Bad run puts Team India on slow ad pitch

Brands which have been putting big bucks in cricket advertising are increasingly asking for viewership-linked deals from broadcasters. This will mean advertisers will have to pay according to the ratings that a cricket series or tournament gets and not flat ten-second rates.

The cost per rating point (CPRP) system is followed by international sports broadcasters but has not found mass favour here. In the backdrop of Team India's humiliating loss at the hands of the Australians, advertisers like Reliance Communications (RCOM) and Korean durables & electronics maker LG, among others, said broadcasters need to guarantee returns or not expect any premium on the game.

Mobile services operator RCOM, which advertised heavily during the current test series, has decided not to get on board the ODI series between India, Australia and Sri Lanka starting February 5. "The absolute sums involved with cricket and the returns do not match. What is of greater concern right now is the viewer fatigue," said Sanjay Behl, head (brand & marketing), Reliance group. The telecom company, which is estimated to spend around Rs 50 crore annually on cricket, is expected to cut back if guarantees are not given.

TOI has been reporting for months on how the chock-a-block cricket calendar, along with a below-par performance by the team, has created a sense of fatigue among Indian followers. "We want a certain guarantee or broadcasters should lower rates. Whenever we have done this sort of a deal and had to pay an upside in case of better performance, it has worked for the broadcaster and we have paid up willingly," said L K Gupta, CMO, LG Electronics India.

Among sports broadcasters, only the Nimbus owned-channels Neo Sports and Neo Cricket previously offered viewership-linked deals. But this is something Rohit Gupta, president, Multi Screen Media, which runs Sony Entertainment Television, completely disagreed with and said that his channel will not even think of considering viewership-linked packages as eyeballs are not controlled by the broadcaster. "We paid for the broadcast rights without any such guarantees. So there is no question of anything like this being offered to advertisers. Others may have done it in desperation and are paying a price for it. The IPL is a different format and we are getting the sponsors back," Gupta said. SET Max broadcasts the IPL matches and claims to be selling ten-second ad spots at a steep Rs 5 lakh for the fifth edition, undeterred by the falling interest in the sport.

Viewership ratings have been on a downhill after India's win at last year's World Cup. According to TAM Sports, a sports viewership tracker, the first two tests between India and Australia registered an average rating of 0.89 and 0.70 respectively, while the India-England series had an average rating of 1.79.

"More than this particular series, the current bad run is likely to impact investments made on upcoming events in terms of rates and the money that broadcasters pay for cricket properties," said Ajit Varghese, MD (South Asia), Maxus and Motivator, which is owned by the WPP group.

Trouble also looms large for the numerous brands which boast of cricketers as ambassadors. Japanese digital imaging major Canon, which has Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador, for instance, will not be using him in its campaign to be launched this season. 'We are not using him right now as cricket, in general, does not have a positive connect, at least for the time being," said Alok Bharadwaj, senior VP, Canon India.

Courtesy : Times of India