Warc, 15 July 2014
MUMBAI: World Cup viewing figures in India are up on 2010,
despite the event taking place in an unfavourable time zone, with at least 80m
estimated to have watched the final game live.
Prasana Krishnan, business head at Sony Six, the official
FIFA broadcaster in India, noted that many games were played after midnight and
that the reach and numbers achieved had been driven during the tournament's
group stages when some games kicked off at 9.30pm.
"The 2018 World Cup should generate better viewership
since it is taking place in Russia," he said.
Tarun Nigam, director at marketing agency PM Media
Solutions, told exchange4media that people had been talking about the event in
the social media space "like a morning newspaper".
Late night viewing was not a problem for fans, he said, with
football becoming increasingly popular and set to be the second sport for youth
in India. He suggested there was now a fatigue factor related to cricket.
That was a point echoed by KV Sridhar, chief creative
officer, Sapient Nitro, India, who noted that the test match being played
between India and England at the same time as the World Cup peaked "seemed
almost like a secret game" as people were focused on events in Brazil.
Writing in the Business Standard, Sridhar observed the 2014
World Cup was expected to reach 60% more viewers than the 2010 World Cup in
South Africa. The total of 100m compared favourably to the recent ICC T20 World
Cup cricket tournament. "Football has become a close second when it comes
to sports viewership in India," he stated.
Further, brands were equally enthusiastic about the FIFA
World Cup, buying more TV slots even as ad rates increased as the event progressed.
Debraj Tripathy, managing director at agency Mediacom, had
seen a difference in the kind and quality of TV sponsors in India with every
FIFA World Cup. The only thing missing, he said, "is India doing well in
the game".
Sridhar expected that the launch of the India Super League
in September would help channel enthusiasm for and investment in the game but
"the strong pull needed will only come when people are emotionally
attached to the game with an Indian team".
Data sourced from exchange4media, Business Standard;
Additional content by Warc staff
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