Indiatimes' IPL video stream gets more than 4.5 lakh unique visitors each day

According to traffic statistics revealed by Times Internet, more than 4.5 lakh unique visitors -- combined traffic on Ipl.Indiatimes.com and Youtube.com/Indiatimes -- landed on Indiatimes and YouTube's Indian Premier League (IPL) live cricket match streaming destinations, each day in the first week (April 08-14) of the fourth season of the IPL ( Indian Premier League). On some days (like April 12 and 13), the number of unique visitors (combined) jumped up to 6 lakh.

For the record, in March, Times Internet bagged the online rights of streaming the IPL cricket matches live. It has carried out a distribution deal with YouTube.com, according to which YouTube can stream IPL matches on Indiatimes.com's YouTube channel (Youtube.com/Indiatimes) during this season.

The internet company has further disclosed that majority of the traffic (on ipl.indiatimes.com) came from referral sources (47 per cent) and search engines (40 per cent), while only 13 per cent of total traffic on Ipl.Indiatimes.com was routed directly, in the first week of the IPL. It implies that users arrived on the Indiatimes' IPL page, either via clicking a link on some other web-page, through an ad (served by Indiatimes to get traffic on IPL page), or via a search engine, instead of logging on to the address (ipl.indiatimes.com) directly.

Times Internet is spending a significant amount of money on search engine marketing (on sites like Google) and social advertising (on Facebook) to get traffic on ipl.indiatimes.com. More than 50,000 search keywords will be employed for search marketing. As per an industry estimate, the company will spend more than Rs 5 crore on search and social advertising during the current season of the IPL. Apart from that, the company is leveraging its own media properties -- television, print, radio and outdoor -- to build traffic on Ipl.Indiatimes.com.

In terms of geography, most of the traffic came from metros like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Pune and Kolkata. However, cities like Chandigarh, Indore and Jaipur also contributed significant traffic on Ipl.Indiatimes.com in the first week.

In an official communique, Rishi Khiani, chief executive officer, Times Internet, says, "Indiatimes, in partnership with YouTube is striving hard to offer its users a world class online IPL experience. We have been able to reach out to millions of viewers worldwide by offering smooth streaming of IPL 4 matches. We're excited about the response we've got so far, and it will continue to build as we progress in the tournament."