Even those who are not quite so greedy enjoy a drink or two at the end (or the middle) of a long and stressful working day. So why this moralistic posturing when it comes to others? Just to appeal to a puritanical audience or has alcohol dimmed their memories of their own excesses?

     

    In fine contrast, of course, the glamour sections of newspapers and glamour segments on news channels only serve to glorify the “having fun” lifestyle and employ almost no critical faculties at all.

     

    Just because the general public doesn’t know what you get up to in your spare time does not mean that you have to give in quite so much to hypocrisy.

     

    * * *

     

    Now that the Lokpal Bill has been put off till the next session, one can predict an all out publicity campaign by the Anna Hazare brigade – that’s easy. However, it is also possible to predict that while the movement may not fizzle out, the media coverage will.

  • The dust is beginning to settle on both the above issues. But am sure the next scandal is just round the corner. What’s the IPL without some offline tamasha?

    Anil Thakraney: On the great IPL scandals

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    I had been traveling all of last week, but I kept track of the IPL shenanigans as and when I could. Since the news channels and the social media folks were busy discussing two sensational incidents of last week, allow me to add my two-bits. And I’ll cut to the chase, as always.

     

    Firstly, on the Shah Rukh Khan versus Wankhede security personnel battle. If SRK’s kids and their pals did not have passes to enter the stadium, the security guards had every reason to demand their immediate removal. Kids will be kids, and it’s highly likely that they would run onto the pitch. There have been allegations that the kids were ‘molested’. I think that’s utter crap. Had that been the case, garam khoon Mr SRK would not have settled for maa bahen ki gaalis, he would have dispatched a few souls to the nearby Bombay Hospital. Also, guards molesting kids on an open ground when the IPL office bearers and players are still at the venue is a preposterous idea to even imagine.

     

    Net net: King Khan’s fat ego (and maybe his booze-influenced head) got the better of him, and he lost control. Ergo, it’s correct that the MCA has banned him. Though given the star’s super heavy connections; that would soon be lifted. But, hats off to the security men who stood up to him. It’s very, very rare in a celeb and VIP obsessed India for lowly officials to take on a heavy weight. I think these guys should be bestowed with an honour.

     

    Next: The incident in Delhi where a drunken IPL player allegedly molested a lady inside her hotel room. That’s a criminal case, and we will have to leave the investigation to the local cops. No one has the right to pass any moral judgments. But Mallya Jr’s tweet was beyond disgusting. It not only denigrated the woman in question, his rant exposed the dude’s sick mindset towards women in general. If Dr Vijay Mallya is a good dad, he needs to send darling beta for counseling, ASAP. And he must also insist that the brat disconnects his twitter account. Junior is not just busy bringing disrepute to his family – he’s reflecting a very poor image of the entire UB group.

     

    It’s Sunday evening as I write this piece. The dust is beginning to settle on both the above issues. But am sure the next scandal is just round the corner. What’s the IPL without some offline tamasha? Aisa mauka aur kahaan milega, bhaiyya?

     

    * * *

     

    PS: “If You’re Not Pissing Someone Off, You’re Probably Not Innovating.” An interesting read from the Harvard Biz Review. On what innovation really means and how marketers must do things differently in order to make a real impact.

     

    Link: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/05/if_youre_not_pissing_someone_o.html

     

     

  • While the TV viewership is falling, mobile viewership ratings see a rise

    Apalya TV crosses 11 million viewers on IPL 2012

    By A Correspondent

     

    The IPL’s fifth season is proving to be good news for mobile TV operators. Apalya Technologies, leader in mobile video, has registered 11 million viewers till now for the IPL 2012. This rise in mobile viewership is close to the numbers garnered by YouTube, which is also registering the same number of viewers on its website.

     

    Speaking on the increasing viewers for mobile TV, Vamshi Krishna Reddy, Co-founder & CEO, Apalya Technologies said: “We started the tournament with an aim to catch at least 10 million subscribers before IPL 2012 ended and today after 65 matches, we are proud that Apalya Technologies has already crossed its target and registered 11 million viewers who are watching the matches Live on their mobiles. With another 10 odd matches to go, we are sure that we will be able to write many success stories this IPL.”

