TV channels , OTTs to gain from IPL suspension
Premium- To be sure, most broadcasters are being cautious about the new-found advantage given that fresh programming remains key to grabbing eyeballs
NEW DELHI: The suspension of the Indian Premier League may have dealt a blow to revenues of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the Star network, and fantasy gaming platforms, but has led to an improvement in the viewership of film and entertainment television channels.
Viewership of some entertainment channels has jumped between 2% and 23% in the past week, according to latest data from TV monitoring agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India.
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The beneficiaries of the IPL suspension include Star Utsav (9.3%), Sony SAB (13.41%), Colors (3.5%), and Star Plus (1.9%), as well as movie channels such as Dhinchaak (23.16%) and Sony MAX (15.5%).
Viewers, who have more time on their hands now in view of the lockdowns imposed by several states, could flock back to entertainment channels or even spend more leisure time on over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms that are also trying to leverage family viewership for their content, media experts said.
“General entertainment channels (GECs) have traditionally seen 5-10% loss in viewership whenever IPL takes place. With the tournament being called off, we can expect GECs specifically to gain. It can also be on the back of the fact that most of them have continued with original content despite shooting bans," said Srinivas Rao, national buying head at GroupM-owned media agency Mediacom. Viewers would block at least three hours of their time if an IPL match is scheduled for their day, said Mehul Gupta, co-founder and CEO, SoCheers, an independent digital agency. Add to that the fact that all games are different and many are exciting, he said.
“Human behaviour would ordinarily lead to the viewer feeling tired after the match and not immediately switching to or starting to binge-watch something else," Gupta said. “If IPL was watched by 200 million plus viewers in its opening week, one can imagine how many people are now likely to resort to different media," he said.
Broadcasters such as Star, Sony, Zee, and Viacom18 did not respond to Mint’s queries on whether the suspension of the IPL could prove to be an advantage. Movie channels are bound to do well, with the tournament suspended and people locked up at home at the peak of summer, said Manish Shah, director, Goldmine Telefilms.
OTT platforms too are expecting evolving engagement. Entertainment content remains a primary means of escape for people, said Vishnu Mohta, co-founder of Bengali language video streaming platform Hoichoi. Many people are not commuting at this time and have flexible working hours, which streaming services can capitalize on by packing in new content. Hoichoi has seen its engagement spread more evenly across the day now and peak not just at night, as was the case earlier, Mohta said.
Netflix, Amazon, ZEE5, ALTBalaji, Disney+ Hotstar, Eros Now, and SonyLIV did not respond to Mint’s queries.
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