State-run broadcaster Prasar Bharati is expecting to rake in Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) in advertising revenues during the telecast of the India-Pakistan cricket series on its terrestrial network Doordarshan and satellite channel DD Sports.
The series kicked off on Monday with the Test Match in Mohali.
According to Prasar Bharati officials, the company has sold almost all the spots for the Test matches at the rate of around Rs 3 lakh (Rs 300,000) per 10 seconds.
The rates, however, are significantly lower than that commanded by the Dubai-based channel Ten Sports during the previous Indo-Pakistan series played in Pakistan last year.
For example, according to industry sources, advertisement rates on the broadcast of an India playing tournament is in the region of $12,000 to $20,000 per spot.
"The advertiser response has been exceedingly good. We managed to sell most of our inventory in a very short span of time," said a Prasar Bharati spokesperson.
"We never expected the rates to go up to last year's levels because the previous series took place after a hiatus of nearly 15 years and, therefore, a lot of hype was created around it. Secondly, Ten Sports commanded a huge premium as it was the sole satellite broadcaster unlike DD this time around," said CVL Srinivas, managing director, Maxus, a WPP Group media buying firm.
According to media buyers the rates are similar to that during the recent series played against Australia. "There might be an upward revision of the rates if the first test produces an interesting contest with an Indian win in the end," added Srinivas.
The principal sponsors on Doordarshan for the series include PepsiCo, BSNL and TVS Motors who according to Prasar Bharati have made a payment of Rs 7.15 crore (Rs 71.5 million) each.
Among the five associate sponsors are IOC, LG Electronics, Hyundai Motors, Perfetti and Hindustan Lever Ltd. Several companies like Pepsi and LG are looking forward to the series to launch their summer campaigns.
LG for instance has earmarked a Rs 30-crore (Rs 300 million) budget for advertising and sales promotion during the series.
