Sponsors line up for mega TV shows, IPL

With less than a month to go for the two mega television shows - Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hai of Star Plus and the BCCI-promoted Indian Premier League on Sony - companies have lined up in right earnest for sponsorship deals with the broadcasters.

Star Plus has signed on a string of advertisers for the Shah Rukh Khan-anchored show. These include confectionery brand Halls, Pidilite Industries, Havells India, L'Oreal India, Tata Sky, Parle Products, Ambuja Cement, General Motors India, Pepsi Foods, LG Electronics.

These will be associate sponsors forking out between Rs 8-10 crore (Rs 80 to 100 million) March, telecom major Bharti Airtel paid nearly Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) to become the presenting sponsor of the show.

This apart, ICICI has joined the show as debit card presenter, LIC as money tree (the ticker displaying the amount won by a contestant at each level) presenter, Bajaj Allianz as sponsor of home viewer questions.

Three advertisers for the three lifelines are - Ambuja Cement, Pidilite and Havells India. Cadbury Bournvita will have in-show placement.  Confirming the development, Kevin Vaz, executive vice-president (ad sales), Star India, said, "In just three weeks, we have wrapped up nearly all sponsorship deals.

While 80 per cent of our inventory has been sold, the remaining will go as spot buys. We expect the spot buys to sell for around Rs 4-5 lakh for a ten-second slot for the first 2-3 weeks, since the interest levels are high initially."

Star has already raked in around Rs 140 crore (Rs 1.4 billion) as ad revenue and it would, according to industry experts, get over Rs 150-160 crore (Rs 1.5-1.6 billion) finally, including spot buys.

In comparison, Sony - the official broadcaster of the Indian Premier League (IPL), promoted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India - has roped in telecom service provider Vodafone as presenting sponsor for Rs 25-30 crore (Rs 250-300 million).

The associate sponsors on board are Godrej, Hyundai, Coca-Cola, Max New York. It is said that they paid around Rs 18-22 crore (Rs 180-220 million) each. The channel is still scouting for one more sponsor. When contacted, Rohit Gupta, president (network sales, licensing & telephony), Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India, said, "We have sold almost 80 per cent of the inventory. We just have a few spot buys remaining and expect these to be sold for around Rs 2.4-2.5 lakh for a ten-second spot."

Sources added that the sponsor for the action replay would be Standard Chartered Bank. The bank is said to have paid around Rs 11 crore (Rs 110 million) to come on board. Sony hopes to earn almost double of Star. However, media buying experts feel that the sponsorship rates on Sony are expensive.

"A non-India ODI fetches ratings in the range of 2-2.5. We estimate the ratings for IPL to be in the same range.  With the rates being high, advertisers are apprehensive about the return on investment," said a senior executive of media firm Mindshare.

Another executive from a leading media buying agency added, "It is a tough call for advertisers since Star's show is spread over 3 months and is available for around Rs 8-9 crore (Rs 80-90 million), while Sony's is much higher for just 44 days."

According to industry experts, Paanchvi Pass will attract a larger viewer base targeting families, while the Twenty20 league will primarily attract male audience.