IPL brings in new pay-TV homes for DTH, cable ops

Multiple cable and direct-to-home (DTH) players have seen new customers, as well as the return of many inactive customers. He expects the numbers to increase further with the ICC World Cup later this year. “Every season of cricket brings in new customers and returns of customers who may have missed out in the past. This season of IPL was no exception; In fact, the returns were slightly better than what was seen last season,” said Harit Nagpal, MD & CEO of Tata Play, the country’s largest DTH operator.

This is despite the fact that the current season of IPL is being live-streamed for free on rival Viacom18’s video streaming platform JioCinema.

Overall, experts believe that the rivalry between Disney Star and Viacom18 has supercharged sports telecasts, with more viewers flocking to watch IPL. JioCinema boasts of total video views of over 1,400 crores. On 17 April, the platform reached a peak concurrency of 24 million.

Overall, industry experts said new pay-TV subscribers could be in the range of 2-3 million, while the number of inactive subscribers is difficult to ascertain as different companies churn differently.

Gurjeev Singh Kapur, Head of Distribution and International, Disney Star, said that Star Sports was reaching eight out of every 10 pay-TV homes before IPL and since the inception of IPL, the number has gone up to nine out of every 10 homes. . , “This means that we are now in a position to reach a much larger audience. Not only this, we have added 11 million households by upselling and cross-selling, driven through our intensive partnership programmes, which we Operators We have not only partnered with MSOs (Multi-System Operators) but also with their LCOs (Local Cable Operators) and DTH retailers to attract new customers and win back some customers who have deactivated their service. Have worked with our partners to create joint marketing plans for ,” Kapoor said. Citing data from BARC India, Kapoor said adding new customers has also helped improve viewership.

For example, the viewership of the first 38 matches of the IPL has reached a record 434 million. The fourth week saw the “highest-ever recruitment of new viewers” at 25.3 million. Additionally, for the first 38 games, the HD viewership for live matches was 69.6 million. A senior executive at a national MSO said that since the launch of IPL, over 30,000 subscribers have either increased their monthly plan or reactivated their inactive subscriptions. “We have also added some new customers after the IPL started last month,” he added. “Many subscribers have been calling our LCOs to launch Start Sports Channel as they want to watch matches on TV after being hooked on their smartphones.”

Another large MSO executive, on the condition of anonymity, said that a lot of new subscribers of Star Sports are also due to the push and heavy discounts by the broadcaster.

Earlier, BARC India Chairman Shashi Sinha had said in an interview that there are around 210 million TV homes, of which DD Free Dish now occupies around 42 million. Both Sinha and Kapoor feel that pay TV subscribers make up around 60-63% of TV viewership, making it a robust television ecosystem in the country. Television still dominates the media landscape, and its power is unparalleled when compared to other mediums.

Mint was the first to report that to counter Viacom18’s free streaming, Disney was also planning to broadcast some matches on its free-to-air channels to increase star sampling. “If you look at our initiative this year, it was a very new concept about which people had some questions or doubts, but I think it really worked for us. focused on sampling the matches. And behind that, we came up with an aggressive campaign saying that to watch the entire IPL, all you have to do is pay 19. We were actually considering upgrading these houses from free to paid. So, again, something different, something unique, in a way to attract the audience who are sitting there watching for free and drive them towards pay TV,” Kapoor said.

The growth in Pay TV subscribers for IPL indicates the importance of live sports content for the television industry, especially in the post-Covid era when there has been a change in the behavior of viewers, who are used to watching OTT content on their mobile phones. have become Last week, at a discussion on the future of broadcasting at FICCI Frames, the annual conference of the media and entertainment industry, panellists agreed that there is a need to recognize the growth of both linear and digital broadcasting and their coexistence, and the popularity of digital media. Increasingly, traditional broadcasting remains a significant force in India.

Updated: May 08, 2023, 12:31 AM IST