Indian Premier League opens with 40% fewer ads

The opening match of the Indian Premier League featured 40% fewer advertisers on TV compared with the previous edition, according to data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India.

The Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings match was broadcast on more than 20 Disney Star channels and had 31 advertisers. The inaugural match of last year's IPL featured 52 advertisers on TV.

Disney Star has secured several broadcast sponsors for the IPL, including Tata Neu, Dream11, Airtel, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Asian Paints, Cadbury, Jindal Panther, Parle Biscuits, Britannia, RuPay, Kamla Pasand and LIC. Experts said the demand for IPL TV ad inventory will pick up, particularly after the first match of the tournament witnessed double-digit growth in viewership.


Earlier, Disney Star had announced that the opening match was viewed by 130 million individuals on its channels.

The match clocked a total of 8.7 billion minutes of consumption, indicating a 47% increase from the previous year.

The first match obtained an average TV rating (TVR) of 4.17, a 24% increase from the 3.36 TVR recorded in the inaugural match last year. According to media experts, the rise in reach and viewership is attributed to the expansion of the Star Sports channels in the pay-TV universe.