Vodafone, Amazon and Oppo to be the presenting sponsors of the cricket tournament.
Sony Pictures Network (SPN) India has launched its television campaign (TVC) for the Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL) on March 8, across its network.
Of the three commercials, one is already on air, while the other two will go on air from March 11. SPN will carry out its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities under its campaign theme 'Ek India Happy Wala' for the ninth edition of the IPL.
The campaigns will run across the Sony Network channels. They will also run on regional channels, kids' channels and music channels. The print, outdoor and digital marketing will be done closer to the event.
The inventory is completely sold out two months before the IPL season starts. "We are charging between 5.5 to 5.75 lakh per 10 second this year on standard definition (SD) channels, and 1.5 to 1.75 lakh on high definition channels (HD)," says Rohit Gupta, president, network sales, Sony Pictures Networks India.
Interestingly, the new The Kapil Sharma Show (TKSS) will go on air from April 23, at 9 pm, on Saturdays and Sundays. This may result in a clash between the IPL tournament and the show as matches are usually played at 4 pm and 8 pm during weekends.
When asked about the possible timing clash between TKSS and the IPL, N P Singh, CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India, says, "We have a fairly large universe of viewership in India and it is diverse. There is a loyal viewership of the IPL no doubt and it continues to grow each year, but we have seen other genres doing well for their share of entertainment on different properties and different shows. With TKSS, we will be able to get a very strong GEC viewership as well, even when the IPL is on, and the good part is both of them are on our network."
Sony Max will continue to air the IPL matches with Hindi commentary, while Sony ESPN, formerly Sony KIX, will have English commentary. Sony SIX will have commentary in English, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil.