Mediaedge:cia’s annual study ‘Food for Thought’, aims to predict viewership patterns for the third season of the IPL. The study was conducted among 903 adults of SEC A, B and C, of C&S homes, between March 1 and 5. The study is powered by Meritus, GroupM’s analytics company based in Bangalore.
This year, the study aims to predict the impact of various factors on IPL viewership. These factors include cricket fragmentation, viewing fatigue arising from it being the third season of the IPL and the venue being shifted back to India, amongst others.
Unveiling the study, Shubha George, COO, Mediaedge:cia, South Asia, said, “The study shows that the ordinary viewer is still excited by the IPL, in spite of it being the third edition.” George also adds that this year, MEC has been able to produce a much more robust study, since it has been compiled based on two years’ worth of data.
The study predicts that this year, the IPL will achieve average TVRs of 5.2, which is a 14% increase as of last year’s prediction. However, it is 4% lower than season 1’s ratings. See slide below:
Elaborating further, the study explains that 60% of people are excited by third edition of the IPL, especially since they love the T20 format, while only 19% of the people admit that they will watch less IPL this season.
Next, the study says that the IPL venue moving back to India is definitely a positive factor this year, as is the excitement about the T20 format in general. 55% of respondents claim that the venue being back in India will make them watch the tournament, while 53% people like the format. On the other hand, 49% people participating in the study claimed that they would watch less of IPL this year because of exposure to too much cricket, 24% are fatigued by it being the IPL’s third season, 19% being affected by school / college exams, while 11% of the respondents will simply not watch because they prefer the traditional ODI and test cricket format.
While analysing how much of an impact each team, the players and the team owners will have on general viewership, the study highlights that the teams and players remain the vital factors in deciding whether a person wants to watch a live match on TV, while performance is not a key factor as far as supporting a team goes. In fact, 40% admit to supporting a team because of their favourite players’ presence. 39% respondents lend weightage to supporting their home team, while 12% lend their support to the team they think is mostly to win. See slide below
The study further elaborates that in the past, teams with the most support have never made it to the semi finals. With this background, this year, the Mumbai Indians have most support, followed by the Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers. See slide below
For season 3, Sachin Tendulkar has displaced MS Dhoni as the most valuable player, with 35% of respondents rooting for the former, while 26% supporting Dhoni. This may be in light of Tendulkar’s recent double century, as one of the key factors. Among the foreign players, Adam Gilchrist has received support as the most valuable player, according to the study.
Shah Rukh Khan, who owns the Kolkata Knight Riders, is the most valuable team owner this year, followed by Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta who are owners of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, respectively.
The Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders are placed at no. 1, 2 and 3 respectively, as far as team’s ranking based on cricket factors is concerned. The study predicts that matches that will be played by the Bangalore Royal Challengers, Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers will receive the highest average TVRs.
According to the study, DLF and Vodafone will be the brands most associated with the IPL, with 28% respondents associating DLF as a sponsor of the IPL and 24% associating the IPL with Vodafone. See slide below:
To summarise, the study says that the ratings will be influenced by match timings, viewers’ preferences of teams and their preferences of players.
This year, the IPL will be screened live in cinema halls and streamed live on YouTube. However, the study claims that the awareness of this media is not as high as expected. Only 40% of respondents are aware of the screening at cinema halls, while only 53% respondents were aware of the live-streaming of the IPL on YouTube.
It is evident that the favourite place to catch the IPL for most respondents is from from the comfort of their home. As many as 50% of the respondents claim to watch the IPL from home with family, while 33% prefer watching it at home, with friends. However, only 3% claimed that they would watch the IPL at cinema halls, while surprisingly, 0% of the respondents aim to catch it on YouTube.
