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Lintas Media Group: 26 per cent viewers watched IPL outside home
A study by Lintas shows that a significant number of viewers watched IPL at offices and restaurants
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is arguably the most watched sporting event on Indian television. Now, a study by Lintas Media Group and Aaren Initiative shows that there was significant out-of-home TV viewership for the event.
According to the survey results, 26 per cent of the viewers watched the matches outside their homes. The study surveyed 3,171 viewers in 15 cities over the first 20 days of IPL 2009.
Among the out-of-home locations where people kept track of IPL matches, the office was where maximum viewership took place, followed by restaurants and other locations, such as airports, malls, multiplexes and on OOH screens.
The study also shows that 34 per cent of the viewers aged over 20 years viewed a match outside their home, particularly in offices. The figure was much lower for viewers in the age group of 12-20 years. There was also a drop in OOH viewing on weekends.
The study attributes the increased OOH viewership to the fact that IPL was held in South Africa this year.
Lintas Media Group also studied whether IPL 2009 delivered value for money to its advertisers. Going by the overall viewership in the first 20 days, there has been an increase of 15 per cent in the number of viewers, with 82 million viewers during IPL 2009. The reach has also increased from 11 per cent to 11.9 per cent.
However, the time spent watching the event dropped by 8.5 per cent, leading to a fall in TVRs for the 8 pm matches, though there was a rise in TVRs for the 4 pm matches on weekends. The TVRs are based on aMap results and primary research in All India C&S households for 15+ viewers.
The study also concludes there is a positive correlation between a city and its home team -- a trend which could develop further in future tournaments.
Lintas Media Group has measured the relationship between a team and its city in terms of the Passion Score. Royal Challengers has the highest passion score of 85 from Bangalore, followed by Chennai Super Kings at 68 and Mumbai Indians at 49. This is followed by Delhi Daredevils (35), Kolkata Knight Riders (34), Deccan Chargers (11) and Kings XI Punjab (9).