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Tag: ICC World Cup

  • India’s sports sponsorship grew to Rs 51,854 million in 2015; PayTM, Hero, CEAT and MRF emerge as big spenders

    India’s sports sponsorship grew to Rs 51,854 million in 2015; PayTM, Hero, CEAT and MRF emerge as big spenders

    MUMBAI: For those you are into sports, be it for the love of the game or love of the business that revolves around it, the welcome news is that  India has set itself to become a sporting nation that thrives not only on cricket but number of other sports as well. India with a thriving culture around sports is not a distant mirage but a near reality. The figures in the  3rd edition of Sporting Nation In The Making – III is a testament to this growth.

    This comprehensive report compiled by GroupM’s entertainment and sports arm ESP Properties and SportzPower shows that sports sponsorship in India has grown from Rs 46,165 million (Rs 4,616.50 crore) in 2014 to Rs 51,854 million (Rs 5,185.40 crore) in 2015 accounting for 10.4 per cent of the total Indian advertising expenditure. That is a  whooping 12.3 per cent growth.

    ESP Properties business head Vinit Karnik emphasised how sports can be harnessed as a successful communication medium by brands. He said, “There is definitely a cultivated sense of understanding between corporate sponsors, sports teams and federations. A symbiotic marketing relationship has emerged within the sporting ecosystem in India. 2016 will be fantastic for not only players and federations, but also for brands and spectators, with a deeper engagement with sporting properties.”

    Despite the challenges, ICC World Cup managed to garner Rs 5000 million (Rs 500 crore) in advertising revenues in 2015. On air sponsorships over all increased by 6.8 per cent YoY from Rs 25,180 million (Rs 2,518 crore) to Rs 26,900 million (Rs 2,690 crore). Out of which, 30 to 35 per cent was contributed by the emerging sports in India, while cricket took the bulk of the share.

    Interestingly, only  30 percent of the growth came from On Air deals, while the rest of the 70 percent came from  on ground sponsorships, team sponsorships, franchise fee and athlete’s brand endorsement deals, with on ground seeing  most of the action. It grew by 30 per cent from Rs 7948 million (Rs 794.80 crore) to Rs 10,305 million (Rs 1,030.50 crore).

    Though cricket bit the biggest chunk off this sponsorship pie, emerging sports leagues were the real growth drivers. Going by the figures roughly 51.38 per cent of the on ground sponsorship share was cricket’s contribution while the rest was all emerging sports.

    “Sports other than cricket have successfully established themselves in terms of revenue and fandom within the Indian sporting firmament,” SportzPower co founder Thomas Abraham shared. “Sports like kabaddi andfFootball have massively increased sponsorship revenues in 2015 and we saw return editions of sports like tennis and hockey as well. The successful launch of the Pro Wrestling League bodes well for 2016, which will see the advent of more franchise based leagues. We expect 2016 to be a good year for cricket as well as other sports, generating ad spends and clocking in corporate investments at an exponential pace,” he added.

    Infact, football saw an amazing 91.6 per cent sponsorship growth from the previous year valuing it at Rs 1140 million (Rs 114 crore) in 2015.  The biggest success story is perhaps Pro Kabaddi League, which grew by 300 per cent YoY and clocked at Rs 480 million (Rs 48 crore) in on ground sponsorship deals without a title sponsor. As per Karnik, it was a clever strategy by the broadcaster to not lock down their title sponsor and raise the bar for the next season.

    eCommerce brands took the lead as top spenders in the total ad spends on sports in 2015, followed closely by automobile brands. PayTM, CEAT Tyres and MRF Tyres together contributed Rs 1078 million (Rs 107.8 crore) per year, increasing cricket’s on ground ad spends by 14 per cent.

    Endorsements played a huge role in upping the sponsorship ante in 2015 with the sector seeing 27 per cent growth. The biggest endorsement deal was undoubtedly Tata Motors’ bringing Lionel Messi onboard on a two year deal of worth Rs 600 million (Rs 60 crore) per year. 2015 also saw Virat Kohli entering the Rs 1,000 million (Rs 100 crore) endorsement club that God Of Cricket Tendulkar and MS Dhoni earlier ruled.

