In the last few months, it was cricket that kept Star Sports 1 Hindi on top of all sports channels. But now, it is kabaddi that is helping the channel maintain its leadership position.
Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), that began with its seventh edition on July 20, is gaining traction amid sports enthusiasts.
Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) ratings for Week 31 (July 27 to August 2) shows that with 1,28,308 impressions, Star Sports 1 Hindi still leads the charts followed by Star Sports First (11,3772), Star Sports 2 (50194), Star Sports 3 (30,119).
Matches between U Mumba and UP Yoddha on July 31, U Mumbai vs Fortune Giants (August 2), Bengaluru Bulls vs U Mumba on July 28 and Tamil Thalaivas versus Patna Pirates on July 29 were the topmost watched programmes with 3,787 impressions, 3,736 impressions, 3,706 impressions and 3,243 impressions respectively.
During the previous week, Star Sports 1 Hindi was leading with 12,71,57,000 impressions and the most watched program was the match between Hyderabad versus Delhi which recorded 39,94,000 impressions.
While there is a significant drop in the impressions, both Star Sports 1 Hindi and PKL maintained their position at the top of the charts.
Talking to Moneycontrol, Indranil Das Blah, CEO, KWAN Sports, said, “PKL is the biggest non-cricketing sports property in India today. And its audience is largely a mass audience in tier II and III towns and cities. The target audience of Star Sports 1 Hindi is the same as that of the PKL, which works well for the channel. The PKL is a big reason why the channel leads others when it comes to viewership.”
But will cricketing properties like India tour of West Indies that started on August 3 and The Ashes have any impact on Star’s sports channels and PKL?
According to Blah, It will impact viewership slightly.
“But not much due to match timings not clashing. Also, there are only three ODIs in the Windies series. So that’s just three match days which will clash. Test viewership anyway is negligible.”
“(India tour of) West Indies is in the wrong time zone. The match starts at 8 pm. If it is a full day cricket match then it goes on till wee hours of morning. That way WI is a washed out as a series. In fact, nowadays the only series outside of India that has some interest is India and South Africa. Australia again there is problem with timing,” explained Sandeep Goyal, chairman, Mogae Media.
And that is why Goyal thinks that advertiser interest for India Tour of West Indies will not be much.
On the other hand, PKL is attracting big brands.
Goyal thinks that revenues in sponsorship and ad spots which was Rs 150 crore last year will be 10-15 percent higher this season.
Sponsorship revenues at the team level is about Rs 50 crore, he said. And added that that Pro-Kabaddi League is worth Rs 200-225 crore in revenue.
After cricket if there is a number two it is PKL. It has made that kind of position for itself ahead of football and hockey. In the last two to three years it has picked up a committed franchise and committed amount of viewer loyalty. It has viewership outside metros. It has built a much wider base in last few years, said Goyal.
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