IPL 2022: Harsh Goenka lists reasons for low TV ratings of the cricket league

IPL 2022: Industrialist Harsh Goenka's tweet also prompted other Twitter users to share why they think IPL has been losing its sheen.

Industrialist Harsh Goenka on Thursday shared a list of reasons he thought caused a dip in the television ratings of IP 2022.

The cash-rich league had attracted 229 million television viewers in the first week of its 15th season, falling short of last year’s numbers.

According to data released by the Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC), a TV audience measurement firm, IPL had a reach of 267 million in 2021.

Commenting on this, Goenka tweeted that poor performance of crowd favourites Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings played a crucial part in failing to attract more viewers.

The RPG Enterprises chairman also said that star players such as Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma haven't yet displayed their fire power and together with two new teams and multiple extra matches, it may have caused fatigue to the viewers of IPL 2022.

Goenka also said that with all the matches being played in Mumbai and Pune, it has robbed people's enthusiasm of watching a match in the stadium. Most would prefer watching it from the stands than on television, especially after two years of being forced to stay at home due to the Covid pandemic.

Why IPL TV ratings are down: - the crowd favourites MI and CSK playing poor - heroes like Virat, Dhoni, Rohit haven’t fired yet - more matches causing fatigue - all matches in Mumbai region (fan engagement lower) - after 2 years of watching TV, people prefer to go out

Any other? — Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) April 21, 2022

Harsh Goenka's tweet also prompted other Twitter users to share why they think IPL has been losing its sheen.

Filmmaker Pritish Nandy tweeted, "The product is slowly tiring. It needs serious redesigning. People are not tired of cricket; they’re tired of the IPL in its present format. The enthusiasm has been steadily flagging. No one bothered as they thought the end of lockdowns will automatically revive the IPL."

Pitching in, Twitter user Miss Maya (@Lairs_World) said, "The main reason I figured out as cricket fan, watching IPL since the inauguration, is that the players and the teams are not as involved in matches as they used to."

"Earlier, there used to be intense games and players had that passion. Now, most of the star players are chill. For example, MS Dhoni was phenomenal as the captain, but now he is out of that zone. Even Virat Kohli had the fire to score runs but now even he is not that involved."

Meanwhile, Rajeev Khanna, a cricket expert and former vice-president of the IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals said that a blip in TV viewership shouldn't be a major concern because the audience is divided between TV and the OTT platform.

"People are going back to work and stepping out, which is why TV viewership is dipping. The viewership is going to increase in playoffs, especially if we look at the performance of young talent in the league," Khanna said.