IPL Season 5 yet to catch viewers interest

The viewership ratings for the IPL Season 5 have not been so good but SET Max, the official broadcaster, is putting up a brave face, reports Animesh Das.

SET Max expects viewership to build as the tournament progresses. At just 3.76 TVRs, the first six matches of IPL 5 have drawn the least eye-balls in its five-year history.
Only 90.1 million viewers tuned in, that is a significant drop from the 101.7 million viewers compared to last year. But, while broadcaster SET Max is cautious that 30% of its advertisement inventory still remains unsold the broadcaster however says that it is not worried.
Rohit Gupta, president, network sales, Multi Screen Media, said “If you look at the last four-five games they have been very closely fought games which will build interest levels among the viewers. So we expect viewership to pick up.”
SET Max has only managed to retain six of the 10 sponsors it had last year. Set Max insists that is not because Rs 65 crore for presenting rights, and Rs 45 crore to be an associate sponsors is too much.
“If LG was buying all other cricket properties, I mean, even during Diwali, they did not buy even one single large property. There are reasons elsewhere. It's not the pricing, it's not our delivery.” said Rohit Gupta.
Lead broadcast sponsor and tournament on-ground sponsor, Vodafone, has stuck to the tradition and launched an IPL-specific campaign. But the jury is out on whether it will keep the faith.
Anuradha Aggarwal, vice-president, brand comm & insights, Vodafone India said, “It will be a question of market forces one away or the other and it will happen. If the tournament does not deliver up to expectations, automatically expectations are reset.”
The good news is that after the first week, teams say stadium occupancy has averaged 90%. But the challenge is still getting the TV audience hooked.