MUMBAI: The cricket World Cup is eating into the share of the other popular genres including the Hindi general entertainment channels, reinforcing the mass reach that the sport enjoys in India.
 
For the three weeks since the World Cup started, the sports genre has seen a boost across the country as Indians have watched Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh bat to glory.

While it may be good news for advertisers who have put big monies on the event, it is the executives of the Hindi GECs who have had to face the World Cup googly.
 
GECs in the Hindi speaking market (HSM), which prior to the World Cup had a genre share of over 40 per cent, have seen a major flight of viewers to the cricket telecast.

The Hindi GEC genre shrinks from 41.22 per cent in week 6 (30 January-5 February) and 40.53 per cent in week 7 (6-12 February) to 35.58 per cent by the end of week 10 (27 February-5 March), according to Tam data. And the fall is consistent. In week 8, Hindi GEC genre had a genre share of 38.46 which fell to 36.65 per cent in week 9.

The sports genre, which was at 1.6 per cent in week 6 and 7, grew from 6.15 per cent (week 8) to 7.45 per cent (week 9) and finally to 9.45 per cent for the week ended 5 March.
 
In the All India market also, the sports genre has seen a massive jump. It was a mere 1.61 per cent of the whole TV viewing universe in week 6 and 1.59 per cent in week 7. However, it grew consistently to 5.72 per cent in week 8, 6.82 per cent in week 9 and reached a whopping 8.84 per cent by the end of week 10 (27 February-5 March).

Viewers are particularly hooked on to the India matches and the genre has gone up by over 7 per cent.

In the All India market also, the Hindi GEC genre has fallen to 25.91 per cent (week 10) from 29.91 per cent in week 6.

Clearly, when it comes to the pinnacle of cricket when the country‘s glory is at stake, there is no beating it.