As we approach the next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the tournament's official broadcaster, Disney Star, which holds the television rights, is confident that TV will continue to dominate this season as well.

According toAjit Varghese, Head – Network Advertising Sales, Disney Star, 2023 has been one of the best years fortelevisionas the overall space has grown on the back of Pay TV,  viewership on GEC, and cricket, which has seen the highest ever growth last year. “If we can continue growing in this space, it's a very good story for large screen viewing overall across the spectrum, whether it is digital or television,” said Varghese.

As the official television broadcaster,  forIPL 2024, Disney Star has introduced innovative products and enabled additional factors to ensure that the broadcaster can delve deeper into the markets.

Varghese shared that the broadcaster is ensuring to drive larger penetration in the market through distribution. “Our 15-20 years of expertise in handling sports content is a variable to showcase that time and again, on whichever screens we are present. Also, our go-to market is changing. Now we are moving towards more value conversations. We are trying to build brand-building conversations, talking more ROI to clients.”

This year, the broadcaster along with co-presenting sponsors and associate sponsors, has created Partner status whereinclients can partner for a few weeks during the game. Varghese shared that this year as well the emphasis will be on the ability to tailor solutions for every client.

For instance, to drive engagement on TV, the broadcaster introduced patented tech that enables second-screen engagement with TV viewers.

In fact, last IPL, the broadcaster collaborated with Airtel to launch 5G technology-driven campaign called ‘Airtel 5G Plus Ultimate Fan’. The idea was to enable real-time interaction between 3D Virtual Avatars of 10 Ultimate Cricket Fans from 10 different IPL franchises and Cricket Legends in the Star Sports studio during Cricket Live Show.

Startup Power Play is a new product designed that the broadcaster has introduced for early-stage startups to showcase their brand or product story in a crisp 60 sec communication on the biggest property in TV media – IPL.

He further added,  “We are talking about creating a studio for clients where they can create content which is customised to them in an automated manner. We are talking about influencer marketing where we can use cricket stars as brand ambassadors, or even mix up with GEC stars and brand ambassadors to create storytelling. So, there are lots of these new things we are doing to make sure that when we talk about cricket, we are not talking only about price, it is eventually a brand value and ROI discussion.  As of today, we are confident that TV will continue to dominate because the scale and efficiency are unmatched.”

Speaking of TV efficiency, he noted that most competent marketers understand ROI and do not believe in the last click.  "Smart marketers understand that achieving last click attribution requires whole funnel growth.  We have case studies in FMCG, construction, industrial goods, e-commerce, and mobility that show how advertising on IPL and television influences both the top and bottom funnels."

Varghese shared that a lot of advertising dollars in 2022 and 2023 went into performance marketing because everything was about conversion. “Marketers have figured out they need to build brands. Clients are interested in top-funnel growth, brand association, brand building, linking TV advertising to ROI and that's the communication we have facilitated.”

Last year's IPL attracted a record-breaking 505 million viewers, according to Star Sports. The IPL on HD had 101 million viewers last season. For this year, broadcasters aim to surpass the previous season's number.

Varghese stated that brands are more optimistic about the IPL this year than they were last year. "Most of the clients we're talking to now aren't talking about cost-cutting; I believe that period has passed. The majority of 2023 was focused on cost-cutting across sectors; nevertheless, I do not believe there is significant room for cost-cutting presently.

Last year was also the first time when the IPL was sold separately by two different broadcasters. During IPL 2023, the entire narrative was about TV vs digital. Speaking on how different selling IPL has been, Varghese believes that bothhave to coexist when rights get divided.

“We have to find our own narratives irrespective whether you sell it as the same network or a different network because it doesn't matter who sells it. Each medium has to justify what value and ROI it brings to the table. Last year, we also did the World Cup on both TV and digital, and we now have the experience of handling it together and differently.  At the end of the day, you have to justify to the client the value and ROI. After a point in time, just building a narrative or claiming supremacy doesn't help. Cricket in itself performs so well we don’t think we need a different narrative.”