Sony targets Rs 10 bn ad revenue from IPL

Sony targets Rs 10 bn ad revenue from IPL

MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony Entertainment Television India) is looking at mopping up an advertising revenue of Rs 10 billion from the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the match window widens.

MSM expects the revenue, up from Rs 7.50 billion posted in the last edition, to flood in amid an ad slump recovery despite the ICC World Cup.

MSM, which telecasts the IPL on Max channel, is already in the market to rope in advertisers and is starting with a 10-second spot at Rs 500000. The starting rate last time was 475,000.

“We have approached the market and are looking at two co-presenters and eight associate sponsors. We are looking at a healthy revenue growth as the number of IPL matches has gone up from 60 to 74. With the economy bouncing back, the mood in the market is positive, says Multi Screen Media president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta, while refusing to reveal what revenue the company is expecting from the IPL.

Will the World Cup be a stumbling block? “While the cricket World Cup takes place before the IPL, I do not see it as being an issue in terms of us being able to reach or even exceed targets. The IPL has become a premium property for any serious buyer of cricket,” Gupta says.

Sponsors will absorb around 70 per cent of inventory while the balance will be through spot buys. Gupta expects to have sold out sponsorships by January, after which the spot buys will start. 

Extraa Innings, which is Max‘s wraparound show, will have six sponsors.

A media buyer notes that the World Cup will not affect IPL revenues. "The IPL has the advantage of sustained delivery, while the World Cup is a matter of prestige. Also, the World Cup happens in this fiscal while the IPL will take place in the next fiscal. A client can, in fact, pick up both and balance his fiscal budgets accordingly," he says.