The streaming platform for the Indian Premier League (IPL), JioCinema, could potentially earn close to half its ad revenues this season from connected TV (CTV) advertising. At Rs 450 crore, CTV advertising accounted for nearly 30% of the estimated Rs 1,500-crore digital ad revenue last season; this year, that figure is expected to cross Rs 800 crore — which would be over 40% of the Rs 2,000-crore digital ad spending this IPL season.
Industry reports show the total number of CTV households have expanded to 40 million from just 8 million three years ago. Parallelly, CTV advertising has more than doubled in CY23 to cross Rs 1,000 crore (Pitch Madison). Last season, JioCinema had over 150 advertisers on CTV and the number is expected to surge this year, considering the property is being offered free.
Sahiba Sachdev, VP, media planning & buying at Interactive Avenues, rattles off the reasons for the shift. First, CTV is ideal for brands targeting affluent audience segments. “The stickiness of audiences to their screens during matches enhances the effectiveness of CTV advertising. Brands seeking metro-centric audiences, approximately 50% of the CTV households, or those launching new products find CTV advertising effective in garnering the right traction,” adds Sachdev.
Then there is the sheer draw of the IPL. JioCinema reported a unique viewership of 125 million in 2023, and analysts expect that number to cross 180 million this year. The fact that JioCinema has not hiked its spot rates this season is an added incentive for advertisers. Digital CPM (cost per mille or cost per thousand, which is the price for one thousand impressions of an ad) is between Rs 100 and Rs 250, which is affordable even for smaller advertisers.
Vishal Agrahari, AVP, media, BC Web Wise, says the spends on CTV spots increased by 20% last year and a similar trend is expected this year too. “The cheaper CTV ad spot rates vis-à-vis linear TV are attracting smaller brands. Brands that were allocating 5-10% of their overall IPL spends on CTV are expected to spend up to 25%. The IPL offers a wide reach among a highly engaged audience, which is twice that of GECs and news channels during the tournament,” observes Agrahari.
Poonam Pandya, senior director, digital planning at dentsu X India adds that the exact percentage or volume of IPL ad spends devoted to CTV varies on the basis of the brand’s strategy and objectives. It typically is a substantial portion given the potential for measurable ROI.
Next stop
JioCinema has also introduced 4K targeting separately for its clients, providing brands with the opportunity to reach an elite audience. The platform’s masthead will support video, enabling brands to launch new products, announce sales, unveil new creatives, and so on. It had a high impact tool in the first game, Brand Spotlight, that enabled five brands to unveil their IPL campaigns in the opening moments of the match. The brands to debut their campaigns were Parle, Charged by Thums Up, Britannia, Dalmia Cement and PayZapp by HDFC Bank.
All these moves have helped JioCinema establish itself as a significant advertising platform, says Manish Solanki, COO & co-founder, TheSmallBigIdea. “As viewers optimise their commute time by consuming content on their phones, they seamlessly transition to the big screens using CTV for the second innings. JioCinema is playing a key role in facilitating that shift,” he says, adding that nearly 80% of the CTVs connect daily to the internet.
Does the growing popularity of CTV mean the end of cricket consumption on linear TV, especially since CTV viewership last year was three times that of HD TV live viewership? Russhabh R Thakkar, founder & CEO of adtech firm Frodoh World, says that while linear TV continues to reach a large audience, CTV is clearly positioning itself as the future of advertising, and marketers would ignore it at their own peril. “Younger demographics are moving towards streaming platforms and CTV. Linear TV audiences are becoming more fragmented, offering limited targeting capabilities compared to CTV, on which you can personalise ads based on viewer data,” points out Thakkar.
Net net, while digital eating into TV advertising spends is nothing new, CTV has exponentially increased the appeal of digital among advertisers. Preetam Thingalaya, director, media, Mirum India, points out that in the past, CTV inventory was sold as a bundled offering for major sports events; it is only in recent times that CTV has become an exclusive inventory. “As we explore better measurement metrics, the needle will keep moving towards CTV,” says Thingalaya.