Broadcaster Disney Star will target both rural and urban consumers using a combination of television and digital, as it rolls out an ambitious coverage of the Asia Cup and the upcoming ODI Cricket World Cup, media industry sources said. The broadcaster is making presentations to media agencies and advertisers, as it positions the two tournaments as ideal platforms for festive advertising during the September to November period.
The first three weeks of September, Disney Star has told media agencies in its presentation will constitute 32% of festive spends, with big regional festivals such as Ganesh Chathurthi happening during this period. Festive spends of 55% will happen in October-November, the presentation says, which include Dussehra and Diwali.
The broadcaster has offered over 75 targeting options for advertisers, based on demographics, geography and language among other parameters. This will be rolled out on TV and digital. Ad rates for 10-second spots on TV have been pegged at Rs 3-4 lakh for non-India matches for the Asia Cup. While 10-second spot rates for India matches on the Asia Cup have been pegged at Rs 25-30 lakh per 10 seconds, industry sources said. Sponsorships have been sold for around Rs 25-30 crore on TV and Rs 12-15 crore on digital, media industry sources said.
While the Asia Cup began on Wednesday (August 30), India will begin its campaign for the trophy on Saturday playing Pakistan in the group stage. Disney has onboarded 18 sponsors across TV and digital including Thums Up, Nerolac Paints, Hindustan Unilever (Glow & Lovely, Surf Excel), Samsung, Amul, Reliance Retail (Tira), Maruti and MRF for the Asia Cup. Sponsors for the ODI World Cup will be clear once the Asia Cup concludes on September 17, sources said.
In a statement, Ajit Varghese, head of network – ad sales, Disney Star, said that cricket fever was at an all-time high. “We are looking forward to delivering an unmatched experience on TV and digital,” he said.
The media network, however, has not spelt out its strategy for the T20 World Cup in June 2024, which will be held in the US and West Indies. Disney Star had won the International Cricket Council (ICC) media rights for the 2024-27 media cycle last year, but had sub-licensed the television rights to Zee Entertainment, retaining the digital rights for the period.
Sector experts say that Disney Star may choose to retain its free streaming strategy on digital that has been unveiled for the ongoing Asia Cup and upcoming ODI World Cup, as rival Viacom18 bolsters its cricket programming slate.
“JioCinema, which is part of Viacom18, is here to stay as a large competitor on OTT. So, rivals may have to finetune their strategy in keeping with what a large competitor will do,” Karan Taurani, senior vice-president, research at brokerage Elara Capital, said.
On Thursday, Viacom18, which is backed by Reliance Industries, picked up the bilateral cricket rights for Team India matches (both domestic and international) for Rs 5,963 crore, its third key set of cricket rights after taking home the digital rights for the Indian Premier League last year and bagging the TV and digital rights for the Women’s Premier League earlier this year.
According to media industry sources, Viacom18 may continue its free streaming strategy for one more year, after initially deciding to restrict it to calendar year 2023 in a bid to cut losses. The IPL digital rights, for instance, were acquired by Viacom18 for Rs 23,758 crore and will require a robust monetisation plan in terms of subscriptions, if it has to recover its money in the future, sector experts said.