Will advertisers stick to the high pitch?

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: The recent corporate intervention in Indian cricket has changed for good the perception of the common man towards the game. Even though businesses are trying to drive home the point that their objective is to find cricketing talent from small towns and villages, it is clear that the initiative is backed by a distinct business strategy.

After the much-hyped BCCI-led Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions, advertisers are now rushing to buy airtime slots on Set Max, which is the exclusive telecast partner of IPL.

But privatised overs-specific pyjama league cricket is new to India and the Essel Group-led Indian Cricket League (ICL), the first to make the move, has failed to prove the format’s merit in terms of televison ratings. Despite that, in 2008, both the ICL and IPL have managed to attract big brands that include Airtel, Vodafone, Reebok, Adidas, DLF, Edelweiss, Dabur Glucose and Intel. More of their ilk are coming onboard as we go to print. So what determines the returns on investments of on-air sponsors?

According to aMap, a television ratings agency, the online ratings of the first three ICL matches in the inaugural season held in November 2007 and even the combined ratings of all the 25-odd Zee channels for the first hour of the ICL tournament failed to attract significant viewership. The average time spent on the channels being just eight minutes. The first three T-20 matches played on November 30 and December 1 generated peak ratings of only 0.5 on Zee Sports despite aggressive promotions and appearances by film personalities. The maximum combined ratings for the first 30 minutes of the third match between Mumbai Champs and Hyderabad Heroes was 1.0. But this was because of the match being available across all the 28 Zee network channels. The stand-alone rating on Zee Sports for this match was 0.2.

The second season of the ICL has begun and the ratings of the first three matches have failed to impress. Unlike the last ICL season, this year Zee roped in Ten Sports as additional telecast partners for an undisclosed amount. According to aMap, the combined rating of Zee Sports and Ten Sports (in percentages) amongst C&S 4+ of the first three matches held on March 9, 10 and 11 and played between Ahmedabad Rockets and Chandigarh Lions, Delhi Giants and Mumbai Champs, and Chennai Superstars and Lahore Badshahs, was 3.62, 3.21 and 3.91, respectively.