MUMBAI: The viewership of the Indian Premier League has stabilised after going through a ‘level shift‘ or sudden drop in viewership, according to an analytical report by Percept Media Lab.

Although the initial three weeks of IPL season 5 have attracted slightly lower ratings/GRP as compared to IPL season 4, the trend and statistical norms seem to suggest that any further steep fall or increase in viewership will be arrested and it is likely to stabilize around 30-35 GRPs/match.

This is normally seen with any time-series data, the report added.

During season one, the IPL generated an average ratings of 45 GRPs per match. Currently, the same figure for the same period for IPL-5 stands at 32 GRP’s.

The report states that the viewership has dropped since the initial attraction and draw of sports combined with glamour has worn off, and there is no longer a ‘novelty’ around the IPL concept.

While the IPL has retained its core Male TG, the share of its Female audience has shrunk considerably. The share of Female SEC ABC has dropped to 10 per cent from 13 per cent in IPL-4. In fact, the gap between GEC shares at 8 per cent and IPL shares have narrowed down considerably.

For Male SEC AB segment, the IPL still accounts for 20 per cent of their viewing time (Channel shares), higher than the cumulative shares of the GEC genre, the report stated further.

There has also been a decline in both, advertisers and the ad volumes in the last two IPL seasons.

The report reveals that IPL season 4 saw only one per cent growth in ad volumes and 10 per cent growth in advertisers compared to IPL season 3, whereas IPL season 5 has witnessed a drop of 18 per cent in volumes and 31 per cent in advertisers.

The increasing cost of advertising coupled with downward level shift has also kept advertisers away.