Advertisers in a state of doubt over T20 World Cup
Advertisers are grappling with whether to put their money solely on India's matches, particularly the eagerly awaited clash with Pakistan, or buy non-India games as Disney Star strives to sell a bulk of its ICC Men's T20 World Cup TV ad inventory, as per media buying executives.
The India matches will air during prime time at 8 pm while most of the matches featuring non-Indian teams involve weaker teams and will broadcast at 6 am.
For advertisers wanting to advertise only on Indian games due to guaranteed viewership, the price tag of Rs 27-30 lakh per 10 seconds is proving to be prohibitive, experts said. For all 55 matches, the ad rate is Rs 6.5-7 lakh per 10 spots.
This conundrum has led to a lot of ad deals remaining stuck at the negotiation stage for the event, which will be held in the US and West Indies from June 1-29.
Dentsu CEO-South Asia Harsha Razdan said: «Most clients have yet to decide whether they want to advertise during the World Cup. There is significant fatigue since the T20 World Cup is happening after the IPL and elections. Many clients have exhausted their ad budgets on high-impact properties.»
«Deal closures are taking a lot of time since clients are wary of non-Indian matches due to the unfriendly timing...,» said IPG Mediabrands India chief investment officer Hema Malik.
A media buyer said advertisers are expecting Disney Star to offer some sort of guarantee on the viewership of non-India matches, and in the event those viewership expectations are not met, the broadcaster will
