04-20-2009, 05:11 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: India
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IPL 2 TRP: Opens on a lower ratings score
The second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which coincides with the general election season in India, has opened to a lower ratings score compared to the inaugural version last year.
The IPL opener between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which engaged cricketing icons Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in combat, posted a debut rating of 5.55 TVR (television rating points) compared to 8.21 in season 1, according to data collated by TV rating agency Tam from six metros, across cable & satellite four-year-plus households.
It is too early to define a TV viewing trend, but audiences could have moved to news channels as the Lok Sabha elections are in process,” says a media analyst.
The second match between the Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore fared no better with an average TVR of 5.48, suggesting that IPL 2 could find itself locked in TV viewership battle with political leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav, LK Advani, Sonia Gandhi and Mayawati who are in hectic campaign tours to woo voters as they attempt to form the next government at the Centre.
The two matches, however, fetched relatively higher ratings among digital viewers, clocking 7.24 TVR for the first match and 6.71 for the second.
In analogue cable, which has an overpowering reach and is the most important segment for the advertisers, the TVRs stood at 5.33 and 5.32 for the two matches.
The IPL is at too early a stage to get any definite trends on the ratings. Says Lodestar Unirversal CEO Shashi Sinha, "It's too early to draw a comparison at this stage. As for the ratings, it's good as no serial provides an average rating of 5.5 on a regular basis."
A healthy trend that is emerging, though, is a loyalty factor for the IPL team franchises. Chennai, for instance, notched up a TVR of 6.18 for the match which involved their local team CSK. This fell to a TVR of 3.08 for the second IPL match. A similar viewing thread ran through Bangalore which saw a TVR of 5.52 dip to 4.03 when their team did not participate.
Mumbai followed a different viewership path, but this perhaps could be due to a more cosmopolitan population mix. The metro notched up a TVR of 6.94 for the second match, up from 6.62 when the Mumbai team was actually playing.
Surprisingly, the cricket-frenzy city of Kolkata has not taken to the IPL in a big way. The TVRs for the two matches stayed at 4.05 and 4.18 while Delhi has been more tuned in with ratings of 5.72 and 6.14. Hyderabad has also participated in the IPL bonaza with TVRs of 5.81 and 5.11 for the two matches.
Triton Communications director Ali Merchant, however, believes a judgement can be given only after some time, "At times it happens that a show or an event generates an average rating like 5.5 and it was very much the same in case of IPL this year. But with time as the interest of viewers develop, the ratings will also go up. To judge the complete viewership patterns on the basis of the opening day of the tournament will be too premature."
So is Sony Entertainment Television India (now Multi Screen Media), which has the broadcast rights for the IPL, particularly worried? Says MSM president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta, "The rating of 5.5 is still higher than what last year's average of 4.8 was. We are confident that things will improve further. If the ratings were down, it would be due to rain rather than the election coverage on news channels."
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