Fast and furious IPL raises TRPs-Article

According to TAM ratings, it's not just men but women too are watching power-packed IPL cricket laced with fun, frolic and glamour. The fast and furious cricket that saw as many as 110 sixes hit in less than ten matches, has proved to be big entertainment for television viewers. For the week April 13 to 19, with only three matches in the Indian Premiere League that were played on April 18 and 19, MAX reached a staggering 46 million viewers.

For the same week, the channel achieved a massive share of television viewership as it moved from number four to number one position when the matches were played on Friday and Saturday. MAX's positioning of the IPL tourney as 'Manoranjan Ka Baap' and its promise of revolutionising the way cricket is conceptualised and changing television entertainment landscape seem to be delivering results.

According to TAM, an audience measurement firm that tracks television viewership, a staggering 20 million people watched the first three IPL matches on MAX. Its prime time channel share of 29.3 per cent across three Hindi speaking market metros was way higher than that of the nine general entertainment channels put together (25.5 per cent). MAX achieved an average rating of 6.27 for the first three matches across six cities. Equally impressive are the female viewership figures.

The opening game got a phenomenal rating of 6.7 amongst women in the six metros which completely dwarfs the 3.7 TVR on ESPN for India's first game against Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup in September lat year.

Also, the time spent by women (in three Hindi speaking market metros) on MAX during prime time on the first two days of IPL matches suggest a preference for fun, frolic and power-packed cricket laced with cheerleaders and Bollywood glamour.

On an average, women spent 23 minutes on MAX, way more than they spent on Star Plus (nine minutes) and Zee TV (six minutes). Says MAX's business head Sneha Rajani, "We are indeed pleased with the superb opening ratings.

The fruits of hard work and unshaken belief are indeed sweet. MAX has positioned the DLF IPL broadcast as the definitive and ultimate entertainment destination and we are looking forward to achieving even higher milestones.

We are indeed privileged to be the home of the IPL and that we are creating history." However, what's important to note here is that these figures (for week 13 to 19) are only for the first two days of the IPL tourney. Ratings for the week April 20 to 26 will be out by the end of this week. These ratings will indicate the real impact of IPL cricket on GE channels' prime time soaps.

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