The current viewership figures for the IPL are less than impressive when compared to previous seasons. The ratings for the IPL continue to decline, and are at the second-lowest levels in the last five years.
While the viewership for Indian Premier League (IPL) have always been impressive, there has been a decline in viewership for the IPL in recent years. A deep dive was conducted to investigate the current state of the IPL viewership on TV and to compare it to previous seasons.
According to BARC data, the current viewership figures for the IPL are less than impressive when compared to previous seasons. The ratings for the IPL continue to decline, and are at the second-lowest levels in the last five years. The viewership is 16% lower than the average of the last five seasons.
The frequency of IPL match watching on TV is declining. On average, the number of matches watched has been decreasing since IPL 2020, and is at its lowest this year.
The decline in viewership is also reflected in the watch time, which has decreased from an average of 211 billion minutes over the last five years to 187 billion minutes this year.
The contribution of the core sports target group (TG) to the overall reach has also decreased from 16.5% last year to 14.5% this year, making this year’s contribution the lowest since 2018.
As a result of the decline in viewership, advertisers are now asking when the viewership will pick up. According to a recent report by Synchronizs India and Unomer, 73% of viewers are watching the IPL on digital platforms, while only 27% are watching on linear TV.
In conclusion, the IPL’s viewership on TV has been declining in recent years, and this trend has continued in the current season. The declining viewership has raised concerns among advertisers about the effectiveness of TV advertising for the IPL. With the majority of viewers now watching the IPL on digital platforms, it remains to be seen if the viewership on TV will pick up in the future.
As TV viewership for Indian Premier League remains second lowest in the last six years, the advertisers have started moving their monies to digital streaming.
Digital streaming of IPL has been delivering phenomenal results with 1400 crore as total video views, the highest in the world for any digital streaming and broadcast out together. Realising this digital has garnered 25 sponsors and over 400 big and small advertisers.
Whereas, TV still remains at 40 advertisers-which is 44% less than last year. The low numbers on TV viewership, when after adding the 2+ age profile has advertisers worried.