IPL continues to clock record TV viewership

Ten days into the show, the country's most hyped sporting extravaganza, the Indian Premier League cricket tournament's third season , continues to clock record television viewership numbers. Data from aMap, a TV viewership monitoring agency, show the average rating for IPL-3 matches telecast in the first 11 days registered an increase of 22 per cent to 4.55 points from the 3.72 points recorded during the same period last season. aMap tracks cable and satellite homes among the age group of 15 years and above in six cities.

The average number of viewers per day also rose by 18 per cent, from seven million in IPL-2 to 8.34 million this season. Viewership numbers have peaked faster this season as compared to matches telecast in the first and second editions of the event.  An executive at aMap says, "While in IPL-2 the reach touched the 10-million mark only in the semi-finals, the match between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings on Monday drew 10.6 million viewers."

The response prompted industry experts to believe the overall ad-spend during the IPL-3 telecast would rise to Rs 7 billion ( Rs 700 crore) this year from the Rs 5 billion (Rs 500 crore) in 2009.

A Brand Finance research report states that IPL's branded business value in 2010 doubled to $4.13 billion (Rs 18,998 crore) from $2.01 billion (Rs 9,245 crore) a year earlier. Chennai Super Kings has been ranked the most valuable IPL franchise, at $48.4 million (Rs 222.6 crore). Last year, Chennai Super Kings was ranked number four, with a value of $39.4 million (Rs 181.2 crore).

A media analysis by India Infoline states that the gross profits of the team owners is expected to be between Rs 19 and Rs 43 crore this year. That the teams contributed significantly to the bottom lines of the listed companies concerned is taken as another proof of the success of IPL as a business model. The report says the teams owned by GMR, United Spirits, India Cements and Deccan Chronicle are expected to contribute five-10 per cent of the total profits of these companies.

IPL has managed to sign partnership deals with 90 companies and the number is set to go up next year.