IPL 3 Finale clocks 12.9 TVR; Vodafone Essar top advertiser: TAM

This is higher than the TVR recorded by the first and second seasons

It has been the most highly watched television property in the last one year. The telecast of the third edition of the Indian Premier League on Max has recorded a TVR of 12.9, as per TAM Sports analysis (C&S, 4+, six metros) for the final match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.

The final match of IPL Season 2, between Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore, garnered a TVR of 10.7, while the first season's finale delivered a TVR of 11.7.

This is the highest TVR recorded by the tournament this year. The inaugural match between Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders garnered a TVR of 7. The semi-final matches this time fetched higher viewership than those in the last two seasons. The first semi-final between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore garnered a TVR of 9, whereas the second one between Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers recorded a TVR of 7.

The final match witnessed highest viewership from Mumbai, which was where the match was held. In Mumbai, the TVR recorded was 17.8, while in Chennai, the TVR recorded was 15.3. In other cricket loving cities such as Bengaluru, Delhi and Kolkata, the TVR recorded was above 10.

Media analysts are seemingly impressed with the way the third season panned out. Amin Lakhani, head, exchange, Mindshare India, says that it's a fantastic feat to achieve, considering that this is the third season of the event. "There isn't any television property that has been able to perform consistently three years in a row," he says. According to him, the tremendous media coverage across regions and languages and the talk around the tournament has given it the popularity it enjoys today across age groups and demographics.

Divya Radhakrishnan, president, TME, too, says that the viewership is encouraging. "The viewership trend shows that viewers are now comfortable with the format of the game," she says, adding that the all India rating should be awaited as the six metros' viewership is always higher.

Lynn de Souza, chairperson and chief executive officer, Lintas Media Group, says that the viewership recorded for IPL 3 is not above expectations but fell slightly below expectations. "The all India viewership would be in the range of 8-9 while we were expecting it to be in the region of 10-11. On the whole, the viewership of matches has been slightly lower than that of the first season," she observes.

In terms of impact on other genres, de Souza says that the GEC and the news genre did show an impact. While GECs lost a little share, the news genre picked up, thanks to all the controversies surrounding IPL.

The number of brands advertised during IPL this season was higher than the last season. A total of 143 brands were advertised this time (commercial), while on-screen, the number of brands advertised were 44. The number of hours (ad volumes) of commercial advertising on IPL increased from 37 (Season 2) to 43 in this season.

Vodafone Essar continues to be the top advertiser for the third time in a row. Samsung Electronics, Tata Teleservices, Hyundai Motors and Bharti Airtel were among the top five advertisers. On screen, the top advertisers were Ritnand Balved Education Foundation, Jaquar, Hyundai Motor, Hero Honda and Vodafone Essar.