By Alokananda Chakraborty
Disney+Hotstar will likely take home `1,300-1,500 crore, including both TV and digital revenues (TV will be around `1,000 crore and the rest from digital), from the 2022 season of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup underway in Australia, if things go as planned.
That would be around 15% higher than its revenues from the 2021 season — but less than what the ad world was expecting.
“Advertisers are pushing back on pricing and Star still has inventory to offer,” said Vanita Keswani, CEO, Madison Media Sigma. Added a senior media hand based in Mumbai, “This year the rates for the early matches are a bit lower than last time, primarily because of the match timings in host country Australia. Last year, the matches were held in the UAE at prime time.”
The high point ahead of the much anticipated India-Pakistan is, the spot rates for the match on a standalone basis have shot up to `55-60 lakh for 10 seconds “for those last minute desperate buyers”. But even last year’s India-Pak T20 match was at the same levels.
India takes on arch-rivals Pakistan in the opening match of Group 2 of the Super12 stage in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on Sunday at Melbourne Cricket Ground at 1.30 pm (India time) — kicking off either a frenzied celebration back home or a subdued Diwali, depending on which way the ball swings.
Media insiders say Star India has managed to sell over 80% of its TV and digital ad inventory across all the 45 matches in the tournament. The going rate is `10 lakh for 10-second TV spots for the preliminary round matches — a tad lower than last year’s `10.5 lakh-10.75 lakh for 10 seconds; about `12-15 lakh for league matches; and around `20-22 lakh per 10 seconds for the knockout matches.
The standard CPM (cost per thousand, also called cost per mille) rate for 10-second midroll (when advertisers play short ads in the middle of a video) live ads is `250 for the full tournament. For India matches, the CPM is `500. For connected TV, the CPM rates range around `480 for the full tournament and `960 for India matches.
“The platform has already sold sponsorship rights and key features like Super 4s, Super 6s, fall of wickets and might end up at over `1,000 crore revenue,” Piyush Tripathi, senior director, digital media, e-commerce and SEO, Dentsu Creative India, estimated.
Going ahead, things will definitely heat up. “ICC tournaments garner traction only from the quarter final stages and naturally when you have a multi-nation tournament like the World Cup, Indian advertisers reserve their spends for India matches,” said Rammohan Sundaram, country head and managing partner, integrated media, DDB Mudra Group. “Should India reach the semi-finals and finals, I would imagine the tilt will change.”
As is usually the practice during such events, Disney+Hotstar will hold back some 10% of its inventory in the hope that India would reach the semis, if not the finals. Another Delhi-based FMCG brand manager and a big cricket advertiser appears more optimistic: “It doesn’t matter what the brands’ budgets are or if inflation is posing a challenge. This is a high visibility event and advertisers will spend.”
That said, unlike earlier seasons, the broadcaster was very cautious this time while selling its spots. First, it sold the bulk of the inventory way in advance. Second, while it had a variety of packages, there was little scope for brands to buy India-only matches. “That way, there wouldn’t be any takers for non-India matches,” quips an advertiser. “Those days when channels held on to inventory till the last moment are long gone. With inflationary pressures and cash squeeze, the broadcaster was in no mood to take any chances,” said another media planner. “Plus the way matches have been bundled you have to buy into both India and non-India matches — there is very little scope to buy country matches exclusively.”
The month-long tournament has seen a lukewarm response from traditional advertisers. The timings of the World Cup and the festival of Diwali seem to have clashed. Only a few matches of India are on the weekend and the weekday matches start at 9.30 am and 1.30 pm (working hours). “For all the traditional advertisers like FMCG, auto, e-commerce, festival campaigns will be over on or before Diwali, but the sentiments aren’t bad,” said Tripathi. “Categories like automobile, consumer durables and brands that have big upcoming launches are the ones that are looking at these events to build quick reach and response curve, and they want to interact with the masses and the younger population.”
Some of the auto and consumer durables brands are expected to spend big on connected TVs this time. “Brands are willing to shell out a heavy premium to be on connected TVs as they can do precision targeting via this medium,” said Tripathi.
(Inputs from Akanksha Nagar, Christina Moniz)
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