    “Women are ruling the endorsement game when it comes to non-cricketing sports,” said Karnik. “Between Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza and MC Mary Kom, the ladies share almost 40 per cent of the endorsement spends in the market with over 10 brands in each player’s kitty.” Abraham credited their sophisticated and enthusiastic engagement of fans over social media to be the driving factor apart from their continued  good performance throughout the year.

    The stress on digital, and social engagement is reiterated by both Abraham and Karnik as critical to players and teams as stats show that 70 percent of fans bring mobile phones to the stadium to share their experience, while 46 percent of mobile internet users search for sports related news and content online.

    Karnik calls 2016 to be the year of the fans and points out two key trends that will drive growth in the sector. “Now that we have sowed the seeds of a sporting nation in India, 2016 will see a great synergy between broadcasters, association’s, franchise owners, players and all other stakeholders to come together to build a culture around sports and build the fanbase. Secondly longer seasons or play for they sport will give more opportunities for brands to engage with the fans,” shared Karnik, adding that Pro Kabaddi League will see two seasons this year. Abraham on the other hand names volleyball to be the next big entrant in emerging sports league scene, which will launch with three separate sub-leagues to its name — beach volleyball, men’s volleyball and women’s volleyball league.

  • ‘Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon Ek Jashn’ to ‘ICC World Cup’ What’s hot on the Indian OTT scene

    ‘Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon Ek Jashn’ to ‘ICC World Cup’ What’s hot on the Indian OTT scene

    MUMBAI: The latest buzz about town is how Netflix is all set to launch in India later this week. But even without the American Video On Demand (VOD) giant, India’s over the top (OTT) scene has kept pretty active, thanks to all the new and edgy shows that the different platforms streamed last year and some more lined up to storm digital screens later this year.

    Hotstar, #Fame, Sony Liv and Ditto TV have kept the market up and running with carefully curated content, which paves way for a promising future for web-only content in 2016. In the light of the OTT space hotting up, Indiantelevision.com compiled a list of such initiatives on digital platforms in India that made an impact in the web-only content market.

    1) Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon — Ek Jashn: No sooner did word get out that this phenomenal fiction show from Star Plus, that ruled the tele ratings chart three years back, was going to have a reboot through the network’s OTT platform, Hotstar, fans of the show were already going gaga over this mini-series. It was a clever move on Star India’s part to not only evoke nostalgia for the popular show but also turn a chiefly television audience towards its OTT platform.

    2) Love Bytes: While television is slowly only just proceeding to handle progressive and bold content, digital has been way ahead of its broadcast counterpart in this arena. Take Sony Liv’s exclusive web series Love Bytes for example. Targeted mostly at metro centric netizens, this show, which was initially launched on Zoom, was later moved to Sony Liv as India’s first-ever show exclusively for the digital platform.

    The 26-part series, which stars Kushal Punjabi and Sukhmani Sadana, portrays the ups and downs in the relationship of the lead characters Ananya and Abhishek.

    3) On Air with AIB: Think web only and YouTube in India, and the very first name that comes to your mind is All India Bakchod or simply AIB. Therefore it was no surprise when Star India roped in the four comedians for a new show On Air With AIB on Hotstar albeit with re-airings on Star World and Star Plus. This OTT first show garnered a huge response from the millennials and can be easily considered one of the breakthroughs in digital content. Inspired by factual comedy that is patented to American comedian John Oliver for his show Last Week Tonight, On Air With AIB delivered a new breed of comedy that makes fun of burning social issues and at the same time strikes a key note with the audience.

    4) ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Hotstar became a new partner for all cricket fans in India early 2015. With its epic launch with ICC Cricket World Cup played in Australia and New Zealand, the VOD platform leap-frogged to one of the most downloaded apps. The matches were played in the wee hours of the morning leaving Indian fans fuming in dismay. In came Hotstar and in a jiffy Indian fans took to the app to get a fix of their favour favourite sport.

    5) Re-Gender (Indian adaptation): The new kid on the block in the digital content scene, Arre from Ronnie Screwvala’s UDigital is also all set to take everyone by surprise with edgy content that is rumoured to set some new standards in the industry and blur other lines. For starters, the platform plans to release a provocative docu-reality show that is inspired by Israeli LGBT show Re-Gender. Distributed by Armoza Formats, the show’s format allows gives men and women a chance to experience life of the opposite sex.