     

    He added: “Apalya Technologies is exceeding not only TV, but also online viewership numbers, as compared to mobile viewership with the average minutes of usage per customer being between 17 to 20 minutes per day. Out of these viewers that we have registered till now, at least 70 per cent is coming from the Nokia users. The fact that mobile TV viewership is increasing is a proof in itself that the trends are changing and we are adapting to newer ways of watching TV.”

     

    With emerging technologies and growing mobile video viewing habits, India records over 200 million video views a month on mobile devices and Apalya is all set to capitalize the opportunity to tap the interest of the youth, allowing them mobile video viewing for various popular events. During the World Cup season in April 2011, Apalya generated 17 TB of streaming and with close to 50 minutes of usage per user for the 6 matches India played. Currently, Apalya powers mobile TV for all the major telecom service providers in India and has also launched its services with leading operators in Sri Lanka & Indonesia.

     

  • This year, the show will focus on 'Idols behind the Idol': follow the journey of the Idol and the people who have played a role in guiding them

    Indian Idol 6 to use drama & emotions for a connect with viewers

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    Music is something that almost every Indian can relate to. So, when in 2004, a reality show was launched which gave the people a chance to show-off their singing talent, the whole country lined up for auditions.

     

    Today that very same reality show, Indian Idol, is getting set to launch its sixth season. From June 1 on Sony Entertainment Television. The show had opened with average TVR of 6.9 in its first season whereas the last season got an average TVR of 2.0. According to Chandradeep Mitra, managing partner, Anvention, the main reason why reality shows lose their audience over years is stagnation: “After a while, one does get bored of watching the same genre of shows. It has happened to a lot of shows, be it KBC or IPL. Also, there are a lot of similar shows on other channels. So, there is a natural decay.” He further explained: “With more and more channels coming up and new genres being experimented, there is division of audience too.”

     

    Danish Khan

    Danish Khan, senior VP and Marketing Head, SET, is optimistic about the upcoming season and feels that every season has to have a unique hook to catch audience’s attention. “We are doing our best to come up with a delight for our audience. I agree that there are a lot of reality shows, so differentiation becomes important to stand out of the clutter.”

     

    This year, the show will focus on ‘Idols behind the Idol’: “We thought of going back this year and focus on how ‘nobody’ becomes a ‘somebody’. We’ll follow the journey of the Idol and the people who have played a role in guiding them to reach that position. So, there are a lot of drama and emotion this time, and we are hoping that it will touch the audience. And help us get good ratings,” Mr Khan said.

     

    However, Mr Mitra feels that for this genre to work well, the show must have quality talent and should be able to use social media well to promote it which will help to create awareness about the show.

     

    The channel will launch the show after the IPL. “It is a deliberate move and we have used the IPL to build the show through various promotions. We have used 360 degree marketing strategy to market the show,” said Mr Khan.

     

  • At 3.40 TVR (CS 4+, all India), IPL 5 is faring poorly when compared to 2011 where it recorded a TVR of 3.54, 4.53 in 2010, 4.05 in 2009 and 4.72 in 2008

    Halfway through, IPL 5 ratings stabilize

    By A Correspondent

     

    The downward slide continues though not as stark as it is made out to be. Numbers released by TAM Sports for the first 48 matches of IPL 5 have shown the ratings to be the least recorded thus far compared to previous four seasons. At 3.40 TVR (CS 4+, all India), IPL 5 is faring poorly when compared to 2011 where it recorded a TVR of 3.54, 4.53 in 2010, 4.05 in 2009 and 4.72 in 2008.

     

    It may be recalled that for the first 36 matches, IPL 5 delivered a TVR of 3.41 per cent, for the first 27 matches, it delivered a TVR of 3.53 per cent and the first 16 matches, a TVR of 3.65 per cent.

     

    What has shown improvement is the cumulative reach for these 48 matches in IPL 5 that stands at 151 million. This is nearly the same for IPL 4 where the reach was 152 million and far better than IPL 3, 2, and 1 where the reach measured was 137 million, 118 million and 98 million respectively.

