Padding up for the new era of IPL on JioStar

The IPL is undoubtedly one of the largest sporting events globally. Since its inception in 2008, the league has experienced tremendous growth in both viewership and revenue, significantly increasing its brand value.

Viewership for the IPL has consistently broken boundaries, with  the live broadcast of IPL 2024 reaching 525 million viewers on television and 620+ million on digital streaming. Given the large audience it attracts, the impact of the IPL on advertising continues to evolve.

Moreover, the merger of Disney Star and Reliance-owned Viacom18 has significantly influenced the IPL landscape. At a recent fireside chat hosted by afaqs! Digies, titled "Padding Up for the New Era of Tata IPL on JioStar," industry leaders gathered to discuss the future of advertising within the IPL ecosystem. The discussion shed light on the new advertising possibilities on JioHotstar-the new OTT destination for 2025. 

The discussion featured Arup Bansal, head of monetisation and strategy for sports at JioStar and Hemant Kewalya, India lead for audience measurement at Nielsen moderated by Venkata Susmita Biswas, executive editor at afaqs!. 

Redefining the advertising experience

JioStar as the company is known after the landmark merger is at the forefront of innovation in IPL advertising, focusing on democratising ad space so that brands of all sizes can participate.

 “This year, we are redefining the advertiser experience, to harness their different advertising objectives ensuring that every brand, regardless of budget, can leverage the IPL’s reach effectively. We have something for every advertiser,” said Arup Bansal.

He further mentioned that the platform is announcing some interesting innovations for advertisers that include:

• Advanced targeting mechanisms to reach specific audience cohorts with comprehensive numbers and reporting.
• New ad formats designed to maximise engagement

. Comprehensive measurement tools to provide deeper insights into campaign performance. He states that these innovations aim to make IPL advertising more accessible, strategic, and measurable for advertisers across various industries.

JioHotstar and Nielsen Set to Revolutionise Digital Measurement in India

The OTT platform has announced a partnership with Nielsen- a media audience measurement firm.  The Nielsen ONE’s Volumetric Ad Measurement provides advertisers with accurate, transparent, and actionable insights across platforms. 

According to Bansal with the onset of Jio in 2016, digital data consumption in India grown multi-folds however, advertisers need to know the results of their investments on digital platforms. He says this is where such a partnership that provides granular data alongside the trust of a third party like Nielsen becomes significant. 

“This is the first time Nielsen has collaborated with an Indian publisher—perhaps even the first in Asia to bring a reliable tool to measure ROI’s,” said Bansal. 

Hemant Kewalya further stated that Nielsen has broad experience in measuring live sports across the globe and advertisers should be rest assured about the results.

Refined segmenting and targeting 

According to him, advertisers that will be able to looking to target the premium high-value customers can effectively do so on JioHotstar. He says JioHotstar has developed segmented audience cohorts, for example, high-end smartphone users (iPhone or android users with devices priced over Rs.50,000 or the Connected TV (CTV) users, whose viewership spikes during IPL. 

“We get the most premium consumers watching the IPL and you will now be able to specifically target them using the new cohorts we have unleashed,” he adds. 

According to him, with IPL being consumed even on feature phones, the platform will also be able to target and measure these consumers, ensuring advertising inclusivity across all demographics. 

Bansal added that advertisers will also be able to target consumers across their different user journeys with different formats. 

For example, if a person is just being introduced to a brand, they have a format called - Interstitial Ads. These ads ensure that as soon as a user opens the JioHotstar app, the first thing the viewer see is the brand video advertisement, maximising visibility, impact and memorability. 

The power of live sports advertising

JioHotstar recent collaboration with Neurons Inc studies how audiences engage with long-form ads during live sports vs. social media platforms and UGC video platforms on handheld devices. The findings revealed that:

• Ads during live sports drive significantly higher focus, motivation and engagement 

• Long-term memorability and brand disposition levels are higher compared to social media and UGC platforms

This insight reinforces the effectiveness of advertising on handheld devices during IPL, WPL, and other sporting events, providing brands with better returns on investment (ROI).

The Future of IPL Advertising

The duo stated that Nielsen and JioStar’s partnership extends beyond cricket. Future expansions also include entertainment and cross-media analysis, allowing brands to measure their ad effectiveness across multiple platforms. 

“Every marketer’s dream is cross-media measurement, and we’re working towards that goal,” said Kewalya.