    While the show’s title in India remains tentative in India, it will be interesting what comes out of the three weeks’ shooting time at Chhatarpur in Delhi.

  • Titan marketing campaign wins at World Watch Awards

    Titan marketing campaign wins at World Watch Awards

    NEW DELHI: Titan Raga and IWC Portofino Midsize watch launch received the ‘Best Integrated Marketing Campaign’ Award at the sixth edition of the annual Watch Awards this year.

     

    HUBLOT ICC World Cup Association bagged the ‘Best-Organised Event’ and ‘Best use of Ambient Media’ awards, while ‘Titan Gift of Time’ campaign was awarded the ‘Best use of Social Media’ award.

     

    SEIKO, Lulu Mall, Cochin picked the ‘Best Boutique’ award.

     

    Marketing categories had been included for the first time in the Watch World Awards hosted by the Chitralekha Group here.

     

    Bollywood actor Yami Gautam, Nimrat Kaur and Pallavi Sharda were among those present at the function, which also featured entertainment frills including a comic act by Delhi-based stand-up comedian Vasu Primlani.

     

    Watch World Awards creator and Chitralekha Group president & publisher Mitrajit Bhattacharya says, “With each edition, the awards have been able to touch the right chord with the watch brands and watch aficionados across the world. Watch World Awards has attained the stature of being one of world’s most coveted award on horology with its six editions till date. The participation from the world’s top watch brands is a testament of our success over the years.  As always, we came up with an incredible jury team hailing from watchmaking, design, sports, collaborative art, marketing, to celebrate the art and science of watchmaking.”

     

    Filmmaker Apoorva Lakhia was a member of the four-member jury that judged the product category. Senior marketing & business transformation specialist (automotive & retail) Nitish Tipnis judged the marketing category.

  • Star India’s ‘Mauka’ mania inspires creative videos

    Star India’s ‘Mauka’ mania inspires creative videos

    India qualified to the semi-finals of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in sublime fashion. In the semi-final, India will face host nation Australia and pundits predict an evenly poised match.

     

    The voyage of team India in this edition of ICC Cricket World Cup was well complimented by Star India’s creative innovation ‘Mauka’ and as India readies itself for the important bout against the Kangaroos, Indiantelevision.com lists various ‘Mauka’ moments that brought smile to thousands of faces.

     

    As is the trend nowadays, after every India match Star launches a ‘Mauka’ video, the world also partakes in the Mauka Mania and creates a piece of its own. We take this opportunity to scan through the non Star India ‘Mauka’ videos made during the course of the tournament.

    Take a look:

     

     

    Bangladesh indeed is flying high as they stunned England to secure their berth in the quarter finals of ICC World Cup 2015. But their opponent in the quarter final was none other than the defending champions: India, who is so far undisputed in the tournament.

     

    The video features a giant monster decimating representatives of nations, which Bangladesh has defeated so far in the championship while the Indian astronaut hides himself to escape the demolition. The humorous piece with Rise of Tigers slogan depicts Bangladesh’s emergence in the tournament.

     

     

    This video shows an India supporter witnessing disappointing moments during the India VS Bangladesh match in 2007 World Cup with crackers in his hand, which India had lost. 

     

     

    The renowned online netwrok “The Viral Fever” came up with its version of the ‘Mauka’ video.

     

    The video was launched before India Vs West Indies match. It depicts India’s formidable performance and claims “Is Baar Sab Ki Phodenge,” which implies that in this World Cup, team India will spoil every opponent’s celebration.   

     

     

    This video from ITV 2.0 Productions goes beneath the boughs to depict a different scenario. It showcases circumstances where India lost all of its group matches and the opponents are participating in a joint celebration. But unfortunately for them the celebration turns out to be a flop show because the crackers were too bad to burst, and while they anxiously try to find what is wrong with the fireworks, they discover they are a low quality China made products. In the next scene, the video shows PM Narendra Modi cracking a deal with his Chinese counterpart. The moral of the video is that while the entire world planned and plotted against India, India refuses to hold back and keeps prospering.

     

     

    The same group came up with another one of a kind, all girl ‘Mauka’ piece, right before the India Vs Bangladesh match. The video shows how every team that has qualified for the quarter finals is pampering Bangladesh. The moral of the video is that if Bangladesh knocks India out of the tournament, then other teams will escape the demolition India has been offering so far to opponents.

  • Star Sports-Sony spar over World Cup, IPL performances

    Star Sports-Sony spar over World Cup, IPL performances

    MUMBAI: Even as the national sides are battling it out on the pitches in Australia-New Zealand to decide who will take home the World Cup in the quarter final stage, a behind the scenes slugfest is taking place between two rival broadcasters, which have both laid big bets on the sport. We are referring to Star India and Multi Screen Media (which runs the Sony Entertainment Television network in India).

    The former is telecasting the World Cup and has the rights to India cricket internationally, while the latter is gearing up to telecast the cricket league – the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the next two months, apart from Euro 2016 qualifiers, FIFA International friendlies and various Fight sports. At stake is close to Rs 4,500 crore that is likely to be spent by advertisers on sports television this year. Of this ginormous pie, approximately Rs 2000-2,200 crore is estimated to be spent on the World Cup and IPL. It’s no wonder then that the two are resorting to sledging within the confines of advertisers’ and media agencies’ cabins and to journos.

    Star India began its World Cup innings just about three weeks ago – rather shakily. A Sony spokesperson reveals that the Star ad sales team had just about managed to raise Rs 100 -150 crore or so in ad and sponsorship deals before the once-in-four-years tourney began. “They were really desperate,” he says. “India were performing abysmally on their tour overseas.”

    The Star spokesperson is quick to respond, “In the first two weeks only, the advertiser as well as sponsor count for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was 50 per cent higher than 2011 edition as well as the IPL.”

    The Sony spokesperson’s rejoinder to this is that India’s stupendous display against Pakistan in their opening encounter helped bail out Star Sports. Advertisers flocked to its doors, cash in hand ready to pay premium to air their TVCs. Estimates are that Star India will raise anywhere from Rs 800 – 900 crore from this year’s contest, which ends late in March.

    And even as Star has been screaming that this year’s edition has generated the highest ratings ever, and in its trail ad revenues, Sony’s spokesperson has been rubbishing the numbers. Says he: “The ratings in this edition have seen a substantial decline when compared to the 2011 edition. Moreover fans had to wait for a week to witness an India match; the decline is constant in the non-India matches too. Whereas in IPL, each and every match is entertaining and is showcased on prime time.”

    He adds, “After 31 matches, the bouts involving India are generating 6.1 TVRs, which was 10.3 during the 2011 edition and the decline is constant in non-India matches too wherein it has dropped from 3.6 TVRs to 1.3 TVR.”

    Terming those figures as absolute no-balls, the Star India spokesperson asserts, “The cumulative reach of the ongoing World Cup touched 534 million viewers after the first 29 matches (TAM data CS4+ extrapolated to the universe using a standard conversion factor). In terms of TVRs, the India vs Pakistan match garnered 14.9 TVR, India vs South Africa got 12.7 TVR, and India vs West Indies managed 13.1 TVR and the non-India match ratings are fluctuating from 2 to 2.5.”

    Media observers also point out to the fact that the reporting of the ratings has also changed since 2011. “In those days, LC1 towns were not factored into the ratings. Hence, a pure comparision is also not possible,” says a media expert. “It’s like comparing apples and oranges.”

    The Star India spokesperson in turn takes a dig at MSM’s telecast record of the IPL, saying the trend is clear. “The IPL reach has declined continuously since season one and sharply in the last three years. Post World Cup in 2011, the tournament suffered as both foot fall and engagement dropped.”

    Terming these allegations as “baseless,” the MSM official shared the cumulative reach of IPL since its inception.

     

     

    The official also added, “Not only in terms of cumulative reach every year but also in terms of ad revenue we witnessed an eight – 10 per cent increase.  IPL is an established entity and considering the fact that the tourney has survived through many ifs and buts in past years, the asset is now beyond question.”

    The Star spokesperson says that MSM has a major challenge on its hands over the next few weeks. It is going to telecast the IPL very soon after the World Cup ends; at a time when the sports ad spends appetites of some advertisers may have been satiated courtesy the World Cup. However, to MSM’s advantage is the fact that most big spenders are beginning new financial years (the year end for most large corporates in India is 31 March) and hence will have fat wallets. Nonetheless, Sony has to raise anywhere from Rs 900 to 1,200 crore to make this year’s IPL outing pay off.

    The Sony spokesperson quickly reverts that this is a given. “While we don’t comment on internal financial figures, we will meet and maybe even beat the revenue target we have set for this year’s IPL,” he says. “Advertiser interest is rising thanks to the excitement that is building around cricket.”

    Even as they are taking digs at each other’s performances, the fact remains that both broadcasters are well aware of the importance and valuation of the two flagship tournaments. Moreover the fact that Star’s Hotstar platform is the digital partner of IPL and Max was the destination of the World Cup not long back, proves that the two desire both the tournaments equally. Star India probably is hungry for growth in sports. Its CEO Uday Shankar has outlined the broadcast network’s intentions very clearly: it wants to pitch in a big way to grow the sports ecosystem in India. And in the process, also bring in mountains of revenues for his network.

    When the next bidding process for the IPL begins by next year or so, you can be sure Shankar and his team will be on the frontlines making a definitive attempt to acquire its rights. Of course MSM’s NP Singh will be up front too. The rivalry will continue.

  • ICC World Cup: Star likely to hike ad rates by 15-20% in knockout stage

    ICC World Cup: Star likely to hike ad rates by 15-20% in knockout stage

    MUMBAI: As the ICC Cricket World Cup moves into the knockout stage, interest levels in the tourney, which is being played Down Under, are rising. And cashing in on this opportunity, Star Sports is looking at escalating its ad rates to rake in more moolah.   

     

    Sources in media planning and buying fraternity told Indiantelevision.com that the broadcaster was looking at a hike of at least seven – ten per cent in the ad rates for the knockout stages. Star, however, is claiming a hike of 15 to 20 per cent compared to the rate of the league stages.

     

    A source in Star Sports further revealed, “From the semi final stages, we will have a number of fresh sponsors and advertisers coming in as numerous deals at the earlier stages were signed only till the quarter final stage. Interest of the matches will decide the ad rates and if India qualifies for the semi finals, the rates will certainly see a substantial hike.”

     

    Speaking on the commercial growth of the tournament so far, Helios Media managing director Divya Radhakrishnan says, “India has played well so far and will face Bangladesh in the Quarters, which adds the possibilities of a semi-final berth and hence the demand of the tournament is way higher when compared to the league stages. The advertisers, who gambled to participate in the early stages, got the best price because now the ad rate is sky high.”

     

    GroupM national director entertainment, sports & live events Vineet Karnik asserts, “India’s performance in the triangular series Down Under was below par, which resulted in a slow beginning to the World Cup in terms of advertiser participation. However, as India started playing well, the tournament gained momentum. Now in the knockout stages, the demand is high and naturally Star will increase the ad rate substantially.”

     

    As the ICC World Cup entered the business end of the tournament, 14 teams tried with only eight succeeding to reach the knockout stages. Despite having a below par start, Pakistan securing a berth in the quarters, was a key highlight in the tourney. Lower run rate led to Ireland’s disqualification in the knockout stage as it tied with West Indies, which also managed six points from the league stages. However, the eyebrow raiser of the tournament was Bangladesh, who stunned England to book a berth in the quarters.

     

    Earlier today (18 March), South Africa stormed through to the semis after brutally thrashing Sri Lanka by nine wickets. Bangladesh will play India tomorrow (19 March), who is undisputed so far in the tourney and has decimated each and every batting attack. If India wins the quarter final match, it will face the winner of the Australia vs Pakistan match. This in turn can lead to a probable Indo-Pak bout. India Vs Pakistan match is always an intense battle on and off the field. 

     

    While the two teams sweat out to win the match, advertisers exert themselves to create an exquisite presentation in order to grab more eyeballs. Alongside, Star India will prepare its business strategy to generate as much revenue as possible. The ad rates will see a substantial hike and last moment contributors will definitely need to have deep pockets indeed.

  • Blogmint launches #BloggersDreamTeam with Harsha Bhogle

    Blogmint launches #BloggersDreamTeam with Harsha Bhogle

    MUMBAI: Blogmint, India’s automated marketplace that connects brands and bloggers, and a part of TO THE NEW Ventures, has launched the #BloggerDreamTeam campaign with Harsha Bhogle.  The campaign aims at discovering and recognizing the emerging blogging, vlogging and micro-blogging talent in India.

     

    Bhogle, a cricket expert and a sports evangelist, joined hands with Blogmint to acknowledge the budding social influencers in India and hand-pick his #BloggerDreamTeam. With Cricket World Cup 2015 fever gripping India, the campaign provides bloggers a platform to channelize their opinion around all aspects of the game – from fashion statements made by today’s cricketers to the impact of technological enhancements on the game. 

     

    Bhogle said, “The internet and social media have thrown up opportunities like never before and have allowed skill to meet opportunity. Blogmint is the perfect platform to empower bloggers and showcase these skills.”

     

    Social media has become ubiquitous with young India and with that we are witnessing a new set of social media stars. Influencer Marketing, which was driven by Bollywood and sports celebrity endorsement, is now being increasingly driven by Social Influencers, which includes celebrity bloggers, YouTubers and Twitteraties. However, there aren’t any platforms in India, which connect these celebrities with brands in an automated and transparent fashion. “This is the gap that Blogmint aims to fill. Dream Team with Harsha Bhogle is an excellent opportunity for Bloggers to express opinions on the on-going cricket World Cup and at the same time showcase the versatility of their writing talent by combining cricket with themes including food, technology, lifestyle amongst others. #BloggerDreamTeam is one of the many initiatives that Blogmint plans to launch in order to engage the social influencers in India,” said Blogmint CEO Irfan Khan.

     

    Bloggers can participate in the contest by visiting the following page – https://www.blogmint.com/HarshaBhogleDreamTeam.

     

    “Dream Team with Harsha Bhogle is an excellent opportunity for Bloggers to express opinions on the on-going Cricket World Cup and at the same time showcase the versatility of their writing talent by combining cricket with themes including food, technology, lifestyle amongst others. #BloggerDreamTeam is one of the many initiatives that Blogmint plans to launch in order to engage the social influencers in India” he added.

     

    “I am delighted to be associated with Blogmint’s Blogger Dream Team initiative. It’s a perfect platform for Bloggers which empowers their writing skills” asserted Harsha Bhogle.

     

    Bloggers can participate in the contest by visiting the following page – https://www.blogmint.com/HarshaBhogleDreamTeam.

  • Star India overcomes obstacles in making World Cup a hit

    Star India overcomes obstacles in making World Cup a hit

    MUMBAI: Not long ago speculations were drawn that cricket’s biggest tournament may emerge as a super flop in India courtesy Team India’s feeble performances Down Under, the questioned integrity of the sport and odd timings of the matches. Adding to the list of negatives was the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh. India, after two decades, was playing a World Cup without the master blaster, who is also known as the God of Cricket in India. 

     

    However, as is said – where there is a will there is a way.  The young Indian brigade which was was looking like a beaten lot, pulled up their socks and came together as a unit, and lo and behold the magic was back. And that was more than evident from their first match performance against Pakistan. Indian cricket fans – who had been wearing frowns, and had their noses turned up in disgust reading about the legal proceedings in the sports pages –  are now rejoicing, celebrating the Indian team’s going from strength to strength. Adding to their delight have been the stellar batting displays from Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakarra, West Indie’s Chris Gayle, South Africa’s AB De Vlliers, and the tough fights  associate teams have been giving more established national sides. All this has made the tournament a worthy exhibition and created a perfect platform for Star India. 

     

    “With India being the defending champions, interest from viewers and advertisers for the World Cup was very positive from the start. We started the World Cup with over 30 sponsors on board and the first India game, against arch rivals Pakistan had 93 advertisers showcasing their brands across digital and TV. In the first two weeks only, the advertiser as well as sponsor count for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup is 50 per cent higher than 2011 edition as well as the IPL. We currently have 38 sponsors across feeds and World Cup programming and over 100 brands advertising during the ongoing World Cup. With India’s strong performances, there is a cricket frenzy through the nation. We have been in talks with more brands for coming on board cricket’s biggest extravaganza, the ICC Cricket World Cup,” says a Star India spokesperson.

     

    The ICC World Cup has opened doors for many first time advertisers and buoyed by the progress so far, there are many brands that are also lining up to the brigade. “For the India – West Indies game we had added hungama.com, Max Life Insurance, Hike, UP Tourism, Reliance Communications and Joy Alukkas as advertisers for the game,” asserts the channel official.

     

    “India stepped into the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 as the defending champions and we at Star have introduced numerous ‘Firsts’ that would bring the entire World Cup experience closer to the fans. These include broadcast in multiple regional languages and first ever global telecast in 4K technology among others. Our efforts have borne fruits as within the first two weeks, 473 million viewers tuned into their television sets to capture the live action of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. As the race for a berth in the quarter-finals heats up, the viewers’ excitement is sure to go through the roof,” says the spokesperson, describing expectations from the tournament. 

     

    According to Star, by the beginning of the knock out rounds of World Cup 2015, all the past TV viewership records registered in India by a sporting event, which includes World Cup 2011 and various seasons of Indian Premier League (IPL), have been surpassed. 

     

    The World Cup so far has seen an exhibition of sportsman spirit and quality cricket. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com veteran cricket analyst Hemant Kenkre said, “The quality of games this year has been outstanding. We have seen a few mind-blowing individual performances but the team efforts were unbelievable. I know there were a few questions that emerged before the tournament started but no one remembers them now. Now everyone will cheer for team India because the way they have performed so far. Match fixing speculations are nothing new; it was always there since 1999 – 2000. It is just that the country needed good performances from team India and the India VS Pakistan match gave the necessary ignition. The tournament will grow bigger in terms of sponsorship and viewership if India plays well. And I would be highly disappointed if ICC restricts the World Cup to 10 teams. Being associated with the Singapore Cricket Association, I know the hard work the associate teams put and if a championship is restricted to 10 teams then it will disappoint and demotivate all the aspirants.” 

      

    Credit should also be given to Star Sports for unveiling up the Mauka campaign. After every India match, the broadcaster has been unleashing a new promo, which engages viewers and starts trending across social media platforms.

     

    Drawing light on the reverberating Mauka campaign, the Star India spokesperson adds, “Cricket is nothing less than a religion in India and nothing is bigger than the ICC Cricket World Cup for millions of cricket fanatics. The Mauka campaign struck the right chord among fans as it portrayed the World Cup from a fan’s lens. The idea was at a human level, it was true, funny and ignited a sense of pride without being nasty to the opponents. The film received great response online and on social media from fans across the two countries. The campaign was promoted across 45 channels including news, movies, regional, films, GEC genre and it has received close to 17 million views online making it the most viewed campaign during the World Cup.”

     

    Depicting the commercial growth of the tournament, Maxus Global managing director Kartik Sharma said, “Typically sporting events start with a certain base expectation, which is dependent on recent performances of the playing teams. The cricket World Cup is no exception to this and people’s expectations were dependent on India’s recent performances. With two very interesting India matches everything has changed and more people are now interested in them. Ad rates are a function of early sponsors and also last minute advertisers who might want to utilise it tactically. Rates reflect recent interest in matches. It’s critical that matches have close finishes, which will fuel the interest of viewers irrespective of which country plays.”

     

    Helios Media managing director Divya Radhakrishnan adds, “The tournament has already made its impression in advertisers’ mind and hence all the speculations that were drawn in the initial stages because of controversies and absence of Sachin Tendulkar have been put to an end.”    

     

    Expectations have in fact been surpassed so far with Ireland defeating West Indies and Bangladesh knocking out cricket inventor England. Every cricket lover wants last over finishes and close encounters, and this World Cup so far has offered it. If permutations and combinations are to be believed, India is set to face Bangladesh in the quarter finals and despite having a rough start, Pakistan is also on the verge of securing a quarter final berth. This increases the probability of another Indo-Pak bout, which will be the icing on the cake for both viewers and Star India as it will definitely up the the brand value of the tournament.

