Star targets Rs. 1.2 billion from India-West Indies series

ESPN Software India (ESI), the sports broadcast subsidiary of Star India, has roped in seven sponsors for the much anticipated India-West Indies series that will all but mark the end of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar’s international career.

The sportscaster has roped in Airtel, Exide, ITC, Bharti AXA, Pernod Ricard, Racold and Perfetti as sponsors for the series featuring two Tests and three ODIs. It has also got multiple spot-buyers. 

Notwithstanding the subdued festive that saw most advertisers curtailing their ad spends, the broadcaster is eyeing Rs. 1.2 billion in ad revenue from the series. 

Each day in a Test match has 5000-5,500 seconds of free commercial time (FCT) which can be expanded to a maximum of 6,000 seconds. Similarly, each ODI match has 5,000-5,500 seconds of FCT. 

The sportscaster was asking for Rs. 250,000-300,000 per 10 second for the Test series. The rate quoted by ESI for the Test series was similar to rates that sports broadcasters charge for an ODI match involving India. A normal Test match involving India sells at around 40,000-45,000 per 10 second spot with the maximum rate being Rs. 60,000. 

According to an ad sales executive, who did not wish to be identified, ESI would not have got the rates it was asking for but it could have still managed to get a premium from advertisers being part of a large network. 

Allied Media COO PM Balakrishna said advertisers have benchmarks for Test, ODI and T20 based on which they do their deals. However, he feels that ESI would have managed to get higher ad rates due to the fact that there is a lot of buzz around the Test series. 

Earlier, Star India, the official broadcast partner of BCCI, had launched a campaign ‘Cheer for Sachin’ to pay tribute to the legendary cricketer.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/3459-star-targets-rs-1-2-billion-from-india-west-indies-series.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/3459-star-targets-rs-1-2-billion-from-india-west-indies-series.html