Afaqs: The onset of IPL season has given jitters to several daily soaps. With men and women alike waiting for this season, it is obvious that there is going to be a drop in the number of viewers.
Most of the homes still have single TV set, so it’s a wait and watch situation to see how GECs cope up with the loss of viewers. According to industry estimates, Hindi GECs get a 10-15 percent drop in their viewership during IPL. The prime slot 8 pm to 11 pm is worst hit with 30 to 35 percent drop.
In these circumstances, GECs are banking on repeat telecast to make up for the loss. Repeat telecast of popular shows has a high chance of roping in viewers.
Punitha Arumugam, group chief executive officer, Madison Media Group, says, “During IPL, viewership numbers are subject to basic availability of the medium (TV). It’s a rare occasion when the remote is in the hands of the male.”
She further adds, “”Moreover, the last two IPL editions have shown that the T20 game enjoys greater popularity even with women audiences, in comparison to other forms of the game. Thus, there are no surprises that loyal soap viewers will shift to other slots, to catch content that they have missed during prime time.”
Atul Phadnis, chief executive officer, says, “What’s On India, for advertisers, the drop in prime time viewership means loss of audience, which cannot be recaptured. For example, repeats during other time slots cannot compensate for regular male viewers of prime time telecast.”
Loss of viewership means compensating the advertisers with extra exposures during and after the IPL season.