Indiantelevision.com Team

(18 March 2010 9:00 pm)

MUMBAI: After seeking temporary refuge in South Africa last year, the return of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to India was expected to shore up ratings. But, despite reach going up, the ratings for the popular T20 format has stayed flat.

The IPL clocked an average TVR of 5 for the first three matches, same as last year, according to Tam data for All-India market. For the inaugural edition, the ratings were higher at 5.6.

In IPL3, the first match between Hyderabad and Kolkata got a rating of 5.9. The second match, which started at three in the afternoon between Mumbai and Rajasthan on 13 March, fetched a lower rating of 3.7. The third match between Punjab and Delhi on the same day got a rating of 5.4.

Despite the impressive music acts and Bollywood presence, the opening ceremony only got a rating of 2.6 on 12 March.

In digital homes, the first three matches got a rating of 6.9 while the opening ceremony got a TVR of 4.2.

On the reach front, the IPL has locked in 37 million viewers for the first three matches, up from 29 million last year and 26 million in the first year.

According to Tam data for the first five matches, the top advertisers were Vodafone Essar, Samsung and Videocon Industries. The top on-screen advertisers were Jaquar, Hyundai and Hero Honda.

The top brands were Vodafone Cellular Phone Service, LG Infinia Full Led, Tata Docomo, Max Newyork Life Shiksha Plus and Airtel Cellular Phone Service. On screen, the top brands were Artize, Hyundai, Jaquar, Hero Honda CBZ Extreme and Videocon Mobile Phones.