Star India, the official broadcaster of this year’s Cricket World Cup, is expected to bring in around Rs 1500 crore in ad revenue (roughly US$ 215.7 million) across both its broadcast and online formats, provided that the country’s national side remain in the competition.
According to AdAge India, the company has already signed up over 35 major brands – among them major global advertisers, including Mondelez, Philips, and Coca-Cola – for its live broadcasts of World Cup matches. Broadcast revenue is expected to hover around Rs 1000-1200 crore alongside a further Rs 300 crore coming in through its online Hotstar platform.
According to Livemint, these estimates more than double the Rs 700 crore that the network brought in during the 2015 World Cup.
The magazine reports that Star has sold close to 90% of its inventory, as it retains 10% for premium-priced spot buys that brands can purchase at a later stage.
Unlike the Indian Premier League, the sport’s top flight in the country, World Cup viewership is held to be more volatile. Sudhir Kumar, Director, Offline Media, DCMN India explained that the ad rates for just India games versus all 48 matches could see an increase of between 100-140%.
“A vast majority of the inventory has already been sold. Since it’s a once-in-four-years big cricket property, selling the remaining ad slots once the tournament begins will not be difficult," Gautam Thakar, chief executive of Star Sports, told Livemint.
There is caution, however, that ad revenue would be quite heavily dependent on the Indian team’s performance. An early exit would diminish interest, media buyers believe. However, if there were to be a semi-final played between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, then ad rates could push extremely high. In the last World Cup, rates for this match hit Rs 25 lakh (around US$ 35,950) for a ten second exposure.
Star is maximising the exposure across its channels. It has decided to broadcast matches across 16 different channels in eight different languages. It is also believed that knock-out, semi, or final games could go out on one of its major Hindi movies platforms.
According to AdAge India, the company has already signed up over 35 major brands – among them major global advertisers, including Mondelez, Philips, and Coca-Cola – for its live broadcasts of World Cup matches. Broadcast revenue is expected to hover around Rs 1000-1200 crore alongside a further Rs 300 crore coming in through its online Hotstar platform.
According to Livemint, these estimates more than double the Rs 700 crore that the network brought in during the 2015 World Cup.
The magazine reports that Star has sold close to 90% of its inventory, as it retains 10% for premium-priced spot buys that brands can purchase at a later stage.
Unlike the Indian Premier League, the sport’s top flight in the country, World Cup viewership is held to be more volatile. Sudhir Kumar, Director, Offline Media, DCMN India explained that the ad rates for just India games versus all 48 matches could see an increase of between 100-140%.
“A vast majority of the inventory has already been sold. Since it’s a once-in-four-years big cricket property, selling the remaining ad slots once the tournament begins will not be difficult," Gautam Thakar, chief executive of Star Sports, told Livemint.
There is caution, however, that ad revenue would be quite heavily dependent on the Indian team’s performance. An early exit would diminish interest, media buyers believe. However, if there were to be a semi-final played between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, then ad rates could push extremely high. In the last World Cup, rates for this match hit Rs 25 lakh (around US$ 35,950) for a ten second exposure.
Star is maximising the exposure across its channels. It has decided to broadcast matches across 16 different channels in eight different languages. It is also believed that knock-out, semi, or final games could go out on one of its major Hindi movies platforms.
Sourced from AdAge India, Livemint
