Twenty20 scores over reality shows

Here are a few interesting trends thrown up by the Indian Television Audience Measurement Programme during the Twenty20 World Cup. The national body that keeps a tab of television ratings and viewership percentage has come up with impressive figures for the ongoing championship in South Africa. RC Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd spoke to The Sunday Express on his channel’s high boom of live cricket on television. Excerpts:

How has the live coverage of Twenty20 championship fared? Would you see this as a major success in terms of television viewership?
The combined channel share for ESPN & Star Cricket during the India-Pakistan match was about 47.2 per cent; that is way ahead of all other channels. They were followed by Zee TV (9%) and Star Plus (5.8%). Viewership has only increased as India steamrolled into the semi-finals. The India-Pakistan match had touched a peak of 15.2 in terms of television ratings. The match generated an impressive rating of 12 TVR when the match was telecast between 9.30 pm and 2: 00 am.

How did India’s matches in particular affect TRP ratings?
When the India-Pakistan match was on, reality programmes slotted during the same time-band, like Indian Idol on Sony and Saregama on Zee TV, saw a rating loss. Indian Idol saw a drop of 35% from the previous week, dropping from 3.8 to 2.5. Similar was the case with Saregama as that too saw a ratings drop a 6 to 4.2.

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What has been the reason for this? Is it because of the fact the Twenty20 as a concept has worked or is it something else?
Twenty20 as a concept has certainly clicked. We introduced a Tamil feed in Tamil Nadu. ESPN and Star Cricket have been giving commentary in English and Hindi respectively, which has played a big role.

How has the viewership been for non-India matches?
The interest level in non-India matches has also been very high, especially like the opening match between hosts South Africa and West Indies.
(Television Rating (TVR) is the estimated percentage of people actually tuned in. A TVR of 15 means 15 out of 100 males above the age of 15 watched the entire game)