The viewership numbers of the DLF Indian Premier League have thrown up a new trend that challenges conventional advertising wisdom.

No less than 36 per cent of the television viewership for the first two matches played on April 18 and April 19 was contributed by women, according to TAM Media Research. All told, 8.2 million women in six metros (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore) watched cricket on television those nights, giving serials the miss.

For long, media planners have lived in the belief that women do not watch sports on television and prefer soap operas and films. Accordingly, women-only brands choose not to advertise on sports channels.

But the latest IPL viewership numbers could change all of that. The television viewership rating (TVR) for women was 6.7 for the inaugural match between Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders and Vijay Mallya's Royal Challengers on April 18 on Sony Max.

To put it in perspective, the TVR for the current crop of saas-bahu serials on air is between 3.5 and 4. At their extreme popularity, these serials had touched 6.

"We will now see products that are directly meant for women, like jewellery or holiday packages, also being advertised during cricket matches. Given the format of the Twenty20 league, cricket will no longer be male dominated," said Nirvik Singh, president (South and South-East Asia), Grey Global Group.

Some experts said that the first sign of change came during the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last year, which India won. For most India matches, women made up almost 35 per cent of the viewers on television.

"The DLF IPL league is probably the only exciting property launched on television in the last six years. The female audience wants a change and this is the hottest property on television during prime time," said Ravi Kiran, chief executive officer (South Asia), Starcom Worldwide.

TAM Media Research says that the average time spent by women during prime time (8:00 pm to 11:30 pm) on April 18 and April 19 on SET Max which is showing the cricket matches was 23 minutes, way ahead of leading Hindi general entertainment channels such as Zee TV (6 minutes) and Star Plus (9 minutes).