     

    Delving on the suggested trend, Janardhan Pandey, Associate Vice President, DDB Mudra Group said: “Despite what is being said, the sport remains most popular and the reach deliveries also seem to be in line with our expectations. Maybe it’s a period of stabilization for IPL20 viewership. It cannot be doing excellent forever after all. There were many issues to start with such as overdose of cricket & the consistent poor performance by Indian cricket team. Keeping all those factors in mind I will give thumbs up to overall performance of IPL 5.”

     

    On the reported rise in reach numbers, Mr Pandey said: “This shows the strong appeal that the game of cricket enjoys in India. The ever increasing eye balls for cricket are testimony to this fact.”

     

     

    Program TVR %
    IPL5 Opening Ceremony 1.16
    Viewership of IPL Seasons for first 48 matches
    Year Season No. of Matches Avg. TVR % Cum Reach 000s
    2008 IPL 1 *47 4.72 98988
    2009 IPL 2 *46 4.05 118698
    2010 IPL 3 48 4.53 137049
    2011 IPL 4 *47 3.54 152720
    2012 IPL 5 *46 3.40 151585

     

    (Source: TAM Sports; Market: All India; TG: CS 4+ yrs; Period: Wk 14 to 18, 2012; this data is for first 48 matches of all IPL seasons.)

    * In IPL 1 one match (47th) was abandoned due to rain

    * In IPL 2 two matches (7th & 13th) were abandoned due to rain

    * In IPL 4 one match (20th) was abandoned due to rain

    * In IPL 5 two matches (32th & 34th) were abandoned due to rain

     

  • Interestingly, media planners point out that one of the plus points of IPL5 is that it has been consistent in its ratings, which will lead to better ROI for advertisers

    IPL 5: 38 matches later, ave TVR touches 3.41

    By A Correspondent

     

    The ratings for the first 38 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 5 continue to be lower than the previous seasons. According to TAM Sports, CS 4+, All India, IPL 5 delivered a TVR of 3.41 per cent in the 36 matches played so far during the tournament. Interestingly, media planners point out that one of the plus points of IPL5 is that it has been consistent in its ratings, which will lead to better ROI for advertisers.

     

    It may be recalled that first 27 matches of season 5 delivered a TVR of 3.53 per cent and the first 16 matches, a TVR of 3.65 per cent. The inaugural season (IPL1) however continues to remain the highest viewed season with a TVR of a whopping 4.84 per cent. Too much cricket in the past few months,India’s dismal ODI and Test match performance and too many matches in season 5 leading to cricket fatigue are said to be the possible reasons for the low ratings.

     

    Media planners believe that as the tournament progresses, especially towards the semi-finals and the finals, the ratings are expected to further increase. According to Mr Dinesh Vyas, GM, MEC India: “IPL 5 may have been receiving the lowest TVR as compared to the previous seasons, but it is also the only programme on television which has been delivering consistently. Therefore a TVR of 3.41 per cent for the first 36 matches is a good. In fact, now is the time that we will see more and more people viewing IPL matches and the ratings will only further increase.”

     

    Mr R Venkata Subramanian, Senior Director-Investments, MPG India was of the view that one of the plus points of season five is its consistency: “There has been consistency in the ratings which is certainly beneficial for advertisers however the numbers continue to be lower than the previous seasons. Despite some really good matches, the numbers have been low, probably because of too many matches leading to cricket fatigue. Nonetheless as the tournament progresses, I do expect the viewership to grow but, I don’t expect a dramatic increase.”

     

    Source : TAM Sports, Period : First 38 matches of all IPL Seasons, TG : CS 4+ yrs, Market : All India, Channel : MAX

     

    * In IPL 1 one match (47th) was abandoned due to rain
    * In IPL 2 two matches (7th & 13th)were abandoned due to rain
    * In IPL 4 one match (20th) was abandoned due to rain
    * In IPL 5 two matches (32th & 34th) were abandoned due to rain