IPL’s loss is the news genre’s gain in this general election, say top advertisers

New Delhi: From scheduling to shifting to other countries, IPL has faced issues due to the General elections every five years. But this year’s General elections have thrown a revenue challenge for the tournament with significant inventories – both on TV and digital – going unsold.

As it turns out, IPL’s loss is the news genre’s gain.

Starting April 19, voting in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will take place in seven phases spread over 1.5 months.

A chief marketing officer at a large FMCG brand told BestMediaInfo.com that the kind of audience, Male 15+, is similar on both news and IPL.

“When it comes to the elections as critical as this year, people are glued to the news – be it television or digital – round the clock. On the other hand, viewers tune in to the matches of their choice. Except for the final round of matches, there is nothing like universal appeal in the IPL,” the CMO said on the condition of anonymity who is also one of the IPL sponsors.

“Ad rates on news channels around general elections are very high. Especially in English news, the CPRPs are very high. It is still far cheaper than IPL advertising,” said the CMO.

“Generally, news channels don’t just sell FCT. They sell packages with other branding options with multiple innovations. We have traditionally been a non-advertiser for the news genre but we are exploring all kinds of news channels for the General elections,” he told BestMediaInfo.com.

Indicating that this trend is far wider this year, a leading media agency head said, “I have a significant number of clients who’ve chosen to stay off cricket and invest on news channels instead. General elections are a good option for clients with limited budgets.”

Comparing IPL with the news genre, the planner said, “In IPL at Rs 30-40 crore, a brand gets presence only in 15-20 matches. Whereas, in the news, sponsorships and ad rates are much lower. For example, a brand can get title sponsorship of a top channel’s election coverage against just Rs 15 crore. It's only the really large players who are able to fundamentally afford the IPL.”

Both JioCinema and Star Sports have launched many initiatives to accommodate smaller advertisers but then they are getting a much wider audience against the same amount.

“So if you ask whether IPL’s loss will be the news genre’s gain, I would say yes,” the agency head said.

Confirming that even the brands staying away from the news are planning to return to the genre this general election, the agency head told BestMediaInfo.com that their automobile client, which used to be selective in terms of news, is now looking at a news-only plan for the elections period.

Another large-size advertiser in the FMCG sector told BestMediaInfo.com that they might not be a sponsor, but an advertiser on the news for elections.

It is not only the small brands that are typically news heavy but the range of categories showing interest in the news genre this general election includes large FMCG, automobile, consumer goods, banking & finance, mobile handset companies and e-commerce among others, said the media agency head quoted above.