  • India vs South Africa match engages 257 million viewers

    India vs South Africa match engages 257 million viewers

    MUMBAI: A whopping 257 million fans (TAM data CS4+ extrapolated to the universe using a standard conversion factor) tuned in to support Team India’s bid to retain cricket’s most coveted prize, as MS Dhoni and his men seized their ‘mauka’ opportunity and scored their first ever victory against South Africa in a World Cup match.

     

    The match rated 12.9 TVR across Star network including DD, with 10.5 TVR on Star network and 2.4 TVR on DD (All TAM data M15+ ABC).

     

    The joy of beating the Proteas was amplified for 76 per cent of the 257 million viewers as they tuned into the India South Africa game in their preferred language feed in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada. The English feed contributed remaining 24 per cent of the total viewers for the game.

     

    Star India COO Sanjay Gupta said, “The viewership for India’s first two games of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 bears testimony to the cricket frenzy sweeping the nation. The fans, with their undiminished support for Team India, have been treated to some quality action and results of choice. The World Cup in regional language articulated by former India players has taken the viewer experience to the next level. Our efforts of bringing the fans closer to the world cup experience through a host of innovations have borne fruit and they continue to rally to Team India’s defence of its title.”

     

    The flagship ODI tournament has remained true to its billing of the most exciting cricket extravaganza drawing 473 million (TAM data CS4+ extrapolated to the universe using a standard conversion factor) fans to tune in to within the first two weeks of the tourney.

     

    The clash between two favorites for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 also sizzled across social media – with 175,000 unique authors driving 254,000 conversations – dominating the trends for the day. Star had extended its popular and disruptive ‘Mauka’ campaign to build anticipation ahead of the South Africa game, releasing a new promo under the fan passion theme, #maukepechauka, which was trending through the day in India.

     

    The viewership numbers for the India – South Africa game build on the record viewership for India’s tie against arch-rivals Pakistan. The blockbuster clash attracted 288 million viewers, making it the most watched television event in India since the finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

  • India – Pakistan match registers 288 million viewers

    India – Pakistan match registers 288 million viewers

    MUMBAI: The most anticipated clash of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 created Indian television history as 288 million viewers (TAM data CS4+ extrapolated to the universe using a standard conversion factor) tuned in to watch India take on Pakistan on 15 February, 2015.

     

    The game was the most watched television event in India in the last four years, since the finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

     

    The match between archrivals rated 14.8 TVR (TAM data M15+ ABC) across Star network including DD. The match rated 11.9 TVR (TAM data M15+ ABC) on Star network and 2.9 TVR (TAM data M15+ ABC) on DD. The India – Pakistan game delivered across town classes led by the top six Metros rating 17.2 TVR and 1million+ towns rating 15.5TVR (All data TAM data M15+ ABC).

     

    Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “Nothing is bigger than the ICC Cricket World Cup and the Indian fans have shown their unflinching faith and passionate following for Team India as they began their World Cup campaign with a bang. As the country’s leading broadcaster, our efforts have been to showcase the best of cricket, have wider coverage, offer multiple languages and take the sport deeper by reinventing the viewer experience. With a host of innovations, we are committed to make this edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup the biggest ever.”

     

    Star unleashed a host of innovations for the biggest spectacle in the country. The first ever broadcast in six languages of the India – Pakistan game received 76 per cent of the viewership from Hindi and regional feeds and the balance 24 per cent from English validating the multi-lingual strategy pioneered by Star.

     

    A disruptive ‘Mauka’ ad campaign, which went beyond cricket on the field and leveraged fan passion in a unique way, went viral with over 17 million views online. Star roped in the most prominent voice in Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan, for India’s biggest game as he debuted as a commentator with the Star Sports panel of Kapil Dev, Shoaib Akhtar, Rahul Dravid and Sanjay Manjrekar for the India – Pakistan game.

     

    The India – Pakistan clash at the World Cup took social media in India by storm as 324,000 consumers spoke 500,000 times about the match, generating a potential three billion impressions. The match dominated conversations on Twitter, with 10/10 trends on Twitter Web, and 15/15 trends on Twitter Mobile, India spoke about nothing else. Indian fans were hopeful of India’s victory, and #Indwins was used 90,000 times, starting well before the game ended. The Star Sports campaign #wontgiveitback was used 24,000 times, and the second installment of the ‘Mauka’ campaign was viewed half a million times within hours of its release.