After the Indian cricket team’s ouster from the ICC World Cup 2007, the worst fears of advertisers and media agencies have come true. According to latest numbers released by the TV audience measurement firm Audience Measurement and Analytics Ltd (aMap), television viewership of World Cup matches has been shaved off by over 50% since India’s exit.
aMap’s data reveals that gross rating points (GRPs) of the matches have plunged to 13.89 from a GRP levels in excess of 40 during India matches. For instance, the GRP of the Australia vs South Africa (March 24) fixture, which was the first game after India’s exit, was 22.98. GRP for Tuesday’s West Indies vs Australia game (March 27) crashed further to 13.89.
Compare these numbers with the GRPs of matches where India played. India’s first match with Bangladesh delivered a GRP of 46.67. The game against Bermuda delivered a GRP of 40.75, while the ratings shot to 54.53 for the crucial match with Sri Lanka. The GRP for the World Cup opener between West Indies and Pakistan (March 13) was also a modest 36.83. aMap’s GRP figures for the first half of the matches also showed similar trend.
The GRP is the sum of individual ratings delivered across an entire programme (in this case, the cricket match). The GRP represents the percentage of the target audience reached by an advertisement and is a crucial metric to determine the return on marketing expenditure on TV shows.
“The first match of the Super Eight had viewership levels which were even lower that earlier non-India games featuring major test playing nations in the league stages. One can hope that the interest levels may revive once action hots up among teams and they get closer to the semi-finals,” said aMap director Ravi Dixit.
When contacted about this drop in GRPs, Sony Entertainment Television (SET) CEO Kunal Dasgupta told The Economic Times: “Lets wait and see the rest of the World Cup before jumping to conclusions about viewerships. At this point, people are in a shock and they will start watching the games again as the World Cup progresses. At the end of the day, people like watching cricket.”
But media agencies refuse to buy this. Madison Media Plus COO Basabdutta Chowdhuri said: “We expected at least a 50% drop in ratings, since once India is out of the game, it’s mostly core cricket fans who enjoy the rest of the tournament. The tournament will not deliver the scores of new and floating viewers who watch TV largely when India plays.”
Agency sources said there’s a possibility that GRPs are likely to see a further drop and may recover a little only during the high-action packed semi-finals and the final.
Since India’s exit, advertisers and media agencies have estimated the losses for advertisers to the tune of Rs 150-160 crore.
Incidentally, aMap produces overnight TV audience measurement data while the other audience rating firm TAM releases weekly data. Hence, aMap’s present data is the first peek into the World Cup matches ratings scenario post India’s exit.
Article from The Economic Times
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