By the time the Kolkata Knight Riders faced off against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Qualifier 1 match of the IPL 2024 on May 21, TV spot rates had surged to Rs 19 lakh per 10-second slot. This represents a 10-12% increase from the rates at the start of the season, according to Abhishek Gupta, joint managing director of BEI Confluence Communications.
Media insiders say the spot rates are unlikely to breach the Rs 20 lakh per 10-second mark this year. Advertising agencies had already warned that there wouldn’t be any major increase in rates due to the cricket overdose and the looming Lok Sabha elections.
The ad rates were around Rs 16.4-17 lakh per 10 seconds when the Chennai Super Kings faced the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the curtain-raiser at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium on March 22. These rates remained steady for much of the season. According to media buyers, last season’s peak rates were Rs 17-18 lakh per 10 seconds.
“The total advertising revenue (television + digital) will settle at Rs 4,000-4,500 crore this year compared to Rs 3,600 crore last year,” says Karan Taurani, senior vice-president, Elara Capital. The share of TV and digital will be more or less equal this year. Last year, TV’s share was 55% and in 2022, it was a whopping 70%.
Despite early scepticism, the compelling action on the field led to a big surge in viewership as the season progressed. Disney Star recently reported that 520 million viewers tuned in to watch the first 59 games of the tournament. Data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) revealed that the cumulative watch time for the IPL this year was 18% higher than the 2023 edition. While the official IPL streamer JioCinema hasn’t shared any fresh data during the tournament, some reports indicated that it recorded a viewership of 200 million in the first six games of the league.
As viewership surged, many new advertisers signed up. According to a TAM Sports report based on an analysis of 55 matches in IPL 16 and IPL 17, ad volumes per channel on television grew by 16% during IPL 17 compared to IPL 16. In addition, the number of categories and advertisers for IPL 17 increased by 45% and 29%, respectively, over IPL 16.