With Abhinav Bindra claiming the first-ever individual gold for India, Beijing Olympics 2008 may now attract some Indian viewers, although television ratings show that the opening ceremony held on August 8, Friday, got a cold response from audiences in India. The only two official broadcasters of the Olympics in India are DD1 National (Delhi Doordarshan) and DD Sports. Audience Measurement and Analytics (aMap) reveals that on August 8, among C&S (cable and satellite) 4+ age group in all one lakh plus towns of the north, west, east and south India, the average television rating on DD1 National was 0.4% and DD Sports was 0.1%. Even the weekend, August 9 and 10 failed to rake in viewership. The average rating on DD Sports on both the days was 0.03% and 0.05% respectively.
In contrast, the first three days of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Twenty20 cricket extravaganza, in April this year got an average television rating between 6-7% on Set Max. This is despite IPL being a domestic event, with participation from international cricket stars.
Nandini Dias, chief operating officer, Lodestar Universal, which is a media buying agency, said, “India is not mentally excited for the Olympics.” She said that the kind of euphoria that is created around other events did not happen around the Olympics. “We could have built it up around the 57 sportsmen, who are representing India at the Olympics.”
Dias feels that the primary reason behind this lackluster spirit is because DD channels perceive their stance only in disseminating information and they are not the game of ratings. Since they did not create the excitement around the event, it is not driving the viewership. On the other hand, private broadcasters did not “push the penny” because Olympics is a fairly expensive event to bid for worldwide.
Media planners also feel that even if Bindra’s victory increases curiosity around the Olympics, it is the news channels that will benefit the most from it. Television Audience Measurement (TAM), in a recent study on the how Indians consume sports, specifically, events like Olympics, reveals some reflections of Olympics 2004 event held in Athens. Also how it fared, in terms of television viewership, in India when compared with other events like World Cup Cricket and World Cup Football.
TAM says one needs to take into account that India has been a cricketing nation. However, it is interesting to see that while TV viewing of Cricket World Cup 2007 (113 million) in India was far higher than any other event, Olympics 2004 (65 million) well surpassed FIFA Football World Cup 2006 (39 million).