TAM: IPL Season 8 clocks 4.5 TVRs in its first week

Television Audience Measurement (TAM) has released viewership data for the first week of IPL Season 8 - the period between April 7 and April 11 - aired on Sony Max, Sony SIX and Sony Aath, which includes the five matches of the tournament.

IPL is not just keenly followed by the cricket fans, but also by advertisers, who find it to be a ripe opportunity to reach out to their target audience.

According to TAM (All India CS4+), the average TVR for IPL Season 8 was 4.5, which was 42 per cent more than IPL Season 7, during which it garnered 3.1 TVR in the first week.

The first five matches of IPL 8 scored an average of 11,983 TVTs, much higher when compared to 8,364 TVTs in IPL 7 - recording a 43 per cent improvement.

As per the data, the time spent by viewers this season has also increased by 22 per cent, compared to the previous season. This year, in week 1, time spent by viewers per match was 51 minutes and 44 seconds, which in the case of IPL season 7 was 42 minutes and 27 seconds.

The tournament was sampled by 105 million unique viewers in the first week, a 9 per cent growth from IPL Season 7, where the reach for the same time was 96 million unique viewers.

The reach in terms of percentage of the all India universe for IPL 8 was 39 per cent - higher than IPL 7, during which it was 36 per cent.

The opening ceremony for IPL Season 8 on April 7 got 0.94 TVR, while the first match on April 8 between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders garnered 5.4 TVRs.

Next, the match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils on April 9 garnered 4.7 TVRs, while the third match on April 10 between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab got 4.5 TVRs.

On April 11, there were two matches, one between Chennai Super Kings and Sun Risers Hyderabad and the second between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, which garnered 2.4 TVRs and 5.3 TVRs, respectively.