In a sure sign that recent changes in the business of cricket are here to stay, Saturday's India-Pakistan one-day final of a tri-series failed to attract television viewers to the extent recent Indian Premier League matches did.
The Indo-Pak final's television rating was much lower compared with the average television rating of the 45 matches of IPL, the twenty20 tournament that ended earlier this month.
The match between India and Pakistan, played yesterday, got an average rating of 2.24 per cent on Neo Cricket and 1.67 per cent on Doordarshan - much lower than the average IPL rating of about 3 per cent.
Experts say the rating of yesterday's match is on the lower side even in comparison with some previous India-Pakistan matches (which got ratings in excess of 4 per cent).
Television ratings indicate the popularity of a television channel, a 'live' TV event or a television show. The companies decide their advertising spend on the basis of these ratings.
Even the average time spent by viewers in the final match on both Neo Cricket and Doordarshan was lower than in the case of the IPL final between Rajasthan and Chennai.
According to analysis of Audience Measurement & Analytics Ltd. (aMap), the overnight online ratings agency for the Kitply series - the tri-nation one-day international cricket tournament between Bangladesh, Pakistan and India - the average time spent by viewers on Neo Cricket for the final match was 73 minutes, compared with 88 minutes for the IPL final on June 1. Neo Cricket was the host broadcaster sharing its feed with Doordarshan.
"A large number of advertisers got 10-second ad-spots for much lower rates than some India-Pakistan cricket matches played in the recent past. We got highly-discounted television spots this time," said a Gurgaon-based media planner. Industry sources say the average rate for India-Pakistan matches is Rs 250,000-350,000 for a 10-second spot.
Apart from its long-term advertisers like Perfetti and Hero Honda, Neo Cricket had some other sponsors like Anchor, Pepsi, Airtel and Tata Motors.
According to industry sources, average spots on Neo Cricket went for less than Rs 165,000 for the first three ODIs, while for the final match, a handful of spots went for a little over Rs 200,000.
"Of the 500-odd 10-second spots that Neo Cricket had for each ODI, almost 60-70 per cent were utilised by its long-term advertisers at discounted rates, while the rest of the inventory was sold for Rs 165,000-200,000. Some spots may have been sold for a little higher than Rs 200,000," said a media buyer working with some sponsors.
The average spot rate for IPL matches, exclusive to Set Max, Sony's cricket and movie channel, went for Rs 250,000-265,000 per 10 seconds, much higher than even the combined feed on Neo Cricket and Doordarshan.
According to aMap data, even the net reach of Neo Cricket was much lower than the important matches of IPL.
While Neo Cricket reached about 14 per cent of cable and satellite homes during the final match between India and Pakistan, the IPL's net reach for important matches stood at about 18 per cent, the data showed.
